My boyfriend has been walking around the house singing “Let It Snow” all day, because here in Portland it’s snowing like nuts. Maine, you drive me crazy. It’s almost spring, and yet here I am, sitting at home when I should be working, all because of the snow day. Just kidding, that’s actually pretty awesome.

Anyway, I decided to use some of the vegetables in my refrigerator to make a winter-inspired superfood salad for lunch. I over-indulged last night at Moxy, a new restaurant down in Portsmouth (pate and fried clams and pork belly, oh my!) and I’m atoning for it today with healthy foods and shoveling snow.

Winter Super Food Super Salad

Ingredients:
– 2 cups raw kale, washed and shredded into bite-sized pieces (stems removed)
– 2 cups chopped sweet potatoes (I like 1/2 inch cubes)
– 1 cup wild rice, cooked

Dressing:
– Whole-grain dijon mustard
– Honey
– Apple cider vinegar
– Olive oil
– Salt & pepper

1. Toss the sweet potatoes with olive oil, garlic salt, and lemon pepper—or whatever spices you like to use when roasting veggies. Put them in an oven at 350 and roast for 30 minutes or until the outsides are beginning to brown, turning once to get an even roast.
2. While the tubers are cooking, massage the kale. In order for kale to be tasty while raw, you have to like, rub it. It’s a very high maintenance vegetable, but it’s also insanely healthy, so just do it. Squeeze the kale roughly while rinsing it in warm water for a few minutes and it should be good to go.
3. Mix your dressing! I know I should be more precise here, but I pretty much just mix it to taste. I use twice as much mustard as honey, about the same amount of oil, and a big splash of vinegar. I like my dressing really tangy, and I think Bragg’s Apple Cider is the best.
4. Toss the kale with the cooked wild rice (cheat and use Trader Joe’s frozen wild rice if you’re lazy) and add the dressing while the rice is still warm. Let sit for a few minutes. The vinegar will help the kale tenderize.
5. Take out your sweet potatoes, drop them on top, and eat. Feel less guilty about consuming roughly your own weight in fried pork trotter patties and other meaty items. Pretend you care about Lent and eating right. Then have some 1 p.m. wine for dessert.