Kale and Beet Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette

The Hormone Reset Diet Recipe|Kale|Sara Gottfried, M.D.

When it comes to healthy eating, kale and beet top the list of the best superfoods to eat. The red pigment found in vegetables such as beets, chard stems, and rhubarb actually comes from phytonutrients known as betalains. Anyone who has ever peeled a beet with bare hands will know what a potent amount of this pigment the root vegetable contains. Betalains promote detoxification in the body by enabling the production of enzymes in the liver.

Green leafy vegetables such as kale are a nutrient-dense food. Kale is a low-glycemic green, perfect for when you are in the sugar detox chapter of my HORMONE RESET DIET. Other greens low on the glycemic index are chard, dandelion greens, spinach, and collards.

Here’s my top food prep tip for those of you who buy healthy greens with good intentions of making nutritious dinners or green smoothies, only to let them form a soggy mess in your fridge: I take my greens (kale, collards, spinach) the moment I get home from the supermarket, chop them finely, and store them in a bag in the fridge or freezer. Then, as I make my smoothies, steam my vegetables or make soup, the greens are cleaned and ready to go.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

Salad:
4–5 large leaves of dinosaur kale
Half a head butter lettuce, chopped
1 medium beet
¼ of a red onion, thinly sliced

Dressing:
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon fennel seeds
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

For Dressing:
Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside.


For Salad:

  1. Cover beet in water and bring to boil in a medium pan.
  2. Reduce heat and simmer until beet is tender, approximately 15
    minutes.
  3. Remove beet from pan and rinse in cold water.
  4. Slice off skin and cut flesh into small thin pieces. Set aside.
  5. Massage kale between fingers until leaves become bright green and silky in texture.
  6. Slice massaged leaves into thin pieces.
  7. Toss kale, beet, onion, and lettuce together in a large bowl.
    Top with dressing and enjoy!