Kale Crispy Black Lentil Salad with Arugula Pecorino Vinaigrette

This Kale Crispy Black Lentil Salad with Arugula Pecorino Vinaigrette is beautiful, colorful and healthy with a great mix of flavors and textures!  There is bountiful crunch from the crispy lentils, almonds and kale and dreamy softness form the mozzarella and tomatoes.  It has a spectrum of flavors from the basil, almonds and the slightly spicy.  It’s just an all-around great salad!

I am so excited right now!  Robby bought an old 68 blue Schwinn 3 speed bike to ride when I ride my rusty red 79 Schwinn 10 speed bike.  I didn’t have any extra money to spend on a bike when I first moved back to Venice beach in 2007.  (you can read about my leap of faith move here) You really need a bike when you live in Venice if you don’t want to go insane with all the traffic and circling the neighborhood for 15 minutes to 45 minutes looking for a parking space.  One day, my friends Beto and Brian called me and told me they had a surprise for me.  The surprise turned out to be a beat up rusty old red Schwinn bike they found in the alley.  They brought the bike to a bike shop that fixed it up just enough to make it rideable.  Actually, this was the best present ever!  I rode it every day.  I rode it to work and after work, I would go down to the boardwalk to ride it from my apartment on Rose Ave. to Temescal Canyon Blvd and back while the sun was setting.  I especially loved that it was rusty and somewhat trashed because I could lock it up almost anywhere without having to worry about it getting stolen.  I would ride it to my friends’ houses, the health food store, to the pier every Thursday night for the Twilight concert series and to parties.  It was perfect!

When I moved to Santa Cruz, Robby and I rode his mountain bikes a few times but we really just wanted to cruise around on comfortable bikes.  My poor red bike hadn’t been ridden in 5 years.  Lucky for me, Robby is now on a mission to fix up both of our old Schwinns.  He bought vintage handlebars, stem, seat, fenders, front wheel, a little round reflector for the rear fender, brake pads, brake cables, etc.  He cleaned years of grime and dirt off of both of them as well as a complete overhaul to make them ride better than new.  There is still a little rust on the frame of my bike just to remind me of the great times I had with it in Venice.  We wanted them to look vintage so we chose not to completely restore them which we think gives them more character.  I cannot wait to go for a ride on our new old bikes.

 Health benefits:

 Kale is low in calories, high in fiber and it is a loaded with antioxidants which help detox the liver. It is also an anti-inflammatory with omega-3 fatty acids, which is helpful for arthritis, joint pain and asthma.  Kale has more Iron than beef and more calcium than milk which helps prevents osteoporosis, joint flexibility and helps maintain normal bone health. It is great for cardiovascular support that helps in lowering cholesterol.  It is really high in vitamin A, C, and super high in the powerful antioxidant vitamin K (anyone taking anticoagulants should avoid kale because the high level of vitamin K that may interfere with the drugs.)    More on kale

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Lentils have extremely high levels of soluble fiber and a good amount of insoluble fiber.  They have cholesterol-lowering fiber which helps stabilize blood sugar levels giving you a steady stream of energy.  A half-cup provides about a third of the daily requirements.  Not only is the fiber good for your heart, the amount of folate and magnesium is very beneficial for cardiovascular health.  Lentils provide a steady stream of glucose to your brain.  Glucose is a sugar and a key source of energy for the cells in the body and it is the only fuel your brain can use.  The high fiber regulates the release of the glucose, providing a steady stream of fuel that powers your brain cells and is a key component in keeping your brain healthy.  Lentils are loaded with an impressive amount of blood-fortifying iron and when paired with food containing vitamin C, the iron is enhanced, which in turn increase your energy.  They are truly a nutritional fountain of youth.  Lentils originated in Southwestern Asia along the Indus River have been eaten for over 8000 years.  years.