Interesting Winter Salad

Photo from blog " What's cooking good looking "

I made a rather interesting winter salad for dinner tonight.  I got the recipe from a blog I follow called "What's cooking good looking". 

In general I am not a big fan of kale, but I do love roasted vegetables, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Craig really liked it, so I guess it will become part of our repertoire. Below is the recipe and changes I made. 

I think it would also be good with roasted baby golden beets, or any of several other vegetables.

Mustard Marinated Kale with Roasted Winter Vegetables

serves2 people

ingredients

5-6 large dinosaur kale leaves, stems removed and very finely chopped (This didn't seem like nearly enough because the leaves I had were quite small, so I used six small leaves from a bunch of dino-kale, and about the same from a bunch of curly kale.)
4-5 small "rainbow" carrots, tops removed and cleaned (I doubled this because mine looked so good.  I also cut them into thirds.)

3 shallots, sliced into wedges
3-4 Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and thinly sliced
10 or so endive leaves (I used one large endive.)
3-4 sage leaves (I used fresh, but I think dried would be OK.)
1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves (packed tightly) (I used dried)
1-2 tablespoons grapeseed oil (or another high-heat oil)
salt+pepper

for the mustard marinade:
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (or 1 tablespoon Real Lemon juice concentrate, I used two and we decided it was a bit too lemony)
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon grainy mustard 

method

• Preheat the oven to 400º
• Place the carrots, shallots, Jerusalem artichokes, endive, sage, and oregano in a medium-large sized  roasting pan and toss with the grapeseed oil and salt and pepper.
• Roast in the oven for 30-35 minutes, until the vegetables have started to caramelize brown.
• While the vegetables are roasting, marinate the kale. Whisk together the ingredients for the mustard marinade until they are emulsified. Place the finely chopped kale in a large bowl and pour in ¾ of the marinade. Massage the marinade into the kale using your hands. Set aside until the vegetables are done (the longer the better, this will allow the kale to break down a bit and not be so tough).
• Allow the vegetables to cool slightly, then arrange them on top of the kale. Use the last ¼ of the dressing to drizzle over the vegetables. Season with extra salt and pepper or olive oil if you like.

I made a Trader Joe's par-baked sourdough bread and served it warm on the side.  It was filling enough that the salad and bread were a complete meal.

The source blog has many interesting recipes that fit into a healthy eating plan. If you like to try new things, take a look.

[From Craig] In case this recipe doesn't fill you up for the whole night, or any time you want a nice snack, try sour cream spinach dip with reduced fat Wheat Thin crackers. I used Trader Joe's spinach dip, but any prepared dip (or your own) should go wonderfully with these crackers, which are the ultimate rarity: a low-fat version that's better than the original.