recipe by Saskia Gregson-Williams

I’m somewhat of a kale salad fiend, I absolutely love them! Not only is kale amazing for your health (more on that later), but when soft and dressed with an incredible thick, creamy dressing it is just so delicious too. Tahini is one of my favourite bases for all dressing and sauces, with a touch of lemon, lime or orange juice, a little olive oil and possibly a touch of tamari – just incredible. These dressings completely converted me from disliking tahini with a passion, to going through a jar a week! I always find when you have a delicious sauce meals come together very easily, you can simply have a bowl of steamed rainbow vegetables and grains, dressed in this sauce it will be a taste sensation.

Kale is a nutritional powerhouse and the King of greens. It’s an amazing source of iron, having calorie for calorie more iron than beef! It’s an amazing source of immune boosting antioxidants and a powerful anti-inflammatory, which both protect the body against free radicals and disease. Kale also contains a wealth of calcium, calorie for calorie even more than milk! This helps maintain strong and health bones and prevents against bone weakness and osteoporosis. Kale is a great source of fibre making it a perfect detox food.

The Tahini dressing is massaged into the kale to wilt it without cooking it and loosing any of the nutrients, it’s then paired with amazing cinnamon roasted sweet potato wedges, creamy avocado cubes, pomegranate seeds, and scattered with a few toasted walnuts if you like! So delicious, and incredibly nourishing.

Let me know how you get on and share all your awesome recreations by tagging both @sassyballerina and @hipandhealthyuk on Instagram and Twitter and hash-tagging #hipandhealthy!

Recipe, serves 2
180g bag of fresh kale
1/3 cup pomegranate seeds
1 large avocado
2 sweet potatoes
A handful of walnuts, toasted (optional)

Tahini dressing
2 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp olive oil
Juice 1/2 a lemon
Juice 1/2 large orange
1 tsp of tamari (optional)
1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius. Start by pealing the sweet potato and chopping them into small bite sized cubes, line on a roasting tray, drizzle with olive oil a tsp of cinnamon and place in the oven for 30 minutes. Meanwhile wash the kale, and remove any hard stems.  Mix all ingredients for the dressing in a bowl. Pour the dressing into the bowl with the kale, and massage for approx 3 minutes, until the kale softens/wilts. If your sprinkling with walnuts add to the tray with the sweet potato wedges for 2-3 minutes before removing. Slice your avocado into cubes and add to the salad with the pomegranate seeds and the roasted sweet potato wedges. Toss well, and plate, sprinkling with toasted walnuts. Enjoy!