When you want a full sample of flavors on your plate WITHOUT a whole lot of cooking-effort, kale lends itself well— it cooks in a matter of minutes when you sauté it in water or oil. Pair it with other fun, fruity crudites and a healthy helping of guacamole, and you’ve got yourself a meal!

Ingredients:

• 1-2 cups chopped kale
• 1/4 cup fresh guacamole (if you can’t find ready-made, you can make your own via my recipe here)
• 1/2 cup snacking cucumbers (I used Persian cucumbers here)
• 1/2 cup fresh blackberries and blueberries combined
• 1/4 cup mango slices
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp dried onion flakes
• salt and pepper to taste
• cinnamon to taste

Prep time: 10 minutes
Yields: 1 serving

Preparation:

1. Heat sesame oil on a pan or skillet on medium high heat, then add kale, garlic powder, onion flakes, and salt and pepper to taste. Sauté for 5 minutes until softened, optionally adding up to 3 tablespoons of water to additionally soften. Remove from heat.
2. Slice cucumber and mango into thin strips. Sprinkle cinnamon to taste on the mango slices.
3. Plate kale, mango, cucumbers, berries, and guacamole onto equal sections of the plate in your preference. Enjoy!

Yasmine’s notes:

This dish is an homage to two salads I had originally posted on my Instagram around this time last year–

The ‘Cobb-esque Salad with Strawberries,’ and the ‘Waldorf-esque Salad with Blackberries.’ I’ve since retired these two salads…

…At best, because you can already find plenty of recipes out there for Cobb and Waldorf each (and I don’t seek to reinvent the wheel where it’s already working)…

…And at worst, because for many established recipes out there in general that rely on such things as, e.g. pre-prepped condiments, they’re often sadly filled with copious amounts of preservatives, added starches and sugars, and/or exorbitant amounts of fats and salts. Case in point, in those original salad recipes, I had to give caveats on how much less to use for the very ready-made condiments I listed TO use, in case you are someone who wants to watch your sodium and cholesterol levels! (And that already was with me equally stripping away the likes of bacon, whipped cream, sugar AND lots of fruits as well from the traditional Waldorf and Cobb salads.)

In short, I’ve realized that making a traditional salad with ‘eggs, celery, carrots, olives, lettuce leaves’ and the like— hopefully on your own page of what you can gauge is healthiest for you— is the wheel that is working. The progressive fuel that *I* personally bring to the table is an expansion of what can equally be enjoyed on your otherwise traditional plate— such as kale, guac and mango to sample, alongside the cucumbers and berries you’d find on a charcuterie board.

If you have some colorful boards of your own that you’re inspired to share, I’d love to see them in the comments below.