Kale Caesar Salad

My family loves us some authentic Caesar Salad. This dressing recipe is one my mom has been making since I can remember... you can see from the original below that it has been well used.

I believe Rod is my Mom's ex-boyfriend's Brother..... thank you Rod, wherever you are. I've modified the recipe a touch. I find using half vegetable oil and half olive oil is better than all olive oil, as the flavour can be a little over powering if you use all olive oil. I also don't like buying a tin of anchovies because I never use the whole thing in one go and don't want them sitting in my fridge. Trying to find Anchovy Paste at Superstore, like Tahini, is a nightmare - it's in the refrigerated section alongside the kraft parmesean, feta cheese and pickled eggs - super weird, I know. If you think anchovies and raw egg are gross - I do too, but the dressing tastes so authentic and wonderful, you'll have no recollection that you added those two fear factor ingredients when you're eating it.

If any of you are like me and grew up in 90's and 00's knowing the Weight Watchers points value to every food item - the thought of using this "high fat" dressing may cause you to think "10 points for a salad - then I'd have to cut out breakfast - not for a salad you crazy woman" (Disclaimer: I didn't actually calculate the points value). Chill out - the way I look at it: Vegetables suck, if by dressing them in butter or a delicious dressing they will taste wonderful and you will get all the nutritional benefits, its worth it. Also, consider the fact that the recipe makes a ton of servings and really it's a few tablespoons of healthy fat per serving - get over it. 

One last thing - this dressing could obviously be used on romaine lettuce. Try it on Kale though. It's a fairly intense dressing that needs a heavy lettuce to be able to stand up to it, thereby making Kale a perfect compliment. I've fed it to a few "kale haters" and they've gobbled it down, asking for seconds (i'm looking at you Caners and Glen).

Fried Halloumi on Kale and Brussels with Tahini-Soy Dressing

I tried to come up with the most trendy salad possible, and this is what resulted. Kidding, kind of. Kale, brussels sprouts, pumpkin seeds, Tahini. I have never been a veggie lover, and certainly not a salad lover, but with the right dressing and some cheese, I can be convinced. If you've never tried a dressing made with tahini, you must.

Finding Tahini (a sesame paste) can be a bit difficult. On my most recent trip to Superstore I found it in two places: the health food/organic food isle with the other nut butters, and also in the international food sections, with other middle eastern foods. Halloumi is easy to find now, it's with all the fancier cheeses. 

This salad can be a little too intense in the greens department for a main dish - but that's how we ate it on a Monday after a bit of weekend excess. So if you feel like being super healthy, have it as a main, otherwise it would be a good side dish with something that doesn't require so much chewing.

If you want it to be a really quick salad - use any cheese and just crumble it into the salad instead of the Halloumi. You could use any nut in place of the pumpkin seeds and not worry about roasting them.