Crunchy Balsamic Slaw

There is a lot I could write here about what has happened in the last 10 months, but I really don't want to take the time to do it.  I had a baby 5 months ago.  He is happy and healthy and I love him to pieces.  I could write 10 posts just about the past 2 weeks and how much fun we have had introducing him to sweet potatoes, yogurt, and avocado.

But time is precious and I'd rather be somewhere other than on the internet in my free time now.  My lunch hours are spent on a mad dash through the grocery store to grab ingredients for dinner. My evenings are filled with giggles and snuggles, baths and bedtime stories.  Our dinners are often eggs or soup or (if I'm completely honest) delivered pizza or Thai takeout about once a week.  Staying healthy with distractions in your life is no joke and I really haven't been as successful at it as I hoped I would be.  I look back at some of my earlier blog posts and remember how much time I had to be creative in thinking up recipes, shopping, preparing everything, taking pictures, and writing about it!  Ain't nobody got time for that now!

I will, however, take a few minutes to enter this great salad into the record!  I've been spending way too much money on pre-packaged salad mixes from the grocery store to get my vegetables.  I bought four bags of different flavor mixes last week (Asian, Sunflower Mix, Southwest, and BBQ Ranch).  They were super simple to make and tasted fine, but they cost about four bucks each and I kept thinking that I could make it better.

Today I had a few free hours in the afternoon and I chose to spend them chopping vegetables!   It was a luxury to leisurely tear the kale leaves from their stems and use a mandoline to slice carrots!  I added in a few toasted seeds and a basic balsamic vinaigrette, and this was 10 times better than the bag mix.  The best part is that it is prepared and ready to eat after work this week so I have more time to sing songs about frogs and bicycles to my little boy!

Crunchy Balsamic Slaw
Serves 4

1 bunch lacinato kale, stems removed and leaves julienned
2 carrots, sliced thin on a mandoline
1 stalk of broccoli, head chopped fine and stem sliced thin on a mandoline
1/4 head red cabbage, sliced thin
1/4 cup toasted sunflower and/or pumpkin seeds
salt and pepper to taste

Dressing:
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp honey
4-6 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Put prepared vegetables in a large bowl.  Shake dressing ingredients in mason jar or whisk together.  Taste for seasoning and add more vinegar if you like it acidic, or more honey if you like it sweet.  Toss dressing and veggies together and let sit for 5-10 minutes to let the flavors merge.  It gets better the longer it sits.