I have been kind of a zombie the last couple of days. I guess I am just not fully back from spring break mode. I have taken many naps, completed only a small portion of my to-do list, and have yet to finish my research paper. Except the other day, after having a two hour nap I decided I needed to kick it into high gear and actually got a lot done. This salad being one of them.

I saw this salad on the blog shutterbean (the same blog I recently got the banana nut waffles recipe from), and was a little skeptical. First, it just seemed like an odd combination. Second, I’ve never had kale before. Alas, it looked really healthy, and after a week of being in Houston and stuffing my face with restaurant foods and alcohol, I decided we’d be eating very healthy this week (in hopes this would offset bad eating from last week). To my surprise, this salad was great! The best part too was that I felt great about eating it.

Here are the ingredients…

The first thing I did was preheat my oven to 350 degrees F. Then I whisked together my olive oil, sesame oil, and soy sauce.

In another bowl I added in my kale and coconut and 2/3rds of the dressing mixture.

Then I spread my kale and coconut onto a baking sheet and cooked for about 14 minutes.

Finally, I topped some brown rice with the oven cooked kale and coconut, and I added just a bit more soy sauce to my brown rice… and enjoyed!

This salad is definitely different than other salads, but it is definitely worth a try. We really enjoyed it. It was really easy to make, and I am sure you will feel good about eating it!

Kale Salad with Toasted Coconut & Sesame Oil on Brown Rice
Makes about 4 servings, although it ended up being about 3 for Sam and I

Ingredients:

✔1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
✔1 teaspoon sesame oil
✔2 tablespoons shoyu, tamari or soy sauce
✔3 1/2 cups shredded lacinato kale (ribs removed)
✔1 1/2 cup unsweetened large flake coconut (I couldn’t find big flaked unsweetened coconut so I used shredded unsweetened coconut… it worked fine too)
✔2 cups cooked brown rice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the oils with the shoyu.  In a large bowl, toss the kale and coconut with about two-thirds of the dressing.

Spread the kale evenly across two baking sheets and bake until the coconut is nice and golden and the kale is wilted, tossing once or twice along the way about 12-18 minutes.

Remove from oven and transfer the kale mixture to a medium bowl. Take a taste of the mixture and if it needs more dressing add some and toss. Place the brown rice on a serving platter and top with the tossed kale. Serve warm.