Morning/afternoon/evening wherever you are, hope you are enjoying your weekend.

Do you have any holiday plans coming up? We are leaving for Paris in less than two weeks so I am busy whittling down our grocery supplies and planning our travel snacks/supplies. We are going to spend Christmas with my sister and her French husband and his family, then heading off for some snow fun for New Year.

If you are travelling and wondering how you will stick to eating raw, you should check out my eBook where I detail how I managed when I was a full time flight attendant travelling all over the world and right now is only $7US!

Now onto one of my favourite ingredients that I just never get enough of, especially here and that is kale.

When I return home to Australia, my local fruit and veggie shop always keep a box aside for me (or the butcher) as up until recently it’s not really been that popular for consumption and is mainly used to dress butcher’s meat displays or as a garnish.

I know those who do enjoy kale, usually steam or sautee it in garlic, but I’m hear to tell you that the hardy little buggers can and are eaten raw and enjoyably so. [Edited to add: if you suffer from thyroid issues, it is suggested you still eat your cruciferious vegetables like kale, cabbage and broccoli lightly steamed, however please speak with your doctor about this]

For the uninitiated, kale leaves are related to the cabbage family and are very tough leaves so it’s very hard to imagine chewing on them enjoyably, however I can show you a way to ensure your kale raw to the point where you begin to crave it!

Step 1

Usually your kale will come in bunches on their spines however, I purchased both in bunches and chopped up in a ready made salad and for this demonstration I will use the pre chopped kale.

If you are using the bunches of kale, rip off the leaves from the spines (they are too hard to eat) and keep them aside for some juicing. Then rip all your kale leaves into bite size pieces and place in a large bowl.

[Mine has a little carrot and cabbage in it, no big deal]

Step 2

Sprinkle a little salt and olive oil onto kale. Now I used about 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil and about 1/4 teaspoon of himalayan sea salt. Never use table salt! Himalayan or celtic sea salt are my recommendations ANYTIME you use salt. You don’t want to over do the salt but you want enough that you are able to break down the cell walls of the kale to start releasing water.

Step 3

Massage!

This should take a few minutes, and you really want to ensure very piece is slightly coated with the oil. You will know you are done, when the kale reduces but over half and become much softer to touch.

See how little that whole big bowl of kale was after massaging?

Then it’s time to dress with a dressing of your choice and add some other ingredients. Some of my favourites are a cashew cheese, raw caesar dressing (I’ll post that later this week), pine nut parmesan, avocado and fresh jalapenos.

But today I’ll share with you my delicious sesame dressing, with paired nicely with this kale salad and fresh sesame seeds.

Sesame Dressing

3 T water

2 T extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 T brown rice wine vinegar (you can use standard rice wine vinegar if you don’t have brown)

1 T sesame oil

1 T tamari/nama shoyu

pinch of black pepper

Whisk all ingredients together until well combined.

When dressing salad, don’t over do it. Pour a little, toss and taste. If you need a little more gradually add in. Store leftovers in a jar in the fridge, will last for a week or so.

This dressing also tastes delicious on a seaweed salad.

Want to read up more about kale? 7 reasons kale is the new beef 

Want another way to enjoy your kale? In a smoothie