Massaged Kale Salad with Avocado and Tomatoes

Its day one of my 8-day detox and I’m trying to be enthusiastic about it, but I am honestly finding that a little difficult to do right now, without my usual coffee fix. Why am I doing a detox? Well, I feel that when you love to eat and drink wine like I do, its important to give your body a break every once in awhile to recharge. Ideally, that break should be at least a couple weeks, but that’s just not going to happen for me in my life right now, so 8 days seemed like a good start. I have convinced Kerry to join me as its really tough to do alone. God bless her. We have eliminated caffeine, sugar, dairy, gluton, alcohol, red meat, shellfish and pork and are instead eating tons of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and beans. In the middle of summer, when everyone feels frisky and wants to spend time out and about with friends, eating and drinking, so its a bit challenging to stick to this regime. I am going to do my best to make our food delicious enough this week that it won’t feel like I’m punishing myself. This kale is one that we had as part of our dinner tonight and it rocked. You all know how I love kale if you read this blog often, and it IS a nutritional powerhouse. It only makes sense that this would be a key ingredient in the cleanse. The avocado make it taste like there is a rich, cheesy dressing on the kale and the cherry tomatoes add a brightness and an acidity that compliment the creaminess.

Massaged Kale Salad with Avocado and Tomatoes
2 heads of Lacinto Kale (Dinosaur), destemmed and chopped finely and washed
1 avocado
Juice of two small lemons
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts, garnish
Procedure:
1. Squeeze lemon over chopped garlic and let sit while you prepare the kale.
2. Wash and dry the kale in a salad spinner and put in a large bowl. Drizzle the lemon with garlic over it and add the salt. Massage into the leaves with your hands until it is completely incorporated.
3. Scoop out the avocado into the mixture. Massage the avocado into the kale and adjust salt to taste.
4. Stir in cherry tomato halves and top with pine nuts before serving.