When I first started eating kale salads a few years ago, I thought that raw kale, in a salad, was always much too dry and much too chewy.  I enjoyed sauteeing kale with garlic and olive oil, or steaming kale, or even roasting kale leaves to make kale chips, but I never enjoyed raw kale leaves in a salad. 

Now that I understand the secret to a good kale salad (massaging the kale leaves with the olive oil) it is a different experience entirely!  I love kale salads!  And creating your own home-made kale salad is even better!

Kale is one of the most nutrient-dense foods out there.  It has so many nutrients--vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, manganese, copper, vitamin B6, calcium, potassium, quercetin, lutein, fiber...so if you can add a kale salad once a week to your diet, your body will thank you!  Kale also has many anti-inflammatory benefits, as well as anti-oxidant benefits, and anti-cancer benefits. 

I happen to love Caesar salads so this is my version of a healthy Caesar salad, using lacinato kale instead of romaine lettuce.

Kale Caesar Salad
(serves 2)

Ingredients:
• lacinato kale, 6 cups (de-stemmed, chopped flat leaf Tuscan kale)
• garlic, 2 cloves
• lemon, 2 tablespoons (about a half lemon)
• organic extra virgin cold-pressed olive oil, 4 tablespoons
• red onion, 1/4 cup (chopped, small dice)
• Parmesan cheese, 2 ounces grated
• Himalayan sea salt, to taste
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1.  Wash and pat dry kale leaves with a paper towel. Make sure leaves are dry.
2.  De-stem kale leaves from their center stems. Discard stems.
3.  Chop kale in a chiffonade style cutting technique. Set chopped kale aside in a large salad bowl.  
4.  Peel and chop red onion in small dice. Set aside.
5.  Peel and mash garlic cloves. Set aside.
6.  Squeeze lemon. Set juice aside in a small bowl.  
7.  Once all ingredients are cleaned and prepped, start creating salad.  
8.  Toss kale, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil in a large salad bowl. Mix well. 
9.  Massage kale leaves with the garlic, lemon juice, olive oil. Toss and mix well. 
10.  Add red onion, 1/3 of parmesan. Mix well.
11.  Season with sea salt and black pepper, to taste.
12.  Add more parmesan to salad bowl. Mix well.
13.  When ready to present kale salad, sprinkle remaining parmesan, toss, and serve.

Options:
1.  Add a sprinkle of red chile flakes for a bit of heat.
2.  Add a sprinkle of pitted kalamata olives to the mix.
3.  Toss in (gluten-free!) bread crumbs to the salad. 
4.  Add chopped anchovies to the salad. 
5.  Add heirloom cherry tomatoes (cut them in halves) to the salad for a bit of color and flavor.
6.  Add finely chopped (small dice) sun-dried tomatoes to the salad.
7.  Add a side bowl of freshly grated parmesan to your dinner table for extra sprinkles of parmesan!
8.  For a dairy-free option, use nutritional yeast instead of parmesan!

Enjoy!

april 24, 2017 • recipe 18
a recipe by Carol Giardino • all rights reserved