Kale and Brussels Sprout Salad with Pear and Bacon

Kale salad…it’s delicious I promise!

It’s January. Time to stop eating chocolates like they are vitamins and drinking eggnog right out of the carton. After a holiday season of eating and drinking WAY too much, I stepped on the scale and almost died. So I’ve stepped back and I’m trying to make positive changes in my diet so that I won’t need to buy a new, larger wardrobe.

However, before you ask….I am not doing anything extreme. I’m not giving up anything. However, I am going to try to cut back on sugar and grains.  I’m also adding in lots of green leafy vegetables.  For breakfast, I really enjoy a delicious green smoothie full of spinach and blueberries for an antioxidant kickstart. For lunch I like to have a salad of some kind. Today I made this beautiful (look at those lovely shades of green!) and delicious kale and brussels sprout salad that I was introduced to by my friend Julie van Rosendaal except I changed it up a wee bit.

Here is my take on the salad and you will notice that I am NOT giving up everything because that IS bacon that you see. 🙂 Also, if you hate brussels sprouts, do not be afraid of this salad. Since they aren’t cooked, they do not take on that sulphur-y taste that they can sometimes have. Even Dewey, the biggest brussesl sprout hater in the world, loves this salad. That is saying a lot.

Kale Salad Recipe:

Kale and Brussels Sprout Salad with Pear and Bacon

Kick your salad game up a notch with this delicious kale and brussel sprouts salad. 

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Course: Salad

Cuisine: American/Canadian

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Servings: 6

Calories: 265kcal

Author: Merry Adapted from Dinner with Julie

Ingredients

• 5 large kale leaves approximately
• 6 medium/large brussels sprouts approximately
• 1/4 medium onion preferably red but any will do, sliced thin
• 1/4 cup shredded pecorino or parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup roasted almonds coarsely chopped
• 1 pear cored and coarsely chopped
• 6 - 8 slices of bacon fried crisp and chopped

Dressing

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 2 Tbsp grainy mustard
• pinch sugar
• 1/4 tsp Sriracha
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

• Remove stems from kale and slice very thinly. Add to medium salad bowl.
• Remove any dried leaves from the outside of the brussels sprouts. Cut in half and then slice thinly discarding the stem end. Add to bowl with kale.
• Add onions, parmesan, almonds, pear and bacon to the salad bowl.
• In a large measuring cup, add all dressing ingredients and whisk.
• Pour dressing over salad and toss.

Notes

If you are planning to eat this later or a bit at a time, you may want to leave the bacon out of the salad until you serve it. This salad gets more delicious as it sits so it is a great salad to make and eat every day for lunch.

Nutrition

Calories: 265kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 2mg | Sodium: 152mg | Potassium: 408mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 98.4% | Vitamin C: 94.5% | Calcium: 15% | Iron: 8.1%