Dirty Girl’s Kale Salad
With subtle modifications to fit my palette…
I take no credit for this recipe it was given out by my friend Mike and his lovely wife. I tried it and loved it. It finally answered a question I’ve had for many years; “I know kale is good for me, but how do I make it edible?”
This kale salad is the awesome answer. You can mix it with other stuff too, like pasta for a pasta salad, etc. It is very flexible.
Makes 3-4 servings of kale salad.
Ingredients:
One big bunch of kale, any kind, doesn’t matter – fresher is better.
One cup extra virgin olive oil (ok you can use the cheap stuff if you have to)
½ cup lemon juice (this is the key ingredient)
Optional ingredients to taste (once you get the base you can throw just about anything in):
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (small handful)
1-3 Garlic cloves minced
Sea Salt – (couple shakes)
Cherry tomatoes, sliced in half (10-15)
Diced red bell pepper (1/4 pepper)
Pine nuts (1/2 a handful)
Cayenne pepper (to taste) a few shakes of the powdered kind
Preparation:
Slice the kale up into small strips
Put it in a big bowl
Pour in the oil and lemon juice
Knead the kale mixture like you would knead a meatloaf. Really work it over with your hands and get that oil/juice into the kale.
Add your optional ingredients and mix them in.
Notes:
You can eat this right away, but it is even better if you put it in a sealed container and let it sit overnight. The lemon juice and oil will ‘digest’ the kale and make it easy to eat and flavorful. That big bunch of kale your started with will reduce down to a quart container. This mixture is stable and will keep for a few days.