Kale Salad with Miso Tahini Dressing
Plus, 5 Dinners in Real Life and Autumn envy
Hi!
How’s your week going? Around here the weather is slowly sliding down into the 70s and I’m grateful for the change in temperature. When the heat hits 95°or above - especially after Labor Day - everything in my body short circuits. I feel sluggish and irritable. My motivation plummets. I start questioning all of my life choices and daydream about moving to wet and mossy Scotland where I can drink hot tea and knit sweaters in the rain.
Earlier in the week, when it was 104°, I listened to Kelsey from the Rising Shining podcast bemoan the intense heat in Arizona. It made me feel better for two reasons.
One, nothing makes you feel better than hearing about someone who has it much worse. The weather in Arizona is so much hotter for so much longer than it is in my corner of Southern CA. Hats off to you Arizonans! I honestly don’t know how you do it. Maybe you can share one tip with me: How do you keep from burning your buns on the car seat when you get into the car wearing shorts? (I’m serious…what’s the trick?)
Two, I could really relate to Kelsey’s struggle to keep a positive perspective. We both wonder, is it okay to feel really disgruntled or miserable about one thing in your life when everything else, for the most part, is pretty damn good? And why, after years of living in the same place, can we not just fully accept and embrace the weather instead of wishing it would be different?
This time of year, it’s hard not to let Autumn envy creep into my life. I start seeing pumpkin-spice lattes and photos of leaves turning color and cute cozy sweaters. I notice other people sharing recipes for heavier dishes like beef stew when we’re still in salad season.
I used to joke about having reverse Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) because when I moved to LA I started feeling my mood shift downward during the endless months of summer and then I’d feel so much better during the winter months. Now, I’ve stopped joking about it and believe it’s real thing. Seasonal affective disorder is a type of depression or a lighter “seasonal funk” that's related to changes in season. Who says that the seasonal change has to be winter? If you’re living in California or Texas or Arizona, I know that you know what I’m talking about.
All of this is just a very long introduction to explain why I’m sharing a salad recipe today, instead of something richer, cozier and more fall-like. Also, I’ve been hooked on this miso tahini salad dressing for weeks and couldn’t wait to share it with you!
Recipe of the Week: Kale Salad with Miso Tahini Dressing
Even if you don’t pour it over kale, you need to make this miso tahini dressing. It’s creamy and rich from the nutty tahini, but also salty from the miso and lightened up with fresh lemon. It reminds me of caesar dressing, without the sharp, vinegar tang.
The dressing tastes best over sturdy greens that don’t wilt easily, like kale and/or spinach, or romaine or Little Gem. You can also use regular baby greens tossed with shredded cabbage to give the salad some heft. If you want this salad to be a main course, add salmon (smoked or fresh) or chicken breast.
Lately, I’ve making the salad as it appears on my blog, with kale, spinach, crunchy toasted panko breadcrumbs and grated parmesan. You can find the recipe for the salad HERE.
P.S. The salad dressing recipe includes honey, but I usually leave it out. However, if you like a little bit of sweetness in your salad dressing (especially over a bitter green like kale) go ahead and add it.
How to Prepare Kale for Salad
To make a kale salad, I pull kale leaves off the stem, stack the leaves up and roll them like a cigar. Then I slice the leaves thinly. You can also put kale leaves in the food processor and pulse the blade until the kale is finely chopped. This works especially well with a bag of pre-washed kale from the grocery store.
You can also just tear bite-sized pieces of kale. Bite-sized pieces will be chewier, though. Many recipes tell you to massage bite-sized pieces of kale to make them tender, but I’ve always found the idea of two hands massaging my kale salad to be a bit gross so, yeah, I cut thin strips.
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5 Dinners in Real Life
I’m always curious about what other families are eating. Aren’t you? I hope that my week of real life dinners will provide helpful recipes & cooking ideas for your family. Here’s what my crew ate last week:
Monday: It was Labor Day and Josie’s 10th birthday! We went out for burgers and had homemade cake that she decorated.
Tuesday: I leaned on marinated tofu again, served with cellophane noodles lightly tossed with toasted sesame oil and Trader Joe’s coconut aminos, plus broccoli and egg rolls.
Wednesday: It was too hot outside for anyone to feel like cooking and yet, everyone needed to eat. Ugh. I chopped up cucumber, tomato and mint with lemon juice for a cool and refreshing salad served with hummus, pita bread, tortilla chips, olives and sautéed zucchini. I also made farro, which turned into a salad for lunch the next day when I added a can of chickpeas and leftover zucchini. It was a perfect meal for a hot day.
Thursday: Ugh. It was still so hot outside and I had zero desire to eat or cook. I ended up making pasta served cold with pesto (here’s a similar recipe for orzo pesto salad.) We also had leftover farro salad, and Josie ate microwaved rice with seaweed and avocado.
Friday: I gave up completely on cooking dinner. It was leftovers, find your own dinner, Getcheroni, YOYO (you’re on your own) or whatever your family calls those nights when everyone has to fend for themselves in the kitchen!
Cookbooks
Just like last week, I’m recommending a new cookbook from a fellow Substack food writer. I haven’t had a chance to read The Weekday Vegetarians Get Simple by Jenny Rosenstrach yet, but I know I can wholeheartedly recommend it.
Jenny Rosenstrach gets weekday cooking and how challenging it can be. Her recipes are simple and family-oriented and although her last two cookbooks are veggie-focused, they’re not only for vegetarians. This cookbook is written for people who aspire to cook more vegetarian meals and need a little help and inspiration. I definitely fall into that category as my family shifts to more vegetarian eating and less meat. I can’t wait to checkout this cookbook! (I mean that literally, because I checkout 90% of the cookbooks I read from the library - give it a try!)
That’s it for this week! I leave you with this picture of Tiger because cats are having a moment and around here we certainly love ours. She seems to deal with the heat better than I do 🙂
Have a good weekend,
Jenny
