Mexican Kale Salad with Avocado Dressing

If you saw my last post you’ll notice a theme - KALE. It’s still growing and there is more in the garden. You may remember that kale is not Dan’s favorite - but he’s learning to adapt (notice I did not say love it).

The tomatoes have stopped ripening - it’s just not warm enough for them so I think there will be some fried green tomatoes in our future - yum. The winter squash is starting to ripen and I can’t wait for the first batch of curried squash and apple soup with homemade bread. Of course that will be followed by stuffed, baked, sautéed, and many other versions of squash. 

We planted 3 varieties of squash this year; regular honeynut, Honeybear honeynut, and acorn. The Honeybear is significantly smaller than the honeynut but just as sweet. At last count, there were about 30 so we’ll see how many survive to harvest. 

Finally the turnips and beets. The turnips are doing very well but the beets are not so much and most of that is thanks to the #$@#$ squirrels - I hate those little buggers. Not only are they digging up the beets but they are biting the heads off my zinnias and then sitting on the deck and shredding them - not sure what’s up with that but I’m not loving it. 

In an effort to use up the kale, I found another salad to try. I figured since it had black beans, peppers, onions, and corn Dan wouldn’t complain too much. I served it with fresh bruschetta - it was delicious.

Ingredients:

4 cups (5 oz) regular or baby kale stalks removed & coarsely chopped
14 oz can low sodium black beans drained and rinsed
1 cup corn fresh or frozen (thawed)
1 medium bell pepper diced
1 1/2 large avocado pitted and diced
1 large tomato chopped
1/2 cup red onion finely chopped
1/2 cup cilantro finely chopped
1 tbsp jalapeño peppers seeded & minced

Avocado Dressing

1/2 large avocado pitted
1 tiny piece of jalapeno seeded for less heat
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 lime juice of
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Instructions:

In a large salad bowl, add kale, black beans, corn, bell peppers, avocado, tomato, red onion, cilantro and jalapenos.

In a food processor or blender, add 1/2 avocado, jalapeno, warm water, lime juice, cumin, salt, pepper and process until smooth.

Pour dressing over salad, gently toss and serve.

Thanks for stopping by!