Tuesday, January 12, 2010

A Special Kind of Salad That Needs "Pampering"

I admit, I've been addicted to reading food blogs lately. I have a few 'go-to' ones that I comb through daily since there are just so many out there in cyberspace. To me, food blogs can be categorized into two sides - the 'cooker' and the 'restaurant-attender'. Of course, there's a gray area, but in general, you see this trend.
I like to read the 'cooker's' blogs for recipe inspirations and practically 3D-liked photos of food. But I also like to read the restaurant reviewer's writings to prep myself for times I need to pick a place to dine out. Albeit I don't dine out often, but I think my vocabularies actually improved just by reading these posts!

Most food blogs are either dedicated to dessert or the 'health' road, you know, the cooked oatmeal, the Lara Bars, or the obscene variation of salads. Last year, I was obsessed with steel cut oatmeal, but I have passed that phase. Not a big oatmeal morning person afterall (and you?) But recently, I'm embracing the incredibility (is there such a word?) of avocado. Yea, it's high in fat, yadda yadda yadda, but a little goes a long way and I think it's a much healthier spread than butter or cream cheese. I'm even thinking of subbing it in some baking recipe. Just to experiment with it. So many foodie blogs are featuring this so called 'massaged' kale salad. Yes, you actually put you hands into the chopped greens and rub it like you would to marinate a chicken or a turkey. The 'massaging' helps to break down the cellular structure of this difficult to digest raw kale. Most recipes ask for a bit of salt, olive oil and of course, avocado, but I omit it (not a salt person, sorry) and just use avocado and good olive oil. I let the combination sit overnight and I think my kale salad still softened enough for me to eat. I also 'massage' in some diced tomato and black pepper, but basically, you can add any vegetables you like. I love this salad. I just can't imagine how refreshing this would be on a hot, summer day.

1 comment:

Jessica@Foodmayhem said...

I haven't heard of the rubbed or massaged kale, but Lon is not a fan so it rarely makes an appearance in my house.