Tart Cherry, Kale and Parmesan Salad with Pecans
Cucumber Kale Mango Salad & Ginger Dressing.....a week of summer salads !
Hello Everybody !
It is so exciting to watch this newsletter grow every week ! I get an email every time I get a new subscriber and it just warms my heart to feel that little boost of support to know there are folks out there who are interested in plant-forward cuisine and watching all this take off ! So for that. Thank you !
Now back to our regularly programmed newsletter… also keep an eye out for next weeks posts for a mini breakfast toast series !
At the beginning of every month I look forward to all the new produce that is coming in season. This week at the shop I got lucky with finding some local fresh cherries and of course wanted to play around with a creative idea. I felt like making a salad with fruit, a fruit salad but not in the ambrosia salad type way. If fresh cherries sound a bit to daunting to try, dried cherries would work out perfect in this as well.
The Weekly Round-Up
Tart Cherry, Kale and Parmesan Salad with Pecans
To balance out the sweetness of the cherries I was craving some crispy and garlicky tofu chunks throughout so I just did a quick and simple marinade before popping them in the air fryer. I know red onions are scary to some but red onions worked so well in this due to their sharpness to kind of contrast with the flesh cherries. Maybe this is controversial but I always massage the dressing with my hands otherwise I don't believe that a salad is actually dressed properly. I know some people like to use tongs but especially for kale, a little massage with the dressing and your hands makes such a difference. I was thinking of a simple yet creamy sort of vinaigrette and leaned towards a lemon Dijon dressing. For balance and an element of deep flavor I lightly toasted some pecans. Of course you could play around with walnuts or almonds but there is something about that deep flavor toasted pecans have.
Now if you have a cherry pitter lying around, go for it. I have been meaning to get my hands on one but for today I didn't have one on hand. I found cutting each cherry like an avocado and giving it a little twist to open worked nicely. After that I just quartered each cherry, cutting it in 4. Cherry pitting aside, this is a super approachable recipe and is so worth it.
Cucumber Kale Mango Salad & Ginger Dressing
The cucumbers this season were sooo crisp. If you are in the Orlando area there are lots of great markets in the area. I love the Winter Park farmers market as well as the Lake Eola Market. I love being able to pick and get first dibs and these cucumbers did not disappoint.
Just like the name suggests we start off by making the ginger dressing in a blender using raw ginger, carrot, miso and grapeseed oil. I sliced the cucumber horizontally and cut the slices on a bias and did a similar cut on the sugar snap peas. For the very essential finishing touches I toasted some coconut flakes and chopped up some roasted peanuts before garnishing with cilantro, green onions and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.
That’s it for this week folks ! I hope you guys have been liking how I have been liking this newsletter now that with a couple weeks I seem to have this Substack thing down.
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