marinated kale salad

now, this one goes great with the lemony pasta from my last post.

i found this original recipe at http://vegnews.com/web/articles/page.do?pageId=1464&catId=10
and as usual, i changed it some to fit what i had on hand.  the way i made it was great, so i'm gonna post MY modified version.

you start by washing and shaking a bunch of kale.  now, the bunch i had was the curly kale, and i had already used a few stalks in the lemony pasta.  anyway, you chop it up just as i mentioned in the last recipe.  to restate in case you are visiting just this recipe... "you wash them, shake them, lay them on a towel to drip even more, then shake them again and just grab the green part and pull the stem off.  the stem goes up most of the leaf.  don't worry about tearing the leaf because you chop that up anyway.  after i have all the leaves separated, i hold them tight and chop them into about 1/2 inch pieces, and then turn and keep chopping.  then i keep chopping and chopping until they are all small pieces.  it may be personal preference, but i don't like big pieces of kale.  kale is NOT lettuce, like lettuce i mean, lettuce chews easily.  kale is tough, so i try to chop it as much as i can."
ok. put the kale in a bowl.

wash and stem an 8 oz container of mushrooms - then slice them.  or, you can buy them already sliced.  i just used regular white mushrooms.  add them to the kale.

take a red onion, cut off about 1/3 of it, and then THINLY slice it and then dice it coarsly.  add that to the bowl.

take the juice from about a lemon and a half (depending on how big and juicy they are, going for 1/4 to 1/3 cup of lemon juice) and add between 1/8 to 1/4 cup of soy sauce - this you have to taste. i added the soy sauce right into the bottom of my juicer bowl.   it needs to be salty enough.  then add 2 tbs of olive oil.  whisk, and pour over the kale. 

use tongs to mix the dressing on all the leaves - or your hands.  when you are ready to serve (i let it sit overnight in the fridge), dice 2 avocados and add to the salad. 

THIS IS AMAZING!  i know you probably think that kale is gross but the dressing sorts softenes the leaves.  and the dressing is wonderful, the avocado is a must-have in it too.  the avocados didn't turn brown overnight too (my salad wasn't eaten all in one day).  it actually lasted 2 days and they avocadoes were fine.  i ended up mixing some of the pasta in with the juice on the last day/serving of the kale.  it will make some juice towards the end, i had to drain a little of it.  i think my leaves were a little wet.

anyway, try it.  this is delish!  and so simple.  and light - but filling!  you'll be surprised!  my MOM liked it!