Warm Kale Blackberry Salad
Are you ready for a new take on kale salad? This Warm Kale Blackberry Salad is bright and flavorful, with a winning combination of crunchy, tart, salty, and sweet. It comes together in under 10 minutes, all in one skillet. And, I won’t make you massage the kale. Promise! You don’t even have to whisk up a salad dressing.
My cooking school students give this salad high marks for ease of preparation, all the delicious contrasts in textures and flavors, and that Wow! factor — it is the prettiest kale salad ever. I give it high marks for how many good-for-the-brain foods I am able to pack into each bite. Each ingredient provides evidence-based neuronutrition to protect the brain from inflammation and combat the process that leads to Alzheimer’s and other dementias.
This is a kale salad for those who are not so fond of kale. ( I am married to one of those people.) Tossing the kale in a warm skillet with olive oil mellows it out, making it less assertive, less “cruciferous” as my husband would say.
But this is also a kale salad for the kale lovers amongst us. Warming blackberries in balsamic vinegar creates a not-too-sweet dressing that contrasts wonderfully with the salty pistachios and the kale.
Leafy greens and the brain
By now you’ve probably read that kale, and other dark leafy greens like Swiss chard, collard, and arugula, are nutritional powerhouses. But did you know that eating at least one cup of leafy greens each day can actually slow down the aging of your brain? In this study, published in the Journal of Neurology in 2018, Dr. Martha Claire Morris and her team prospectively studied the brains of 960 participants using MRI scans while carefully assessing their dietary intake.
MRI brain scans are commonly used in research to identify brains with cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s, or another type of dementia. As a brain becomes riddled with Alzheimer’s, for example, the brain starts to shrink. Besides this reduction in brain volume, researchers can detect evidence of amyloid protein plaques and neurofibrillary tangles caused by another protein, tau.
In this study, researchers proved there was a linear relationship between eating leafy greens and younger-looking brains on MRI. In fact, those who consumed leafy greens daily (1.3 cups raw or about 1/2 cup cooked) each day had brains that appeared 11 years younger when compared to those who consumed a lot less. Kale, in particular, is rich in the phytonutrients found to be independently linked to younger-appearing brains in this study: vitamin K (phylloquinone), lutein, β-carotene, nitrate, folate, kaempferol, and α-tocopherol (aka vitamin E).
Should you massage the kale?
Giving raw kale a multi-minute “massage” by rubbing it with olive oil became popular a few years ago. If you are eating the kale raw, massaging breaks down the fiber and makes it softer and easier to chew.
I am all for massaging kale if you’ve got the time. For this salad, you can skip the massage, though, as you’ll get the same effect by tossing the raw kale in a warm skillet with olive oil.
Pistachios and resveratrol
Pistachios are one of the most nutrient-dense nuts. Not only do they provide fiber, potassium, folic acid, vitamin E, and healthy fats, they are a good source of resveratrol — the same brain-boosting phytonutrient found in red wine. Other nuts go well here, however, such as almonds, walnuts, Brazil nuts, and hazelnuts.
Blackberries top the chart on anthocyanins
All blue, black, and red berries provide brain healthy anthocyanins, a nutrient that helps clear amyloid plaque from the brain. Of all the berries you are likely to see at the grocery store, blackberries top the list in anthocyanin content, with more than twice that of blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries. Blackberries are also more perishable, so be sure to consume soon after bringing them home.
Read more about berries and brain longevity here.
Should we be eating more flowers?
If you can find organic edible flowers at the grocery store or farmers market, try adding them to your brain healthy dishes. Each pigmented petal is packed with brain healthy phytonutrients. Chamomile, nasturtium, marigold, and hibiscus are great choices. And don’t forget to pluck the tiny flowers that sprout up when your arugula bolts. Arugula flowers taste faintly of onions, and add a peppery accent to savory dishes.
Make this Warm Kale Blackberry Salad with any combination of kale and berries that you like. A combination of purple kale and Lacinato (also called Tuscan or Dinosaur kale) is especially beautiful. Make it a meal: It’s especially good topped with a filet of wild-caught Alaska salmon.
Whether it’s kale or arugula, baby lettuces or romaine, try to eat at least one heaping cup of raw leafy greens raw (or ½ cup cooked) each day. Your brain will thank you for it.
Servings |
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- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 bunches kale or enough for 8 cups leaves, leaves cut into 2-inch strips
- 1 cup raw pistachios
- 1½ cups fresh blackberries
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 15 fresh mint leaves cut into slivers
- ½ teaspoon Kosher or flaky sea salt such as Maldón
- Edible blooms for garnish (optional)
Ingredients
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- Rinse and dry the kale thoroughly with a salad spinner or by rolling up in a clean kitchen towel.
- Warm the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When it starts to shimmer, add the kale and cook, stirring often, until the leaves are wilted and starting to brown, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish.
- Using the same skillet, cook the pistachios over low heat until toasty and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle over the kale.
- Again using the same skillet, add the blackberries and balsamic vinegar. Cook over low heat until the vinegar is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes. Pour the blackberries and their vinegar sauce over the kale and toss well.
- To serve, scatter the mint leaves across the salad and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of salt. Toss gently and garnish with edible blooms, if using.
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