I have a nostalgia hangover from the weekend.
I got hit straight in the feels twice on Friday: Netflix released Fuller House and I found out my favorite local bagel shop would be closing its doors on Monday. Friday was quite the emotional rollercoaster, I cannot emphasize that enough.
On Saturday, I did what any sane 26-year-old would do. I went to Bagels + Baguettes to get a 1/2 dozen of poppy and jalapeño bagels, a toasted jalapeño bagel with cream cheese and an iced chai and then curled up on the couch to throw it back to the 90s, Fuller House-style. And then promptly had a poppy bagel.
And I lived on bagels for the rest of the weekend 😳
That is not an exaggeration, I ate only bagels until Sunday evening when I realized I should probably be an adult (despite re-living my childhood all weekend) and eat something with vegetables and you know, not bread. But I still needed some serious comfort food.
Enter the kale taco salad with a fun surprise ingredient!
No, this dressing isn’t the fun surprise ingredient BUT it’s pretty amazing so I just felt like we had to chat about it. Also, I like building suspense. If you absolutely cannot wait, just scroll to the bottom for the recipe card. And have your mind b-l-o-w-n. Okay four words: creamy avocado-jalapeño dressing.
I go through phases of being on a guacamole kick and right now, I’m currently in serious guac mode. I could make guacamole and just eat it straight with a spoon. Because I’m a rebel like that. The chip is really just a vehicle to get to the delicious guac. I’m trying to make up for my years where I turned my nose up at guacamole because it seemed too weird to me. I was a picky eater as a kid…
One evening, I felt like being a culinary scientist and threw my guacamole ingredients into a big bowl and added some EVOO and water. I blended it using my kitchen boyfriend, my trusty immersion blender, and lo and behold, discovered a pretty incredible dressing. Or dip, depending on your EVOO/water ratio. And I’ve been putting it on everything and it’s crazy how versatile this sauce is. I put it on roasted cauliflower and it was ah-mazing. Okay, I know I said I was going to cool it with bagels for a bit but I just had the idea to spread it on my bagel and top with lox. I’ll report back.
Now that I made my dressing, it’s time to assemble our kale taco salad.
It’s like building a burrito bowl at Chipotle, there are a zillion different combinations to choose from. These ingredients are what I’d like in my kale taco salad but it might not be what you’d put in your kale taco salad. So you do you though I highly suggest you keep the avocado jalapeño dressing and the secret ingredient….
Seasoned, crumbled falafel.
👊🎤✋
* mic drop *
I’ve been on a falafel kick (kinda like my guacamole kick) and enabled by Trader Joe’s frozen falafel for $4. It was a small step to create a fusion dish for my two favorite cuisines: Mediterranean and Mexican. And the kale taco salad with seasoned falafel crumbles was born! 💃
Mediterranean-Mexican’s the next big fusion, you heard it here first.
So pile up a big bowl of kale taco salad, drizzle on an avocado jalapeño dressing and top with taco seasoned, crumbled falafel. And then watch Fuller House and embrace the cheese.
- Falafel
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- Taco seasoning
- Kale
- Corn
- Diced tomatoes
- Diced red onion
- Crushed Food Should Taste Good cantina chips
- 1 avocado
- 1 diced jalapeño (keep the seeds/ribs if you want extra heat)
- A handful of freshly chopped cilantro
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup EVOO
- A sprinkle of salt
- Juice of ½ lime
- In a skillet over medium heat, heat up the coconut oil and then add the falafel (Props to you if you decide to make them from scratch) until heated through. Crumble and add the taco seasoning, toss to combine and set aside.
- For the dressing, blend all ingredients until smooth.
- In a bowl, pile on the kale and remaining ingredients. Drizzle the avocado jalapeño dressing and enjoy!
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