Kale Poppyseed Salad

This salad has not only become a family favorite, but the sophisticated pairing of all the ingredients together has made it a go-to side dish for "wowing" guests in our house.  It's easy to make, yet still gorgeous and delicious enough to make for any occasion. Especially when that occasion calls for feeding a large sum of people. Naming this salad was particularly difficult as well, because there are so many flavors that stand out and fend for themselves.

This salad is highly nutrient dense with a variety of vegetables providing a nice addition to your daily micros. But the best part about this salad is how simple it is to prepare. There's hardly any cutting involved, and your sink will be empty by the time you have this served.  Hastily prepared 3 ingredient caesar salads will become a thing of the past after you've seen how quick this salad can be made. 

When my mom first made this salad, I cringed at the foreign concept of eating a raw brussel sprout.  I had only ever had them cooked, and I could already taste bitterness at the thought of eating them raw. But somehow, with the balance of tangy cranberries and sweet poppyseed, they're not at all bitter.  I learned quickly that I had truly been missing out.  This is where a brussel sprout belongs in my opinion; chopped in half, and cozied up next to all other delicious and fresh ingredients.

The last time my mom made this was for my nephews 3rd birthday party.  We had about 20 adults over and in an effort to "guess-timate" the amount of food we would need to feed everyone, my mom just grabbed a huge bowl and dumped all the pre-cut ingredients in. There, salad. That being said, I don't really know the exact measurements of everything that actually goes into this dish.  My suggestion is to do what we did, and just "guess-timate" it.  The ratio that we use tends to be 1:1 of all the veggies. A little tip is to leave your salads undressed with a bowl of dressing on the side for dinner guests to add as they please.  That way, your salad, nor your leftovers can ever get soggy. 

Besides excluding ingredient measurements in this recipe, i'm also not including calories.  Thats because micronutrients like vegetables and the cranberries in this salad, barely have any.  And the calories that they do have, you shouldn't be too worried about counting.  I promise, it's all good for you in this one.  The calories that you DO want to count in this recipe come from the dressing mainly.  However, as we keep our salad dry and only dress to preference, the consumed amount of calories that you have based on how much dressing you use and which dressing you use, is totally subjective. 

Hope you guys enjoy this one! I promise it's a goodie.

Ingredients:

- Baby Arugula

- Baby Kale

- Romaine Lettuce 

- Brussel Sprouts

- Shredded red cabbage

- Shredded Carrots

- Shelled Pumpkin seeds (salted preferred)

- Dried cranberries 

- Any Sweet Poppyseed dressing of preference*

* My preferred brand of poppyseed dressing is "Marzetti" sweet Poppyseed dressing

Instructions:

1. Slice raw brussel sprouts the long way into 1/4 size pieces.

2. Chop romaine into bite size pieces.

3. In a large bowl, add in equal parts brussel sprouts, romaine, baby arugula, baby kale, shredded red cabbage, and shredded carrots. Toss well.

4. Add handfuls of pumpkin seeds and dried cranberries to taste.

5. Serve tossed in poppyseed dressing or with poppyseed dressing on the side.