Pinned It & Did It! Parmesan Kale Salad

On my way back from Singapore in February, I had a nice long layover in SoCal which meant I could join my cousin and her hubs for a quick dinner before heading back to Chicago - along with surprise guest, my dad! The 4 of us went down to Tender Greens and I had this totally killer Kale Salad as one of my sides. I came back to Chicago try to convince the Baconator that we had to try to make this ourselves and he pretty much laughed at me.  "Raw kale is bitter, that would taste terrible," he said, brushing the suggestion aside, but I still couldn't get this simple salad out of my head. The menu simply stated: kale, parmesan, roasted garlic vinaigrette. Really? That's it? How in the world was I supposed to replicate? Clearly I couldn't, so I gave up.

I was at the farmers market last week and saw some gorgeous kale on sale and I started thinking back to that salad, so... (To the tune of Mighty Mouse) Here comes Pinterest to save the day! I searched all the pins and found this awesome recipe from The Slender Student.

Pin it!

Here's the recipe from The Slender Student

Ingredients:1 bunch of kale
3 T chopped onion
2 T minced garlic
1 T olive oil
juice of one lemon
2 T shredded parmesan cheese

Directions:1. Thoroughly rinse and dry your kale. Chop into bite size pieces and place in a large bowl.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together your onion, minced garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, and parmesan cheese.
3. Pour the dressing over the kale and massage with your hands for a minute or two until the leaves are slightly wilted.
4. Refrigerate for at least an hour before eating to allow the kale to absorb the flavor.

The ingredients were simple as was the prep, so off I went to clean, tear and massage my kale into a delicious splendor. The recipe called for a bunch of kale, which I assumed didn't mean the GIANT bunch I got from the market, so I added some extra garlic and onion, but otherwise followed the instructions to a T - don't do that folks, it gives you crazy bad garlic breath!  I am also a sucker for shredded parm so I added a bit more of that goodness... and good it was :)

Yum! Did it!

I'll definitely make this bad boy again, but next time I'm going to try and roast the garlic in my oven before making the dressing since the current version is hot with the raw garlic flavor.  Do you have a favorite Kale salad recipe that is your go to?

Love and Bacon,
Kelsey

Bikram? Yes, Ma'am!

It's been about 11 months since the last time I went to Bikram, not because I didn't like it but because I didn't want to get up at 5 am to do it... so laziness. I've tried some Hot Yoga places, but I really missed Bikram - I'm a hot yoga snob that can only really be satisfied by the sweaty awesomeness of Bikram Hot Yoga.   

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What is Bikram?  It's a technique that was developed by Rajashree Choudhury in the late 70s centered around exactly 26 poses in 90 minutes in a room that is heated to 105°F degrees with 40% humidity. Pretty much, you go into the yoga studio wearing the least amount of clothing you can stand, start sweating immediately, work through 2 reps of each position, and leave covered in sweat and feeling better and more accomplished than you'd believe. 

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So anyway, I saw a Gilt deal for a new studio on the west side of town and couldn't resist a $40 for 20 deal. It had been so long, and I kept reminding myself of last year's resolution to "Recommit to my Bikram yoga practice by going at least 3 times a week." Clearly I let that 2012 resolution fall by the wayside last April, so with a good deal in my sight, I thought it was time to go back.  

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 I definitely had forgotten how hard the classes are. I sauntered in there all "Oh yeah, no problemo, it's just been a few months since my last class," then I kept finding myself sitting on my mat with my head spinning thinking "WHEN WILL THIS END?!?!?!"  By the time the class ended, I had to accept that I'm way out of shape, that I have no right to be caught in stretchy shorts, and that I will absolutely be coming back as soon as I can. 

Have you tried tried Bikram? What did you think of it?