Hail to the Kale Salad

The Story

There was much Mama could not eat, due to her digestive issues, but she was long devoted to dark green leafy vegetables for eye health. I don’t know that it mattered, in the end, her vision all but completely gone. But maybe it put off the inevitable for a while. At one visit to her long-time macular degeneration specialist, he curtly dismissed her fears of going blind, saying, “You will never be blind.” I raised my eyebrows, and Mama didn’t buy it for a minute. Perhaps he would have been right had she not lived so many more years.

I was not a fan of kale, but I learned to cook it for her. (Goat cheese makes all things edible.) She couldn’t eat it raw, of course, and I had no interest either. Until, my first road trip after her death, a friend and I went to the Redwoods. On the way back, in Bend, Oregon, we discovered Hail to the Kale salad. It’s a summer staple now.

There isn’t really a recipe, just the ingredients from the menu. I alter it as I please, adding and deleting ingredients, and you can too. (P.S. There are many Hail to the Kale recipes online. Google is your friend, though I haven’t explored them.)

The Recipe

Curly kale, massaged (Google it)
Brussels sprouts, sliced thin
Cabbage, sliced thin
Carrots, julienned
Green apples
Quinoa
Candied walnuts
Cranberries
Balsamic dressing

Additions: goat cheese or feta; avocado; mango; salmon, pan-seared tuna, or chicken