Kale Salad with Roasted Sweet Potato, Spiced Chickpeas and Yogurt Dressing

Back from the grocery store. Unpacking the bags and start putting things in place.

“Oh, I forgot cherry tomatoes … I bought everything and didn’t buy cherry tomatoes… now I have to go back to the grocery store, but when … I don’t have time, well I don’t have time for anything and I need the cherry tomatoes. Maybe tomorrow…I’ll pick up Tamar from school and on the way to pick up Ido, I’ll take 5 minutes in the supermarket. Only tomatoes, it will take me maximum 10 minutes. But Tamar has a tennis class at five that I have to take her to, I won’t make it. Oh, that’s such a mess, how did I get to the state in my life that 5 minutes in the supermarket become such an operation, what happen to me. Man, how could I forget the cherry tomatoes. And I passed by it! And I looked at them! And I knew I needed! But no, I had to do my usual round of lettuce-mushrooms-peppers-cucumbers and only then cherry tomatoes. I’m so fixated on the most stupid things sometimes. And by the time I finished with the cucumbers I forgot about the cherry tomatoes and thought about the dish soap I had to buy. I just had to take the tomatoes when I saw it, I knew it would happen to me. It always happens to me. “

Let’s talk about the conversations we have with ourselves. You know what talks I mean. These can be long or short talks, or even just a sentence. These can be talks that come at the end of the day just before going to sleep, or on the way home from work, or even when you’re just waiting for your turn at the dentist. These conversations, between ourselves, can start as some sort of a checklist, things that we did or didn’t do, things we still need to do. And somehow, at some unclear point, we take some sort of a turn, and in the dialogue we have with ourselves begin to appear a few negative sentences. Suddenly, things that we didn’t get to do in the same specific day become things we didn’t get to do in our life, a coincidence becomes a constant lack of luck and momentary falls (which everyone has!) become in our mind some ongoing self-failure.

Why? Why do we talk like that to ourselves? we wouldn’t dare say these things to anyone else, so why do we say it to ourselves? Why in our everyday life are we nice and empathic and contain all but ourselves? Why don’t we talk nice to ourselves?

What if that same conversation I had with myself was going something like this – “Oh, I forgot to buy cherry tomatoes … What a bummer. Well, with so many things on my mind, no wonder I’ll forget something … At least I remembered the dish soap! I guess I’ll try to go by the grocery store tomorrow, worst case we’ll eat cucumber salad this week. “

It’s time we change the tone of speak we use with ourselves. I think it’s a matter of practice, of noticing when the thoughts that run through our minds suddenly become not so constructive criticism or even a form of lowering ourselves, and then stop and think about what would we say to a good friend about the same situation, and then tell ourselves these things. We deserve to be a little more forgiving with ourselves, most of the time we just try our best in life. Instead of putting under a microscope every little negative thing, maybe it’s time to put under the same microscope some few positive things.

Here is a dish that will make you say only positive things to yourself. Delicious, fresh and full of things that are good and healthy for your body. The kale in the salad gets a special treatment – massage! The purpose of the massage is to soften the kale so that it’ll be easier to chew.

Kale Salad with Roasted Sweet Potato, Spiced Chickpeas and Yogurt Dressing
serves 2-3

Ingredients:
for the kale-
10 kale leaves, washed and dried (about 2 cups)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
pinch of salt
1/2 cup slivered almonds

for the spiced chickpeas-
1½ cups cooked chickpeas (you can use canned, washed)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
salt, black pepper

for the roasted sweet potato-
1 medium size (date syrup)
1 teaspoon olive oil
salt, black pepper

for the yogurt dressing-
1/2 cup yogurt (vegan or not, to your preference)
zest of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons finely chopped coriander
pinch of freshly grounded black pepper

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
2. In a medium bowl, toss all the ingredients for the spiced chickpeas, and in a separate medium bowl toss all the ingredients for the roasted sweet potato.
3. Lay the chickpeas and the sweet potato on a baking tray lined with parchment paper in one layer (you can use the same tray for both, side by side), and roast in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, till golden.
4. Treat the kale: remove all the kale’s thick stems with a knife, cut or rip by hand the kale leaves into roughly bite-size pieces. put the kale in a medium bowl, add olive oil and salt, and start massaging the kale- literally rub the kale leaves with the olive oil and the salt with your hands, for about 2-5 minutes. The longer you message the kale the softer it’ll get (just be careful not to overdo it and make it mushy).
5. In a small bowl, add all the ingredients for the yogurt dressing and mix well.
6. Put the salad together: in a large bowl, put all the prepared ingredients: the massaged kale, almond chips, spiced chickpeas, roasted sweet potato and yogurt dressing. Mix well until all ingredients are evenly coated with the yogurt dressing. Serve and enjoy.