Give Your Veggies A Rub Down

Even though my back has an unbearable amount of knots and I've been whining about needing a massage for weeks, my kale took precedence over me. Sometimes, in order to make your veggies happy and delicious, you need to give 'em a little rub down. Kale is one of those vegetables. Some people think it's necessary to cook kale (and other greens) to death in order to make them palatable, but I don't think that's the case. I eat my kale raw most of the time, in smoothies and in salads such as this one.


Massaged kale salad with fennel and pear
Ingredients
- 5-6 cups kale (I didn't measure, so use whatever feels good)
- Juice of 2 lemons, zest of one
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves
- Sea salt

- Fennel, thinly sliced. Fronds reserved
- 1 large red bosc pear, thinly sliced

Instructions
- In a large bowl, add kale, lemon juice/zest, olive oil, garlic and salt. Gently massage for 5 minutes or until kale begins to break down and soften. It will reduce by about half. Set aside in the fridge.
- Before serving, layer slices of fennel and pear around a large serving dish. Add kale to the center and garnish with fennel fronds and a grind of coarse cracked pepper. Serve and enjoy!



To go with the now relaxed and rejuvenated kale, I made a refreshing, light gazpacho. But this isn't a usual gazpacho - I had to add a Krystina twist.


Yellow watermelon gazpacho
Ingredients
- 1/4 yellow watermelon (can sub pink if yellow is unavailable). Reserve half.
- 1 large cucumber, peeled
- 1 tomato
- 1 yellow pepper
- 1 red onion
- 1/2 habenero pepper
- Juice and zest of 1 lime
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- Small handful of cilantro (didn't measure, just ripped)
- S&P, to taste

Instructions
- Dump everything (except cilantro) into a blender and blend until it's smooth as silk. Unless you have a Vitamix or something similar, I suggest blending the mixture in batches to make it easier on both your blender and yourself.
- Pour into a serving bowl. Cut remaining watermelon into chunks and add chunks to gazpacho. Tear cilantro to finish and give it a quick stir. Chill until serving.


Despite the fact that this meal looks easy and wasn't very complex, it took over an hour to prepare and I still managed to use 7 bowls. I have no idea how that happened, but it did. At least my kale feels good. Now, if only I could say the same about my back.