Kale and Apple Salad

It has been almost a month since I posted a recipe - must be the post-Christmas lull...

Here is a recipe for a delicious salad that includes kale.  I've always sauteed or baked my kale. On New Year's Eve, one of my mom's friend's brought a kale salad with blue cheese and I sat there investigating every single ingredient.  It was so good!  I asked her a few questions and pondered how I could make it better.  Here is the result of my pondering:

Kale and Apple Salad

Dressing

1/8 cup olive oil
1/8 cup lemon juice
1-2 tsp. honey

Whisk together and set aside.

Salad Ingredients

1 bunch of kale (washed, center ribs and stems removed, leaves thinly sliced crosswise)
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1 apple pear diced (or granny smith)
1/4 cup dried cranberries or blueberries
1/4 toasted almond
1/4 crumbled goat cheese

Place the sliced kale in a medium bowl and sprinkle with salt.  Gently massage the salt into the kale until it turns a darker green and is softened. In a small bowl, place the diced apple and the dressing, tossing to coat.  This will stop the apple from turning brown.  Add the apple dressing mixture, cranberries, and almonds to the kale.  Toss the salad together.  Crumble the goat cheese on top.

*This salad will keep in the fridge for about 5 days.  It actually tastes better after a day or two!

Dark Chocolate Cranberry Biscotti

Christmas is over and I am very sad about that, but I am happy to still have quite a few days left of my Christmas holidays. Over the last few weeks I made pecan shortbread, gingerbread, pecan and raisin mini-muffins, chocolate macaroons, and dark chocolate truffles.  The highlight of my holiday baking was being given the responsibility, along with my cousin Courtney, to make dessert for Christmas day supper.  We made a Honey Ricotta cheesecake courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis recipe here and Elana's Dark Chocolate mousse recipe here.  Both were delicious and, best of all, I ensured they were gluten free.  I made some changes to both recipes to bring down the amount and kind of sweetener that was in them.  There were no complaints on Christmas day! 

I recently tried the biscotti recipe from The Cavewoman Cafe. While making the biscotti, I made some slight changes to their recipe.

Dark Chocolate Cranberry Biscotti 

1/4 cup honey
2 eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla
3 cups almond flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 chopped dark chocolate (I use Bernard Callebaut)
1/2 cup dried cranberries (or blueberries)

Preheat the oven to 325'F.  Line a baking pan with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients - almond flour, salt and baking soda.  In a smaller bowl whisk together the eggs and vanilla. Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients.  Combine until all dry ingredients are blended in.  Fold in the dark chocolate and cranberries.

Sprinkle the parchment paper with about a tablespoon of almond flour (dusting).  Place the biscotti dough in the middle of the parchment paper and create a log. You can fold the parchment paper over the dough to avoid your hands sticking to the dough.  Your log should be about 12'' long.  Press down (flatten) the log so it is about 3/4'' thick.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Remove and let cool.  Once cool, gently slice the biscotti into slices.  Place the slices back on the tray and bake for 3 minutes, flip the slices onto the other side and bake for 3 more minutes.  Serve with goat's milk (Michael's favourite) or a nice cup of tea!

*Optional - melt some dark chocolate and drizzle over the top of the biscotti.