Healthy Salad Recipes

This year my bathing suit season is being pushed up a little earlier than usual. We have two trips to Miami coming up, so its CRUNCH(es) TIME!

To prepare, I’ll be cranking up the workouts with more strength training and intensifying my cardio. As far as “diet” goes, I’ll be incorporating more veggies, proteins, and greens, so our household is about to become salad central! Later this week, I’ll be sharing another one of my favorite salads… the Cobb Salad!

Kale Caesar Salad

The best thing about using kale as your salad base is the toughness of the greens; they can withstand dressing for a few days without wilting. This makes kale a great green to meal prep with, and pre-make your salads for the week.

I love this new take on Caesar dressing because it substitutes Greek yogurt and tahini in place of the mayonnaise without comprising any of the creaminess we love about this dressing. Tahini is a toasted sesame seed condiment used in a variety of vegetarian and vegan recipes. I’ve been pretty obsessed with using tahini lately, and if you haven’t tried these roasted brussels sprouts with lemon tahini sauce, I highly recommend you do so.

To make this kale caesar salad even healthier we’ll cut out the croutons. Don’t be sad about missing out on that crunch because I promise the roasted chickpeas are full of flavor, and may end up being your permanent substitution! Here’s how to make them:

Preheat oven to 375˚F.

1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and pat dry
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Place all chickpea ingredients into mixing bowl and toss together until completely combined. Pour mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment and roast for a total of 15-20 minutes. After about 5-10 minutes stir chickpeas with a wooden spoon to ensure they cook evenly. Continue to roast for another 5-10 minutes. Remove from oven.

Print

Kale Caesar with Tahini Dressing

Kale Caesar salad with roasted chickpeas and a creamy tahini dressing 

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 1 bunch kale (or bag)
• 3/4 cup tahini
• 4 tbsp greek yogurt
• 1 lemon juiced
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 cloves garlic
• ~1/2 cup warm water

Instructions

1. Remove any stems from kale and roughly chop. In a large mixing bowl massage kale for 1-2 minutes. This is super important! It helps to break down the greens and make them easier to eat. 

2. To make dressing: Place all dressing ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth and desired consistency has been achieved (may have to add more water)
   

3. Pour dressing into bowl with kale and toss together until kale leaves are fully coated. Refrigerate for about 30-1 hour hour (this will aid in further softening the kale)

4. Now is a great time to make the roasted chickpeas! See recipe in post. 

5. Remove dressed greens from fridge and add grape tomatoes, roasted chickpeas, and Parmesan cheese (optional)