Eating Seasonally with Spring Salads

Eating by the seasons is one of life's pleasures, I think.  Before you can get too tired of one thing, you're on to some fresh tastes.  With these warm, spring days, my thoughts are turning to raw foods.  Right now, I'm using wintry vegetables, which makes for a nice transition to more traditional summery salads.  I'm especially enjoying these two.

Kale Salad

1 tbs olive oil (more to drizzle, if you'd like)
1 tbs lemon juice
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced  (or 1/2 tsp powdered)
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbs pecorino romano or parmesan cheese, grated fresh
1 half-inch slice of French or sourdough bread, toasted until dry and crunchy (great use for stale bread)
2 cups of kale, washed and cut in 1/4 inch ribbons
ground pepper or crushed red pepper flakes (I like both) to taste

In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil and lemon juice with the garlic.  Add salt and a few grinds of black pepper &/or red pepper flakes.  Add half the cheese and mix until smooth.  Crumble the slice of toasted bread into small pieces and toss with the dressing.  Add the kale and remaining cheese and toss until all is evenly distributed.  Taste and add a little more lemon juice if desired.  This makes enough for one person, if eating as a meal.  I usually double or triple the recipe.  Enjoy!

Coronation Cauliflower

6 tbs mayonnaise
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 cauliflower
splash lemon juice, optional
handful roasted almonds, chopped

Combine mayo and coriander in a medium bowl.  Trim cauliflower and finely chop into small, bite-sized pieces.  Toss chopped cauliflower in the dressing.  Taste and season, using the lemon juice for a more fresh taste.  Toss with almonds.  The recipe also calls for cilantro, which I leave out.  It also gives several variations.  This blog, stonesoup,  shares healthy, fresh food with mostly 5 ingredient recipes.  Worth checking out!

The kale recipe comes from this lovely blog, Tea & Cookies.  I see today's post is about nettles.  I've been noticing them sprouting forth in the garden, and thinking I need to harvest them.  Maybe this will be just the incentive I need.