Kale, Red Cabbage & Carrot Salad with Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

Prepare the vinaigrette. Mince the garlic and whisk together the garlic and all of the other vinaigrette ingredients in a bowl. You can also use an immersion blender or food processor for this step and just throw the garlic cloves in whole. Store vinaigrette in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use.

In a very large bowl or serving dish, add the shredded kale, cabbage, and carrots. Drizzle the vinaigrette on top and toss to combine. I prefer to do this step several hours ahead of time or even the night before to allow the dressing to meld with the veggies and soften the kale. Then just cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.

Just before serving, core then dice the apple into 1 inch pieces. Peel, pit and dice the avocado into bite size pieces. Dice peeled hard boiled eggs, if using.

Divide kale mixture among 4 serving bowls. Top each salad with 1/4 of the apple, avocado, and egg, if using. Sprinkle each bowl equally with sunflower seeds, and season with additional freshly ground black pepper to taste.