Skinny Southern Kale Salad with Dates

Why do we have to be so healthy today

Well, because it's a new year. Strip away, Bobby. Please. I've never been so distracted

You know, I hate to name drop, but I was talking to Jimmy Carter. This just gets better and better

Yummy, huh? Mm-hmm. What's y'all? Cute. Lots of good flavor, huh? All right

Hey, everybody. and welcome to the Paula Deen Network. I'm Bobby Deen. I'm here with my friend, Kimberly Schlappman

Good job. Yeah, and we're gonna make a schlalid. One of my favorite things

You have a very fun name. Schlapp, you know what I call my husband? Schlappy

Schlappy? I love it. Yep. You know what my wife calls me? Chubby hubby

Oh, those are the best, but you aren't chubby. Silly. Maybe a little bit with no shirt on

We were just having a very fun conversation about, Kimberly is in a great band called Little Big Town

and obviously they travel all over the country. And Kimberly was telling me that they have a grill on their tour bus

and they have a big traveling trunk that's full of nothing, but cooking, I guess, different ingredients, bowls

other things that you would need. Bowls and chives and tongs and all that stuff. Because sometimes when you go to sing, they have catering

but it's not always great. It's not that good. Do you want to name anybody

Did y'all ever go to the Loveless Cafe? Oh, it's my favorite. The Loveless Cafe biscuits

I didn't mean to interfere. That's okay. Anytime. You're Paula Deen. You can do that if you'd like

You can do this. This is your house. So Nashville, probably some of the best food

Some of the best. But sometimes you go someplace where there's not great food selection and y'all like to do your own cooking

Fire up the grill and cook. And we were talking about jalapeno poppers, which are really great

My mama makes jalapeno poppers stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon and do them on the grill

and they're fantastic. We're not doing those today. Why do we have to be so healthy today

Well, because it's a new year. Yes, that's right. Yes, we do. And I always make a resolution

Do you make resolutions? You know what, Kimberly? I've had this conversation with people a lot

and I don't disagree with them, but I think that if you're making a physical change

then it's more about a lifestyle. You're right. And you and I are really close in age

You look absolutely fantastic. I don't think that you need to make any resolutions as far as food is concerned

but it's probably because you cook and eat like this. And this is Kimberly's kale salad

So drive the recipe and show me how you make it. This is something that I make at home, too, and I really like

I love kale salad. The dressing's probably very little. Yeah, you can do anything with kale as long as you massage it

I've found if you don't massage the kale, then it's going to be tough. Yep. You know? So they're already washed

This is a big old bunch of kale. We're just going to strip it? Do it. Okay. Strip away, Bobby

Okay, all right. There you go. And then, well, don't strip. The kale. Oh, please

Sorry, Ms. Kyle. Oh, please. Please. Please. I'm so distracted. I understand

So then I put a little salt on it and a little lemon juice and massage away OK I can do it So I going to make it up Should I be rolling this up and chopping it into small bits or no I think it fine because when you massage it it going to shrink so much down

That's perfect. And just kind of rip it. Yeah, because it's going to go, you know, because kale shrinks

I know about shrinkage. All men know about shrinkage. Okay, so let's talk vinaigrette

We're going to, we have, okay, four towels. I've never been so distracted

Okay. I'm going to do about four tablespoons of olive oil. And a couple of tablespoons of honey

Of course, I always do more than a couple of tablespoons. Nice. Because it's so yummy

I love honey. I bet this is good Savannah honey. That is fresh local honey from Savannah Bee Company

Some of the best you can get. Love. The best you can get

Oh, have you cooked with bees? Have you cooked with bees? I've cooked bees

I've been stung by them. I've cooked with them. Have you been to a bee farm

I did. I did. Well, we have one right here in Savannah

Savannah Bee Company. But then I did it for one of my shows once

We went up on a rooftop in New York City, the last place that you would expect to see somebody having these bee boxes

Wow. And this guy had all these bees up there, and we smoked. Really

You know what I mean? Oh, yes. You've done this whole thing. Put on the whole outfit. Yes, the mask, the whole thing. I love it

Did you get stung, too? I did not get stung. I did not get stung. I have, you know, I have that woman's, you know, that natural, gentle

Do explain. I don't understand. Well, mine just got trapped in my outfit, and I think he was just mad

Oh, dear. Okay. He stung the mess out of me. Aw. All right, so I'm going to use the lemon to soften up the kale, right

Yes, and the salt, like a quarter teaspoon of salt. Okay. Don't want to have too much salt. The other day I made this, and I didn't have enough kale, but I used too much salt, you know

It got too salty, so don't do that. Well, my mom has always told me that you can add, but you can never take away

You can never take away the salt. Don't go too salty. Don't squeeze this lemon juice into your eyes

No, you'll need onion goggles if you do that. Oh, yeah. Did you get a chance to experience the onion goggles

I have three pair in my drawers at home. Do you seriously? Yes

I love onion goggles. Are you pulling my leg or are you serious? No, I'm very sensitive to onion juice

Me too. So I can't cook without them. Literally, if I'm dicing an onion, I'm pulling out my goggles

Oh, I thought you were kidding me. Oh, I'm sweet. Well, moms are fabulous

Yes, they are. I have kingdoms, too. Do you really? Yes, yes, I do. So do you like to cook at home for your family

If I have a night off, I'm in the kitchen cooking. If I have a day off, I'm in the kitchen cooking

My little girl likes to cook. It's my favorite. I love it so much. I'm so happy that I tell people all the time, I'm so happy that my mama taught me how to

cook when I was a young person and clean up after myself. Those are two really good things, especially for guys, to know how to do

So I'm cutting up a honey crisp apple. I'm from apple country in Georgia, so I'm kind of snobby about my apples

Oh, my goodness. And I love Honeycrisp. Up near Helen, you said, right? Up near Helen. Cornelia, a little small town up near Helen

How long have you been singing? You have a beautiful voice, by the way. Thank you very much. I've been singing since I could stand up at the pulpit at church

Okay. And I started singing with my daddy and then my sister came along and we sang together And then we formed a little big town 16 years ago Y been around that long Long time Took us a while Bobby

Holy smokes. Well, I mean, you know what? They say it takes 10 years to become an overnight success

Yes, it did. Exactly that. It took us 10 or 11 years. That's right

Well, I was talking to... I hate to be a name dropper, but I'll do it anyway

Come on, do it. I was talking to Lee Greenwood in Charlotte a couple of weeks ago

Awesome guy. Yeah. And I'm desperately trying to learn how to play the guitar. I have become a very good guitar collector

Yeah, yeah. But I'm not a great player. Yeah. And I was talking, and I really would like to learn to

because I've learned to play some now, but I want to learn to sing while I play. Oh

And I was talking to Lee, and I said, Lee, is it completely God-given, or can you learn how to sing

And he said, no, it's God-given. And I said, oh, well, I guess I'm not going

Sorry about that. I guess that won't happen. But I'll be happy to come stand in and play with y'all at Little Big Town

Come on. Do you like dates? I do like dates very much

I was looking at your ingredient list for this, and this is a very, very healthy salad

This is what I call skinny southern. You mean your style of cooking? I guess that's kind of what I do, too

This, yeah. This particular salad. Not what I did with your mom. You ain't going to be doing no skinny southern with my mama

I do like dates. I like the red pepper seeds. Love the honey. I thought you'd dress them

I feel like I didn't make enough dressing. Well. I can always make more

You can always, yeah, you can always add, but you can never take away. That's right. That's right

All right, well, I have massaged this kale until I think it's going to fall asleep. Look at theirs. Okay, well, okay, let's just build this salad

One other thing we have is pecans. Love them. Because we're good Georgia folks. Are you going to chop them up

Um, yeah, well, they're kind of semi-chopped. You know, I hate the name drop, but I was talking to Jimmy Carter

This just gets better and better. It's true. If you stick around me long enough, you will get some really wonderful information

Okay. I'm going to hang around for as long as you'll have me. I was talking to, because people, you know, us Southerners and Pecans, they're ours

They're very Southern. And people sometimes make fun of the way that you say Pecans, you know

I know. I say, now I'm from North Georgia, and we say Pecan. Pecan and Pecan

And you are going to my point. I talked to Jimmy Carter, and we were talking about the pronunciation of that word

We're friends. Jimmy Carter. I know Jimmy Carter. Hi Jimmy Carter. I think my parents voted for you. I think. He's an awesome man. I think. You know what? You shouldn't say that unless you're absolutely positive. Okay, sorry. But anyhow, this is for real. I'm not just name dropping. But he told me, he said there are four ways to pronounce that delicious nut. And they're all correct. Four. Pecan. Yeah. Pecan. Oh. Pecan. Pecan. So it's, do you see? I see. Yes

So that's four. That's four. I wouldn't have guessed. I would have guessed three, but Jimmy Carter would know

So I have olive oil and honey and red pepper flakes and shallot and salt and pepper

I love all of those ingredients. And you've got to give it a big old shake. So let put the dates in OK And you can put as many dates I love sweets I like them so go ahead Do you want me to cut up do you want me to chop up some of the pecans Excuse me for interrupting Oh do it Yes please And sometimes they can be a little big Chop them up And I got this So tell me what else is going on besides complete success Well your family We talked about your family You and I are close in age and you got a little girl at home She seven and a precious husband who he Mr Everything He can do anything

He can make anything. Really, really good. I'm going to go ahead and pour this dressing over here and give it a toss

And then we can put, oh, oh, I forgot the pecorino cheese. Oh, I love it

Oh, yes. Pecorino is some of my favorite cheese. Yes, let's get that on there. Got to have a little bit of cheese

Pecorino with Parmesan. Skinny Southern salad. Love cheese. You know what? I don't have a whole lot of a sweet tooth, but, golly, the savory stuff

Yeah. Do you know what I mean? That's a savory and sweet. Pickles, olives

Oh, pickles. My mama makes good pickles. Jesus, all that stuff gets me

Mm, yes. Look at this beautiful salad. Now, every ingredient in there is absolutely good for you

Maybe the cheese you could slam a little bit, but it's okay

Look how nice that looks. You know, it makes us happy. Okay

Oh, yeah, I said salt and pepper in the dressing, right? Well, I put a little bit on the kale, but not a whole lot

I don't know if you put it into the dressing or not. I think I did. Well, you can always add, but you can never take away

That's right. That's my takeaway for the day. My takeaway is you can add, but you can't take away

And, well, anybody who grew up with good cooks in the kitchen, you've heard it before

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's kind of like losing weight, too. You can always add. Oh, that's the easy part

But it's hard to take it away. Oh, boy, am I good at adding, too. Let's try this salad

Yeah, let's plate it up. I'm serving up Bobby Dean. This would be a, well, thank you very much

This would be a nice side to, golly, just about anything. Yeah. But I can imagine this with a nice steak or a pork chop

Ooh, yes. Or even with a nice piece of fish. I was thinking piece of salmon. Do you like to eat fish

I love fish. I wish I lived near the coast like you. This is absolutely great

Yummy, huh? Mm-hmm. What y'all, that's cute. What is y'all's New Year's tradition

Probably similar to yours. Turnip greens and black-eyed peas? For money and luck, baby

You know it in the South. If I don't have that on New Year's Day

my mom will call me if I happen not to be home. She'll call me and say, Did you have your black-eyed peas and your turmeric creams

If I say no, she's so disappointed. Check your bank account, and you'll know whether or not you're going to

Yeah, you're going to be broke. This is a really, really great simple dressing

I like it very much. It's one of those things that it's really good for you, so it needs some help

And your dressing really, really helped it. Lots of good flavor, huh

This is delicious. I'm a salad guy. Me too. And this is a great recipe

I'm going to be using it at my house from now on. If you like this, you can find it and lots of other great light recipes

right here on the Paula Deen Network. So y'all stick with us

That's right. Thanks, Kimberly. I enjoyed it. It was so fun, Bobby. Great