Kale & Cranberry Salad (with Poached Eggs)

I have been having conflicting food feelings of late. Being the holiday season and all, I crave only that which is covered in gravy, beautifully gratined, or involves any of the holiday novelties: cranberries, walnuts, chestnuts, clementines, ginger, molasses, etc etc. But let’s be honest with ourselves, most of these deliciously amazing holiday meals are not on the top of the nutritional list. Hence the dreaded NYRP (New Year Resolution People). You know the ones. I may not be the healthiest person in the world, but I try to keep moderation in my mind daily. These people flood the gyms or go on “diets” for the first week of January and it is all they talk about. Talking about how you just started throwing nutritional yeast onto everything is not something I really care about discussing.

So in order to not become one of them, I am determined to put a holiday twist on some of my favorite healthy lunches and dinners to stave of the cravings for my holiday favorites. (Or give me reason to eat more of them…we shall see).

A side note about poached eggs. I’m rather shocked it’s taken me this long to bring them up. Poached eggs are my favorite way to cook eggs. Sometime during college I learned that eggs are  a budget shopper’s dream. A great source of protein and a ton of nutritional value in the yolk (yes the yolk, while full of good fats like avocado, it also has multiple other positives as described here).  I digress. While scrambled eggs are fastest, and sunny side up the prettiest, nothing tastes as good to me as the classic poach. Throw two on a salad, over roasted veggies, in a grain salad and boom, you have a meal.

Kale & Cranberry Salad

Feeds one person

Ingredients:

• 3 stalks of Laciato kale *Curly kale can be substituted if necessary as it is easier/cheaper to come by. 
• 1 small handful of cranberries
• 2 Tbsp orange juice
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp walnut oil
• 1/4 c. walnuts
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbsp white wine vinegar/apple cider vinegar
• salt/pepper to taste
• freshly grated parmesan
• sprigs of parsley

1. Fill a medium sized pot full of water and drop in the 1 Tbsp vinegar. Place on high heat.

2. Using a small sauté pan, roast your walnuts on medium heat, moving them around avery so often as to make sure they do not burn. Place on plate.

3. For your poached eggs, you are looking for the water to be at an almost boil. Bubbles should be seen on the sides and at the bottom, but they should not be moving yet. This is the ideal water temperature. Open eggs one at a time and place each separately in a small bowl or mug. When you see the water as described above, use a wooden spoon and create a whirlpool in the pot. Drop in the eggs one at a time and bring the heat down to a high-medium, allow the eggs to cook for about 4-6 minutes, never let the water boil!

4. Using the same sauté pan as the walnuts, put in your cranberries, orange juice and sugar. Cook on medium heat until you see the cranberries “pop” or crack. Set aside.

5. Julienne the kale and mix with walnuts. Add walnut oil.

6. Once eggs are done, remove with a slotted spoon and place on wash cloth or paper towel to soak up the last of the water. Eggs should be slightly bouncy when touched.

7. Assemble the salad. Put eggs on top of kale and walnuts, give them a dust of salt/pepper. Add the cranberries and finish with a little bit of parmesan and parsley. Enjoy!

Alternatives:

• To bring this to work, make all parts except for eggs ahead of time, and swap a chicken breast for the eggs.
• I found it could have used a little more crunch. I would add some freshly baked bread or croutons next time.