Kale, Serrano Chile, & Mint Salad

Spice up your next kale salad with a little hot chile for added flavor (and fat burn!)

All hot peppers contain capsaicin– a compound that may promote weight loss-especially hard to lose belly fat – by increasing energy expenditure after consumption.

You can replace the chickpea croutons with regular chickpeas if you’re in a rush, but they add a nice crunch!

Here’s the recipe:

Kale, Serrano Chile, & Mint Salad

(serves 2)

Ingredients:

SALAD

1 head organic lacinato (dinosaur) kale

2 tsp. olive oil

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 serrano chile

1/2 cup mint

3-4 tbs. raw or sprouted pumpkin seeds

3-4 tbs. hemp seeds (optional)

salt to taste

CHICKPEA CROUTONS

1 1/2 cups of chickpeas (1 can)

2 tsp olive oil

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp cayenne or chipotle powder (optional)

pink salt, to taste

black pepper, to taste

Instructions:

FOR THE CROUTONS

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. In a bowl, mix chickpeas, oil, and spices (you can add salt and black pepper to taste) until well coated.
  3. Lay chickpeas out flat on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, give the pan a shake to move everything around, then bake for another 10-15 minutes. (You can pre-make a large batch of these and use throughout the week. Store in an airtight container in the fridge).

FOR THE SALAD

  1. Chiffonade (cut into thin strips) the kale. Add it to a bowl and dress with the olive oil and lemon, mixing well, allowing it to start to marinate as you prepare other ingredients.
  2. Slice the chile as thin as possible (you could use a mandoline here). Add to the bowl.
  3. Let marinate while croutons are cooking.
  4. You can omit the croutons and serve as is. (But mix well and ideally let everything marinate for at least 10 minutes before serving).
  5. Add pumpkin and hemp seeds right before serving.

 

About the Author

Maria Marlowe is an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach who has helped thousands of people improve their health by optimizing their diet. She has created meal plans and programs to help you lose weight, clear up acne, and spend less time in the kitchen yet still eat healthy.

She has been featured in Vogue, The New York Times, NBC, Well + Good, and more. Her first book, The Real Food Grocery Guide (to be released June 2017), will teach you how to eat healthy without going broke.

 

Maria Marlowe from DavidWolfe.com shared this recipe.

Source: davidwolfe.com