Superfood Crunch Kale and Pomegranate Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette

Talk about a rejuvenating, nutritionally dense salad. Before we even get into flavors (which I promise will deliver), lets go over the antioxidant rich make up of this power salad, Leafy greens/kale, check! Pomegranate, pears, honey crisp apples, chia seeds, raw coconut flakes and apple cider vinegar all come together to make this salad the dream team of healthy ingredients.

Now for flavor... I was a little bit curious about trying raw kale with a lighter dressing. It was delicious. I often use kale for Caesar salads since its bitter acidic taste lends its self perfectly to the Caesar dressing. I do this because the dressing is heavy and helps balance out the kale. I was nervous that the "light" vinaigrette wouldn't lend itself well to the thick, raw kale, Wrong. Dead wrong. Flavor aside, this salads is so nutritionally dense its ridiculous. So, with no further ado...

Ingredients:

For the Salad:

Kale 12-16 oz bag, chopped (or chop up your own)

1-2 honey crisp apple

1-2 pear (I used anjou)

1 pomegranate, de seeded

chia seeds (1 tsp per salad)

unsweetened coconut flakes (1 tbsp per salad)

For the Dressing:

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

3/4 cup olive oil

3 tsp Dijon mustard

5 cloves of pressed garlic

3 tsp cooking sherry

3 tsp honey

Instructions?:

1. Combine all of the dressing ingredients in a mason jar and shake them aggressively. You will need to reshake before serving.

2. Fill a bowl with chopped up kale. Top it with diced or slice honey crisp apple and anjou pear.

3. Add about 1/4 cup of pomegranate seeds.

4. Add 1 tsp chia seeds and 1 tbsp unsweetened coconut flakes.

5. Top with with the apple cider vinaigrette.

6. Toss well so that the dressing coats all of the kale.

Enjoy!