Massaged Kale Salad
Feb 05, 2020
This salad brings out the sweetness of kale. Sweet? Kale? Yup. Give it a try. It is an excellent lunch choice because you can make it earlier and the kale doesn’t become wilted. It is also a nice addition to dinner be it with soup, or grilled vegetables.
Ingredients
1 bunch of curly kale
1/2 cup diced cucumber
1/2 cup diced red onions
Handful roasted walnuts
Handful cranberries
1 avocado
1/2 – 1 lemon
1-2 teaspoons olive oil
Salt to taste
Roast walnuts. Place a cast iron pan (or heavy pan) over high heat. Once pan is hot enough to dissipate a drop of water quickly, add nuts. Stir constantly until you can smell the nuts and they are slightly browned. Be careful! It is easy to burn them. Immediately turn out to a bowl and let cool.
Remove kale from the stem. To do this, hold leaves together and pull the stem away from the leaves. Stem should come away easily, however, you can also use a knife.
Dice cucumber and red onions. Dice avocado.
In a large bowl add kale. Add 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Massage the olive oil into the kale making sure to coat the whole leaf; all the crevices and curly edges. Add more olive oil if needed. You want each kale leaf to be slightly wilted and shiny from the oil. There is no need to add too much oil. Next add 1/2 lemon. Massage kale again, well. Add salt. Add diced avocado and massage into kale. You want the avocado to be completely broken down into the kale leaves. Taste and adjust lemon juice and salt.
To serve, add cucumber, red onion to bowl. Toss well. Top with cranberries and walnuts. Or, add kale to a serving bowl and top with cucumber, red onion, cranberries and walnuts.
Bon Appétit!
Creative Options
Substitute pine nuts for walnuts
Serve in 1/2 avocado for a unique presentation; for best results, tear kale into bite size pieces
Add red pepper or shredded radishes for a pop of color
Nutritional Analysis
