Rachel Elizabeth’s Warm Ital­ian Kale Salad

This paleo and veg­e­tar­ian friendly kale salad makes a per­fect nutri­tious and clean-eating addi­tion to any serv­ing lean pro­tein for a com­plete low carb ‘Cause Fit­ness Approved’ lean-eating meal…and it’s deli­cious!!!Need ideas for your lean pro­tein choice? Check out my Clean Gro­cery Shop­ping List! 

I made this salad from scratch last week when I wanted to add a super­food, super nutrient-dense power side to my bor­ing last-meal-of-the-day pro­tein shake… I was so excited about it that I doc­u­mented it via iphone pho­tos (I mean, what trainer/nutritionist worth her salt doesn’t pho­to­graph her food? Just sayin’.) so that when it was fin­ished and real­ized it was incred­i­bly deli­cious (and BOY was it ever) I could share it with you all (with a teaser on Insta­gram first, of course). So with­out fur­ther ado, here’s the very easy, very fast recipe for my ‘Warm Ital­ian Kale Salad’…Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 bag of organic kale (I use Trader Joes)
• 1 T coconut oil
• 1 cup mush­rooms, sliced
• 1/2 medium sweet or yel­low onion, chopped
• 6–8 aspara­gus spears, chopped
• 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes
• 1/4 cup parme­san or parme­san & romano cheese (optional)
• Onion pow­der, gar­lic pow­der, black pep­per and sea salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat large skil­let over medium heat.
2. Chop onions and aspara­gus (I used pre­vi­ously steamed aspara­gus), slice mushrooms.
3. Melt coconut oil and coat pan.
4. Add onions, mush­rooms and aspara­gus to pan, toss to coat with coconut oil, and cover to let steam and simmer.
5. When onions are steamed soft, add kale, tomatos and parme­san, and sprin­kle sea­son­ing over the top. Toss with spat­ula to mix.      
6. Cover and steam until Kale is wilted.…ENJOY! :)

Vari­a­tions and Options

To make it more of a Greek fla­vor, sub fat-free feta cheese for the parme­san and toss in 1/2c sliced black olives.

“ALL HAIL THE ALMIGHTY KALE”

Inter­est­ing and fas­ci­nat­ing kale fact: Kale is also a source of indole-3-carbinol, a chem­i­cal which boosts DNA repair in cells and appears to block the growth of can­cer cells.*

[*Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kale]

Nutri­tional Infor­ma­tion: 
Per 1 cup:
calo­ries: 36
Vit­a­min A: 354% RDA
Vit­a­min K: 1328% RDA
Vit­a­min E: 6% RDA
Vit­a­min C: 89% RDA
Cal­cium: 9% RDA
Fiber: 3g
Iron: 6% RDA
Pro­tein: 2g
Carbs: 7g
Fat: 1g

YOUR TURN:

Love this recipe or have a dish you’d like to see ‘cleaned up’ Cause Fit­ness style? Leave a com­ment below!

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