I just had the longest and most wonderful couple of days in LA with my darling husband and then my girlfriends that I never get to see enough of. The kind of girlfriends that I spend the entire time laughing with. Like laughing so hard that I cry and my stomach hurts. And that ladies and gentlemen, is a really great feeling.
We were down working on a really exciting project that I will get to tell all of you about very soon!! And I can’t wait, because it is A-W-E-S-O-M-E.
So, In all honesty, I am finding that I still struggle slightly when I am away from home and my normal routine to hold my allergies under control. I accidentally had some ice tea that clearly had some tropical fruit in it that gave me a bad sore throat one day that ended in benadryl. I ate God knows what another day that had me in a full blown allergic reaction that involved a dose of steroids! And I have to just kind of laugh and move onto the next day and try again to do the best I can. I realize it is just about getting comfortable with speaking up EVERY single time I go some where that I receive ANY food or drink.
I am still so embarrassed that I preface every conversation with a waiter with “Oh my gosh, I am so sorry to be the most annoying person here, but…..” the joy of doing that in LA is that 9 times out of 10 they said “no big deal, welcome to LA” like everyone orders weird! It was kind of a relief…
OK- I will stop babbling about that and start talking about this Kale Taco Salad, which is what I came home and made for lunch today as soon as I got off the airplane. I was so excited to just chow down after feeling like I had been carefully dodging food bullets all weekend. Like I just wanted to eat until I was full and know that NOTHING was going to happen to me! (isn’t that kind of sad?!)
And the name Kale Taco Salad doesn’t really do the salad justice (like I’m not sure that make it sound that great!?) But it is. It really is so good. I said that it is for four people below, because it should be, but Pete and I ate this entire thing and I didn’t even blink an eye about it. This is something that falls into my favorite category I have been talking about for summer that I call “Salad for Dinner” Salad. It’s the greatest way to eat during these warmer months and this salad hits all of your cravings for Mexican food while keeping it clean!! Hope you like it ☺
Recipe: Kale Taco Salad
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or vegetable oil
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 medium zucchini, diced
- 1 jalapeno, diced
- ¾ pound ground turkey
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- Kosher salt to taste
- 1 head curly kale, finely shredded
- 1 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 ear of corn kernels, raw
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- ½ cup jicama, thinly sliced
- ½ cup fresh cilantro leaves, loosely packed
- 2 tablespoons prepared salsa
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- In a sauté pan, over medium heat add the olive oil and the onion and jalapeño. Cook for 3 minutes until tender and translucent.
- Add the zucchini and cook another 2 minutes.
- Add the turkey and break up as you cook it. Add the cumin and chili powder. Cook until the turkey is cooked through. Season to taste and remove the turkey mixture from the heat.
- Assemble all of the components of the salad.
- In the jar of a blender, combine the salsa, vinegar and olive oil and puree until you have a smooth dressing.
- Toss the kale and the dressing until the kale is well dressed. Lay the kale down on a serving platter. Add the turkey combination and all of the fresh veggies to the top.
- Toss together and serve.
Preparation time: 10 minute(s)
Cooking time: 10 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 4
You are the queen of gorgeous salads that make me want to dive in, headfirst! Seriously another showstopper! Pinned
And so glad you had a totally awesome weekend with your girlfriends in LA! The weather was certainly great here this weekend and glad you had fun!
This is my dream dinner! I love taco salad and kale so much! Great idea combining the two!!
Beautiful salad!
I am so bad. As I kept looking at the pictures of your gorgeous salad, I kept thinking, look at the yummy bacon bits and cheese she put on there. Surprise, surprise. It turned out to be jicama and ground turkey! The salad looks so delicious, though, I’m sure I wouldn’t miss them.
BTW- your next cookbook should be your “salad for dinner” concept. People really have trouble putting together healthy yet substantial and filling salads.
I love LA and their laid-back attitude. If it were DC, I swear the waiters would eye-roll you and be so snotty about your dietary restrictions. Another reason to move to the west coast, haha – love this kale taco salad! So much awesome going on!
Love this salad! Glad you had a fun trip!
It’s so true that everyone orders weird in L.A. Glad the restaurants were nice and accommodating–and hope you enjoyed your time here!
Your salads are always just the absolute prettiest!! I really love this one, such great flavors and I love all those colors!!
Food allergies are always a bit harder to manage while on travel. But as you mentioned everyone in LA does it “my way”
What a great salad! Seriously, you make the best salads ever. I love how I can usually leave out one ingredient or sub one in and it’s perfectly veggie-ized.
My question is, how in the world did you manage to carry on all those years if two minor offenses in L.A. did that to you? It must be such a relief to at least know what to do now when it happens by accident.
This is salad perfection!!! Traveling with food allergies is SO hard, but it is a little easier here in LA. When we go back to the south to visit and I inquire about gluten free foods for my son and husband I am often given blank stares in return by the waiters.
This is so beautiful!! And it looks so delicious too. Gotta make this! 🙂
This salad is so gorgeous, just what I want for lunch. Glad you had a great time in LA, can’t wait to hear more!
This is the perfect salad Heather!! Love these flavors!!
Hi Heather,
I’ve been meaning to write for quite some time and tell you howich I love your recipes and photography. Thanks so much for the inspiration and beautiful images!
What a beautiful salad! Perfect for a summer day 🙂
Happy Blogging!
Happy Valley Chow
Salads for dinner are the best in the hot summer. I’m sorry about your allergies, but glad you had a good time with friends. I love the feeling of laughing so hard it hurts. Friends are best for that!
My husband is always fearful about speaking up about his allergies because he doesn’t want to draw attention to himself – so I can definitely understand how you feel! There is nothing better than the comforts of home where you know what goes into everything. Love kale and I love taco salad, so this sounds amazing!
Must try this salad over the weekend!
Yum! I love it!!! This looks so gorgeous as well, and kale totally makes it good for your right? Haha 🙂
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I love how you have transformed a potentially junk-food dish into something healthful and beautiful and delicious. So amazing! As for LA…. everyone orders weird stuff like that. 🙂 You fit right in!
Thank you so much Meggan! I know, I was kind of digging LA- the only city no one rolled their eye’s at me in!
You left out what to do with the jalopena. It is listed before the ground turkey which makes me think it is cooked with the turkey. Is that correct? Or is it a raw ingredient?
Thank you Kathy! I fixed that- yes, it cooks with the onion!