Happy harvest

What a wonderful winter baby greens and herb salad I will be enjoying today. I harvested nasturtiums, cilantro, spinach, swiss chard, arugula and kale.  Harvesting at least twice a week keeps the crop delivering.  It stimulates plant growth.

Kale from my garden this morning before snipping.

I will use the Kale separately, sautéed with organic mushrooms and green onions I purchased.  It has a slightly bitter, hazelnut edge to it and the leaves are considered more a cooking green.  Whenever I do have baby kale raw, I like to let it marinate in a lemon, oil and salt simple dressing for at least an hour to allow the leaves to soften a bit.  You can even cover it and keep it overnight in the fridge and then let it come to room temperature for at least half hour.

Here is a tried and true healthy recipe for raw kale:

Kale Salad

1/4 cup or 1 ounce  dried organic Goji Berries or dried cranberries , softened in a bowl with 1/2 cup of warm water for @ 2-3 minutes and drained.

7 cups of organic Kale, stems removed, finely shredded strips or cut into bite sized pieces

3/4 cup chopped organic red pepper

1/4 cup chopped and pitted Kalamata or green olives

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

3/4 cup Thai Basil (or any basil – I just like the contrast in color and the mild flavor),  finely shredded

1 Tbs. + 1 tsp. Olive juice from Olive Jar

3/4 cup Feta, cubed or crumbled

Dressing

2 Tbs. fresh organic lemon juice

2 tsp. organic first and cold-pressed olive

1 Tsp. agave nectar

Combine and toss all salad ingredients.  Whisk the Dressing and distribute over the salad.  Mix well and let the flavors meld at least for 1/2 hour at room temperature and up to 1 day refrigerated.

Voila!