Lemony Kale Salad
Confession: I have just learned to love kale.
I know what you are thinking. How is that possible? It’s been the super food for the last decade or more!
I know, I know. It’s just that it was…well, kale.
After my son’s nutritionist offered it as an option of a green vegetable he might be willing to eat, I decided to give it a try. She suggested I find a copycat recipe for a certain fast food chicken restaurant’s kale salad and adapt as needed.
I didn’t quite find that, but I did find one I could work with and then made it my own.
Just in case you need a refresher on the benefits of kale: it’s a nutrient-dense food that’s rich in antioxidants, vitamin C, vitamin K, and beta-carotene. It also contains nutrients that fight inflammation and can support eye health, weight management, heart health, and more.
While my son was not impressed, sigh, I fell in love with it.
It’s fairly quick and easy to throw together, too.
A few things to keep in mind:
- Remove the stem from the kale. That is tough and bitter, and no one wants that. TIP: use kitchen scissors to cut the leafy part off the stem.
- Cut the kale leaves into bit-sized pieces. I prefer to use salad scissors for this, but clean kitchen scissors also work.
- Make sure to massage a little of the dressing into the kale with your hands until the kale is shiny and starts to shrink down a little.
As for toppings, you can dress it up to your preference. I think I finally landed on my perfect option today, which is in the recipe below. Or, come to think of it, I may try adding some chopped walnuts in next time.
However, to keep it dairy free for my son, I tried gluten-free breadcrumbs to give some texture. This worked well, and is a good option. But, since he didn’t like the kale, I didn’t have to keep it dairy free.
I opted for adding in reduced fat feta cheese, which was amazing!
Today I tried adding hemp hearts. They add a little nutty crunch and were the perfect final touch.
Side note: we are needing to work on my son’s iron level, and I recently found out about hemp hearts and their high iron content. So, I bought some to put in his smoothies, and tried them in the salad on a whim. Yum!
I hope you enjoy the recipe! Drop a comment and let me know if you are Team Kale or not.
Lemony Kale Salad
Equipment
- 1 large bowl
- 1 salad scissors or kitchen scissors or knife
- 1 mason jar or other airtight container
- 1 lemon juicer
- measuring spoons
Ingredients
- 4 cups curly kale washed, stem removed, and cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp garlic minced
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp hemp hearts
- 1 oz reduced fat feta cheese
- 3 Tbsp chopped walnuts optional
Instructions
- If starting with a bunch of curly kale, wash, dry, and remove leaves from stem.
- Add kale to medium-large bowl and use scissors to chop kale into bite-sized pieces (or finely chop kale leaves and add to a medium-large bowl.)
- To make dressing, add olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, mustard, salt and pepper to mason jar and shake to mix or whisk together in a small bowl.
- Drizzle a teeny bit (around 1 tsp) onto the kale leaves.
- Massage dressing into kale leaves until the leaves darken in color and become tender and silky.
- Toss with remaining dressing, feta, and hemp hearts.
Notes
One Comment