Kale salad- dinner entrée extraordinaire, nutso misc

My husband would definitely NOT agree with the idea that in a million years, a kale salad could be an entrée, much less an extraordinary one. But, as he is on a train right now, I'm living the dream of a Kale.Dinner.Salad. Fab! I also might be the slightest bit tipsy because since 3p on, things have been slightly hairy. Jack had his 6 year old well-child exam at the ped's office, and all was great until...dah, dah...The Lab! Anyone within earshot surely thought we were sawing his limbs off slowly and one at a time. In truth, he was having a bit of blood drawn and undergoing the TB prick test. I'm not saying either is fun, but seriously. I had my legs and arms wrapped around his, and not one but 2! lab techs had to assist. Oliver looked askance, as if he were thinking, "WTF, Jack?! I just did this at my 3yo visit and didn't have a cow in the process." In any case, it was finally all over, he delighted in the hearing/sight tests, really thrilled in receiving a Batman sticker and we ambled home. At this point, Oliver started expressing so much flatulence that I could have blown up balloons. Finally he headed off to the pot and Mr. Do It By Myself (bless him but please, know when a job is above your skill-set) insisted he could wipe. Until he couldn't. Truly folks, how that much poop got so many places is beyond me, but I just said, kids- into the bath now! and we started the bedtime routine off early. Mon dieu, it was nasty, and I started looking forward to a glass of wine.

Fast forward to my dinner-time, and I just had to have a kale salad. This is definitely compost salad 2.0. I am all about massaging raw kale with olive oil (great for your hands too!) and tossing it with stuff + a zingy garlic-lemon-salt dressing. Tonight's version is a keeper, and I will share the recipe.

On another, stupid and lame note, is anyone, ANYONE, surprised about TomKat? If no one -not my parents, friends, birth certificate, me- had ever called myself Emí, but then some crazy crush insisted upon doing so (Katie/Kate, peeps), would I marry him? Probs not, especially if he were a Scientologist for the love.

Just for kickers, my auto-correct does not recognize "Scientologist" as a word. It's a little funny.

Delicious new couscous dish, solid greens recipe

This couscous salad was really wonderful and will definitely move into rotation over here. YUM! Summer squash, mint, pistachios, sultanas and wonderful, subtle lemon-garlic dressing. Seriously good, and so pretty. I love buying newly picked produce (here the squash) and using it later that day: the fresh factor is unreal. I also used the collards from our FM outing with corn T bought just yesterday in this collard/corn/bacon dish which is also quite lovely to look at. Corn and bacon are such nice friends, as are collards and bacon. This recipe is so thoughtfully constructed but I would a) cook the bacon until crispy and b) slow-cook the collards to get the silky factor that in this dish, as written, is missing. They were too chewy for my taste, and as the lardons weren't crisp, the double-chew factor was disappointing. Crispy bacon would be a great textural counterpoint to the corn and collards, especially if the collards were smooth as they can be.