I was given iron supplements when I left the hospital after Shea’s birth…and I was scared. I’d heard the horror stories of what can come of iron supplementation, even with water and fiber galore.
I believed the horror stories to be true and knew them to be true within a few days first hand. I suffered through 3 weeks of iron before throwing in the towel and vowing to include more iron in my diet. Call me crazy, but meat and leafy greens have not been my go-to foods from a taste or convenience perspective. I’m working more along the lines of “quick and easy” these days.
So when Kristen was in town visiting last week, we did dinner right. Mr. Prevention came home to the 4 gals (Kristen and I…plus Shea and Lily) all in the kitchen, slaving away while rocking out to Kristen’s iPod mix of country favorites. Quite the sight.
We had planned our Pinterest-inspired meal with a little bit of health in mind…and plenty of iron for me.
This recipe was well-worth replacing the jar of tahini from 2012 that my mother-in-law discovered when cleaning out my pantry. I’ve always struggled with what to do with tahini other than make hummus, and now I have a great, go-to recipe.
I chose “dinosaur” kale in this recipe versus the traditional curly kale which I find to have a somewhat unpleasant texture, though either work well (and are packed with iron). The massaging works beautifully to breakdown the fiber in the kale and Brussels sprouts and to create a perfect fall salad. I could even picture this at a Thanksgiving feast. Beautiful in color, too!
- 1 bunch Lacinato ("dinosaur") kale, washed and finely chopped
- 12 oz Brussels sprouts, washed and finely sliced
- ⅓ cup slivered almonds
- ⅓ cup shaved Parmesan
- ¼ cup tahini
- 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tsp pure maple syrup
- pinch of red pepper flakes
- ¼ cup water
- In a large bowl, combine the chopped kale and sliced brussels sprouts; toss well.
- In a 2 cup liquid measuring cup or small bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the dressing; pour over the kale and brussels sprouts and using your hands, massage the dressing into the salad to distribute thoroughly and to tenderize the vegetables.
- Sprinkle the salad with the almonds and Parmesan and toss just before serving.
Not a whole lot on the agenda today. Most days we keep super busy, but today may be a good day to hold down the couch and have a Walking Dead marathon 😉
Be well,
What a gorgeous recipe. Love that it is loaded with iron. After my husband’s heart attack they wanted us to eat vegan then he became anemic the doctor put him back on lean protein. I love that you used tahini. I’ll make this for him. He will love it.
I’ve never tried Dinosaur kale before, just the curly kale! I’ll definitely have to try it now 🙂 That maple tahini dressing with those red pepper flakes sounds awesome!!
Tahini has become my new go-to for salads, especially kale salads. Love the brussels in this one. I generally make a huge salad at the beginning of the week that I can munch on all week because I agree, washing all those kale leaves and pulling it together, doesn’t always feel the most convenient.
Glad to hear you and your gals are doing well!
I’ve tried making kale all different ways, but I cannot stand the taste of it. Or Brussels sprouts, although I used to cook with them all the time when I was meal planning for my SIL.
This is gorgeous!! It just so happens I have these ingredients so this will be a side dish at dinner tonight! 🙂