Cranberry Pecan Kale Salad

Here is the story of how I ended up getting Dino Kale home. I usually buy just a bunch of regular kale. You know, the curly leaves kind! So I was at Whole Foods one day and when I went by the greens, there was an old man stocking up. He was blocking the kale that I wanted. Before I could open my mouth, he asked me if I wanted Dino Kale. I said, no just regular. Curiously I told him that I have never tried dino kale. He got excited to explain to me all about Dino Kale. So pretty much what I write below is what I heard from him. Now Dino Kale is the kale that I buy regularly.

Dino Kale or Lacinato Kale are wide leaves and not curly but flat. They are less tart than the original ones. When you want to use them, trim the bottom stem part and place it in water, like you would do with flowers or cilantro or parsley. These leaves perk up and looks as fresh as out of farm in about half an hour.
The best part of these kale is my kids love it too. Dino name gave them a kick in the first place. Since they are less tart they happily finished it off. Pecans well they pick them and give it to us.

Prep Time: 15 min | Serves: 4
* Serving Size: 1 Heaping Cup | Calories: 160 | Carbs: 20 | Fat: 10 | Protein: 3 | Sugar: 10 | Sodium: 31

Ingredients:
Lacinato/ Dino Kale - 1 big bunch
Dried Cranberries - 1/2 Cup
Pecans - 1/3 Cup
Salt - 1/4 tsp.
Pepper (freshly grounded) - 1/4 tsp.
Lemon Juice - 1 tbsp.
Lemon zest - 1/2 tsp.
Olive Oil - 1 tbsp.


Method of Preparation:

~ Wash the Kale under running water for few minutes. Fill a large bowl with water and let the kale soak in there for few more minutes. Any dirt in the will settle below.
~ Take them out and dry it out in salad spinner or just lay them out on towel for few minutes.
~ Chop them coarsely and put it in a serving bowl.
~ In another small bowl, mix cranberries with lemon juice and it's zest.
~ Mix this with the chopped greens, along with all other ingredients, salt, pepper and pecans. Lastly pour olive oil and mix them all gently.
~ To serve this cold, cover and chill for half an hour in the refrigerator.

Notes:
~ You can use any kinds of greens you like.
~ Parmesan or Feta Cheese works wonderfully with this combination. I tend to skip coz not all are cheese lovers at our home. So we put as much as we individually want.

* Disclaimer: Nutrition fact is based on ingredients that I have used and is an approximate. It is calculated using Recipe Nutrition Calculator from a health website.