Kale Caesar Salad with Homemade Croutons

That's me at age 3.
Adorable. I know. Thanks, Mom and Dad. 

Here is a list of the foods that I would not eat:
Brussels Sprouts
Beets (I actually still wouldn't even try beets until a few months ago)
Spinach
Cabbage
Peas
Bok Choy
Carrots
Sweet Potatoes
Kale (Did anyone eat Kale before 2012?)

....need I say more? What a picky little bitch I was. (Sorry Mom and Dad)

It really blows my mind that these crazy vegetables that my mother tried to poison me with as a child are now  staples in my diet. Let's take kale, for example. I would have rather eaten my own foot while sticking a fork in my eye than even have had a whiff of kale (or any other leafy green for that matter) anywhere near me. Now? Ok... well I still don't really like my greens, but I do hide them in just about everything. Especially kale. I add kale to just about every salad and every veggie dish I eat. Sometimes I'll even add kale to my kale (there are many kales). Which is why I literally dream about this kale caesar salad from my new favorite blog Two Blue Lemons (thank you, Rebecca!). This Caesar dressing takes 5 minutes to make and is so delicious it will blow your mind. And because kale is so hearty you can leave the dressing on this salad and it just keeps getting better!

kale caesar salad

Ingredients:

2 bunches kale
4 slices of bread... I used a loaf of olive bread from the Farmer's Market and it turned out super yummy! 
2 lemons
5 garlic cloves
1 farm fresh egg yolk
1 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for croutons
FRESH Parmesan cheese (fresh is the key word)
salt and pepper

Method:

Rinse kale. Remove the leafy parts of the kale from the tough stems and tear into bite sized pieces. 

Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Cut the bread into 1 inch cubes. Toss in olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for about 10 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Set aside. 

 In a blender, add the juice of 2 lemons, zest of 1 lemon, garlic cloves, egg yolk, pinch of salt and pepper. With the motor on, stream in the cup of olive oil until combined. The consistency just be that of heavy cream.

Toss the kale with the dressing and the croutons and enjoy!