Chopped kale salad
Approx. 3 bunches of kale (curly or not-your choice!)
Juice of 1 lemon
Sea salt-enough to sprinkle very lightly throughout the salad
Approx. 2 tbs olive oil (or whatever oil you prefer)-binds the salt & lemon juice to the kale
Red bell pepper or yellow bell pepper (or 1/2 of each)-seeded & chopped fine-for color and a bit of flavor
What to do:
Wash the kale leaves—nothing worse than a mouthful of sand/grit when you’re eating a kale salad.
Strip the leaves off the main vein—a little time consuming, but the end result is lovely, and you don’t end up with a mouthful of woody stems. :)
You may want to toss the leaves in some paper towel or a salad spinner - your preference - I'm not sure it matters too much.
Chop the kale finely—very finely…I roll my leaves, and chop thru them once, then turn the pile and chop thru it again…we're talking’ small.
For the ‘dressing’ part of this-there are many ways to do it. Pre-mix the olive oil, lemon and sea-salt, then drizzle over the salad, or…
…once the chopped kale is in the bowl, pour enough (olive) oil to ohhh so lightly dress the kale…you almost don’t want any at the bottom of the bowl-literally the oil is to hold the lemon juice and salt. I mix it through with my hands-and the olive oil feels lovely on your skin!
Then lightly, lightly sprinkle sea salt into the salad…I use my fingers to add a pinch of salt here and there as I mix thru with my other hand - I probably use less than a teaspoon…the salt and lemon play counterpoint to each other—so you really don't want to overdo it.
When you're ready for the lemon - I usually roll the lemon on the counter just to loosen it up a little before I cut it in half. Might want to use a small strainer to catch the seeds.
I use a fork to squeeze as much juice out of each half as I possibly can—and I drizzle that over the top of the salad and let it trickle down thru the kale. I use both halves of the lemon.
At this point, this salad is divine! But, if you want a little color and some more flavor, use half a red/yellow/orange bell pepper-or some finely chopped carrot, and toss that into the salad…in my mind, the star of the show is the kale, so I use everything else to highlight that—but, this is your salad. :) Prefer tomatoes? Add those instead/too!
The beauty of this recipe is that it is so versatile!
I would serve right away…if you're taking this to a pot-luck, it might be worth taking the bell pepper in a separate container—they will tend to take over the flavor if you add them, and they sit for a bit with the kale. But that could be alright as well. :)
Enjoy!
Approx. 3 bunches of kale (curly or not-your choice!)
Juice of 1 lemon
Sea salt-enough to sprinkle very lightly throughout the salad
Approx. 2 tbs olive oil (or whatever oil you prefer)-binds the salt & lemon juice to the kale
Red bell pepper or yellow bell pepper (or 1/2 of each)-seeded & chopped fine-for color and a bit of flavor
What to do:
Wash the kale leaves—nothing worse than a mouthful of sand/grit when you’re eating a kale salad.
Strip the leaves off the main vein—a little time consuming, but the end result is lovely, and you don’t end up with a mouthful of woody stems. :)
You may want to toss the leaves in some paper towel or a salad spinner - your preference - I'm not sure it matters too much.
Chop the kale finely—very finely…I roll my leaves, and chop thru them once, then turn the pile and chop thru it again…we're talking’ small.
For the ‘dressing’ part of this-there are many ways to do it. Pre-mix the olive oil, lemon and sea-salt, then drizzle over the salad, or…
…once the chopped kale is in the bowl, pour enough (olive) oil to ohhh so lightly dress the kale…you almost don’t want any at the bottom of the bowl-literally the oil is to hold the lemon juice and salt. I mix it through with my hands-and the olive oil feels lovely on your skin!
Then lightly, lightly sprinkle sea salt into the salad…I use my fingers to add a pinch of salt here and there as I mix thru with my other hand - I probably use less than a teaspoon…the salt and lemon play counterpoint to each other—so you really don't want to overdo it.
When you're ready for the lemon - I usually roll the lemon on the counter just to loosen it up a little before I cut it in half. Might want to use a small strainer to catch the seeds.
I use a fork to squeeze as much juice out of each half as I possibly can—and I drizzle that over the top of the salad and let it trickle down thru the kale. I use both halves of the lemon.
At this point, this salad is divine! But, if you want a little color and some more flavor, use half a red/yellow/orange bell pepper-or some finely chopped carrot, and toss that into the salad…in my mind, the star of the show is the kale, so I use everything else to highlight that—but, this is your salad. :) Prefer tomatoes? Add those instead/too!
The beauty of this recipe is that it is so versatile!
I would serve right away…if you're taking this to a pot-luck, it might be worth taking the bell pepper in a separate container—they will tend to take over the flavor if you add them, and they sit for a bit with the kale. But that could be alright as well. :)
Enjoy!