Kale and Cabbage Salad

At least once a week I find myself reading a recipe and deciding I'm going to skip a few steps.

This recipe calls for fresh basil? Eh, will cilantro work instead?

I should let my pie dough rest for 30 minutes? Will 5 work?

That salad should sit overnight? But I'm hungry now...

In every cooking class they say you should read the recipe before you start. I try really hard but some days it just doesn't happen. And I always get bit in the butt for it. I guess my only words of advice are this:

If a salad recipe says you should let it sit overnight, let the darn salad sit overnight.

A few weeks ago I had five straight days of garbage truck eating ending in a particularly shameful dinner of two doughnuts, half a large pizza, 1/2 pint of ice cream and three handfuls of Skittles.

Needless to say it wasn't my finest moment.

Also needless to say, I deperately wanted salad and soups for the entire week after. I had to restore the nutritional balance in my body. I literally felt like death. How do people eat like this all the time?

Okay, okay. Enough of my rant. Back to salads.

When I saw this recipe in Meatless, I knew I had to make it because it screamed healthy. I mean raw kale and red cabbage in a simple apple cider vinaigrette. The original recipe called for hemp, pumpkin and sunflower seeds. When there are three different seeds in a recipe it gets an A+ on the healthy scale.

I only had sunflower seeds in my pantry, so insert skipped step #1.

The recipe called for a whole onion, I only used a half. Skipped step #2.

Recipe wants parsley, I used cilantro. Skipped step #3.

Recipe says let sit overnight, I ate 10 minutes later. Skipped step #4.

Now if you are inpatient like me and don't let this salad rest, it will still be fine. But it will taste like you're eating raw kale and cabbage. Not the best experience. If you let it take a nap it will be much more pleasant. Just like a baby.

Nobody want a cranky baby, right?

Letting this salad sit overnight gives the dressing a chance to soak into the greens and soften them a bit. The second time I ate it, I wolfed down my bowl, versus just picking at it the first time. To help this process along I also suggest doubling the dressing recipe (doubled recipe is listed below).

Insert skipped step #5.

What can I say, I have a problem.

Kale and Cabbage Salad 
Adapted from Meatless

1/2 bunch kale, thinly sliced
1/4 head red cabbage, thinly sliced
1/2 cup shredded carrot 
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
2 T Dijon mustard
1 T apple cider vinegar
2 T olive oil

1. In a small bowl whisk together mustard, cider vinegar and olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.
2. In a large bowl combine kale, cabbage, onion, cilantro and sunflower seeds. Pour dressing over top and toss to combine.
3. Allow to sit for at least 3-4 hours or preferably overnight. Serve alongside your lean protein of choice and enjoy!

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