A Cookbook for Big Eaters, and the Kale Radicchio Salad

I’m that girl who eats her entire plate of food and then leans over to your plate – you gonna finish that? My mother tells me I’m “A BIG EATER.”

During marathon training, I took a date to a Carolina football game, the one where it hurricaned. At lunch, inside the Carolina Inn, we ordered the exact same meal: cheeseburger and fries. I ate my entire plate, leaned over to his plate, and started eating his fries. He looked at me, astonished. “I’ve never seen a girl do that before,” he said. With wide eyes, I stared back at him, mortified. “No, no,” he said, “I’m not judging you at all! You’re welcome to share my fries! I’ve just never seen a girl eat her entire plate of food and have room to eat some of my food.” Not my best moment.

You can imagine my excitement when this stellar cookbook, “Run Fast, Eat Slow,” entered the scene. It’s packed with healthy meals, salads, soups, snacks, smoothies, dressings, drinks and desserts that actually make me feel full. Healthy fats, like coconut oil and whole milk yogurt, and grains, like my favorite, farro, play a starring role in many of these recipes. Don’t worry meat lovers, this is no vegan cookbook. Plenty here for you too.

More later on this brilliant cookbook and the authors, Shalane Flanagan and Elyse Kopecky, two fellow Tar Heels.

For all you “big eaters,” let me introduce to you the most satisfying, delicious salad of all time – the Kale Raddichio Salad with Farro and Lemon Miso Dressing. I eat it at my desk, my dinner table and sometimes beside the refrigerator because I’m that hungry after work.

Kale-Radicchio Salad with Farro

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Farro, rinsed and drained
• 1 large bunch kale, finely chopped, stems removed
• 1 small head radicchio, quartered, cored, and cut crosswise into thin strips
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup chopped toasted walnuts (I use almonds because I usually already have them)

Shalane and Elyse recommend Bob’s Red Mill organic farro. Before this recipe, I was unfamiliar with farro. Took me at least six minutes in the grain aisle to find it the first time I searched at the Harris Teeter in Goldsboro, NC. There is only one brand of farro in town and it looks like this:

Directions:

1. In a large pot, place the farro with enough water to cover by a couple of inches and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, until the farro is tender but still chewy, about 30 minutes. (I usually just follow the cooking instructions on the bag.) Drain the farro and set aside to cool.
2. To assemble the salad, toss the kale with three-quarters of the dressing (see below) in a large salad bowl. With clean hands, gently massage the kale with the dressing to soften the leaves. Add the radicchio, Parmesan, walnuts (or almonds), and farro to the kale and toss again. Taste and add the remaining dressing, if needed. (I add extra dressing, and more dressing.)
3. This salad can be made in advance. It tastes even better the second day. Cover and refrigerate leftovers for up to 5 days.

Lemon Miso Dressing

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced (I’m not a huge garlic fan, despite its immune-boosting benefits, so I tend to leave it out or add a little garlic salt instead)
• 2 teaspoons miso paste (preferably mellow white… this took me a solid 10 minutes to find… it’s in there on the Asian food aisle)
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

**Sometimes I double this recipe because I love the dressing so much. Stores well in a mason jar.

Directions:

1. Combine the oil, lemon juice, garlic, miso, salt, and pepper in a glass jar with a lid. Use a fork to stir in the miso, then shake vigorously to emulsify.
2. Pour generously over your favorite grain salad.
3. This dressing will keep in the fridge for up to 1 week. If the oil solidifies, briefly microwave on low until melted.

I’ll crush a juicy burger, but I’m telling you, I’d pick this salad over a burger every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Slightly addicted. Speaking of Sunday, the salad is not a quick fix. Smart to make a big batch over the weekend and enjoy all week. Trust me on this one.

H//

You can buy Run Fast, East Slow, here.