A Calculated Whisk

Creative paleo and gluten-free recipes

  • Home
  • About Me
    • Photography Portfolio
  • Cookbook
  • Recipe Index
  • Paleo
    • Paleo Eating
    • A Paleo Pantry
  • Blogging
You are here: Home / Archives for Gluten free, Grain free, Vegetarian, Salad

Summer Kale Salad with Peaches and Candied Pecans

July 18, 2016 By Becky 14 Comments

Summer Kale Salad with Peaches and Candied Pecans

This refreshing summer kale salad is packed with seasonal superfoods and topped with creamy goat cheese and crunchy candied pecans.

Kale salads. How do you feel? I was a little suspicious back in the day, but if I give the kale a good massage and add a lot of different toppings, I can now get pretty excited about them. If you’re not into kale salads yet, let me see if I can sell you: we’re adding juicy peaches and blueberries, creamy goat cheese, and perfectly salty-sweet candied pecans.

CANDIED PECANS! Sorry to shout, but they’re so good, and they’re super easy and quick to make on the stovetop in less than ten minutes. No fuss, no oven. And you may want to make a double batch, because it’s hard to stop snacking on them. I ate a lot of mine before the salad even got dressed!

Summer Kale Salad with Peaches and Candied Pecans

In other news, I have a serious peach problem. Last summer, we got down to Chattanooga at the end of peach session, right after The Peach Truck had left town. I was so mad I had missed out. All year I waited and checked the schedule. And when they came to East Ridge a little over a week ago, I was there. I bought a 25-pound box of peaches and a one-pound bag of pecans.

Since then, it’s been all peaches all the time. In addition to eating an embarrassing number of them out of hand, juice dripping everywhere, I’ve made a peach dutch baby, peach margaritas (I shared the full recipe on Insta–they’re so good!), peach muffins, and peach ice cream.

Read More…

Filed Under: #30MinuteMondays, dinner, gluten free, recipe, sides, vegetarian Tagged With: blueberry, goat cheese, grain free, kale, peach, pecans, salad, summer

Spring Farmers Market Salad

May 17, 2016 By Becky 12 Comments

Spring Farmers Market Salad

This spring farmers market salad highlights the best of May’s produce, including beets, strawberries, and sugar snap peas, plus local goat cheese and quail eggs.

After suggesting the other day that you roast a bunch of chicken and potatoes, I’m here with something truly seasonal: this spring farmers market salad. All of the produce and the quail eggs are from Big Sycamore Farm in Decatur, TN and the goat cheese is from Rafting Goat Cheese in Old Fort, TN, so everything except the dressing is a local ingredient that I got at the farmers market or at the farm itself.

Getting my produce from nearby makes a huge difference for me in several different ways. First of all, let’s talk taste. The flavor of local fruits and vegetables is so much better. Pretty much every time I try something new from my CSA box, I say to myself, “These are the best _____ I’ve ever eaten,”. It’s happened with carrots, squash, beets, strawberries, and countless other things. When you’re thinking about vegetables that were picked today or yesterday at a farm in your area and produce from the grocery store that’s already traveled across the country or even the world before getting to you, there’s really no comparison. Fresher fruits and vegetables taste so much better.

Spring Farmers Market Salad

Also, when you get your goods from nearby, you have the opportunity to go see exactly how everything works at the farm, or at least hear all about it directly from a farmer at the market. You won’t have to wonder just exactly how free-range the chickens are or what the crops have been sprayed with.

If you read my blog often, you’ve probably heard me talk about my Big Sycamore Farm CSA. (Wondering what a CSA is? It stands for community-supported agriculture and is also known as a farm share. Find out more and search for one near you here.) Right after moving down to Chattanooga in September, I met Initia and Bertus at the farmers market and bought a leftover box from their summer CSA. I was hooked by how amazing everything tasted, the wide variety of produce they included, and how convenient it was to get one big box of fruits and vegetables for the week in one fell swoop. I soon after signed up for their winter CSA, which has a short season running from October to December. It’s like a breath of fresh air during the colder months, and the vegetables in my boxes led me to create things like this winter vegetable gratin that I never would have made otherwise.

Read More…

Filed Under: dinner, gluten free, recipe, sides, vegetarian Tagged With: beets, dressing, eggs, peas, salad, spring, strawberry

Hi, I’m Becky!

Welcome to A Calculated Whisk, where I share creative paleo and gluten-free recipes. Learn more about me here.

Connect with ACW on social media:

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Looking for something?

Subscribe via email and get a free e-book!

Instant Pot Recipes

Instant Pot Colcannon

Instant Pot Colcannon

Instant Pot Balsamic Short Ribs

Instant Pot Tomato Sauce (made with fresh tomatoes)

Instant Pot Short Rib Ragu

Instant Pot Short Rib Ragu

In a hurry? Try these 30-minute recipes:

Seared Salmon with Red Curry Vegetables

Seared Salmon with Red Curry Vegetables

Grilled Shrimp Skewers with Creamy Sesame Slaw (Gluten free, Paleo)

Grilled Shrimp Skewers with Creamy Sesame Slaw

Spiced Beef and Sweet Potato Bowls with Crispy Eggs

Thai Basil Noodles with Beef (Drunken Noodles)

Thai Basil Noodles with Beef (Drunken Noodles)

my healthy aperture gallery
rodelle brand ambassador

Privacy Policy

All text and photographs (c) Rebecca Winkler 2013-2020 unless otherwise noted.

Copyright 2013-2020 Rebecca Winkler · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Genesis Framework · Powered by Wordpress