True Crime Kale Crunch Salad

One of my favorite authors to read is Catherine Cowles. She writes suspenseful romances that always have some mystery behind them. A lot of her books are usually apart of a series. The series all seem to be apart of the same universe. Some of the characters from other series will make an appearance in another series/book. However, All The Missing Pieces by Catherine Cowles is a little different from all her other books.

Lemon Caesar Kale Crunch Salad

All the Missing Pieces is a standalone Novel. There are some characters mentioned in previous books but you do not need to read the other books. Mentioning the other character's is more of an Easter Egg than a significant piece of knowledge you need to have.

The novel takes place in Northern California and follows the story of Ridley and Colter. Ridley is a true crime podcaster that travels in her van camper. She helps gather information on missing people cases that have gone cold. Ridley does this in hopes that she will finally solve her sister's missing persons case. The night before their college graduation, Ridley's twin sister goes missing and all that is left behind from the scene is the lacrosse keychain that was her sister's. Her sister's case is what brings her to the small town in Northern California where Colter is the sheriff of.

Colter is not a fan of having Ridley in town. He does not like the attention it will bring to his town. He feels that enough bad has happened he does not want anymore trauma to find it's way into his town. Colter especially does not like that Ridley is looking into a case that involves his sister. However, Ridley believes that his sister's case and her sister's case are connected. The two have to learn to trust and work together to finally solve the two cases.

During one particular scene in the book, Colter brings Ridley a care package of foods and supplies she likes from the local market store. He asks the employee what items Ridley normally gets. Since it's a small town, everyone knows everything about everyone. Ridley appreciates the gift and sees it as a true apology from Colter. While completing some work for her podcast, Ridley chooses to have a kale crunch salad from the care package. Some eventful stuff happens after this scene that changes the relationship between the two of them.

I really enjoy a good crunch salad. They are usually finely chopped and I find that the dressing always spreads better on a chopped salad. I like when there is a little crunch too that adds texture to the salad. This scene made me think of a Caesar Kale Crunch Salad that I had a long time ago. I have never been able to find one quite like it. It had a Lemon Caesar dressing with kale and chicken with a crunchy topping. I thought about this salad when I was reading about the care package scene in the book. She had a different Kale Crunch Salad but I wanted to share one of my favorite ones. I made my salad with chickpeas because in the book, Ridley often chose meat free and organic options. This salad can be as delicious with chicken seasoned the way you enjoy.

Let me know if you try this salad or if you try one of Catherine Cowles many books.

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Lemon Caesar Kale Crunch Salad

Lemon Caesar Kale Crunch Salad

Ingredients

• One bunch of Kale

• One head of Romaine Lettuce

• 1 (15oz) can of chickpeas, rinsed and dried

• 1/2 cup Panko Bread Crumbs

• cooking spray

• 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

• Salt and Pepper to taste

• 1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning (optional)

• 1 tsp garlic seasoning

• 1 tsp ground paprika

  For the dressing

• 1/2 cup greek yogurt

• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

• 2 tbsp lemon juice

• 1 tbsp dijon mustard

• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

• 1 glove garlic minced

• 1tsp anchovy paste (optional)

  
  
  
  

Directions

Step One: Chop the Romaine lettuce and the bunch of kale. Place them in a large bowl. Place the chickpeas on a baking sheet and spray with cooking spray. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika and optional lemon pepper seasoning. Place. in a 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for 20-25 minutes.

Step two: In a small bowl or jar, place greek yogurt, 1/4 cup grated parm, lemon juice, dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and anchovy paste. With an immersion blender, blend the ingredients until smooth and combined. (If you don't have an immersion blender you can try a regular blender or food processor. You could also just whisk the ingredients together if you don't mind a chunkier dressing.)

Step three: In a small skillet over medium heat toast the Panko bread crumbs. Spray the bread crumbs with some cooking spray. This should take about 5-7 minutes. Keep an eye on the bread crumbs because they can brown fast towards the end of toasting.

Step four: Add the chickpeas to the bowl with the lettuce. Add the breadcrumbs. You can pour the dressing on at this point however if you are not sure that the whole salad will be eaten right away hold off on the dressing. add the dressing to your plate.

Note: If you are going to make this salad as a meal prep for the week then don't add all the ingredients together right away. Add. the components together to your plate when you are ready to eat the salad. Keep a paper towel with the lettuce to help keep the lettuce crisp. Store the breadcrumbs in a container. The chickpeas can be kept in the fridge.