Kale used to scare me. A lot. I welcomed it into my life via a soup a few months ago, but ever since then, I’ve slowly been adding it to salads and getting used to eating it more often.
My cousin brought a version of this salad to family brunch, and I’ve been eating it ever since. I think I’m in love. I think you could fall in love with it, too.
Ready?
Ingredients first:
Pretty simple: pre-packaged kale salad (with carrot shreds—that part is important!) OR, if you’re more ambitious than I am, kale and some carrots you’ve chopped and shredded on your own. I am lazy. A mandarin. Some strawberries. And the secret weapon: ginger. Not pictured, but needed, is a dressing of your choice. I recommend a balsamic of some sort.
Kale goes into the bowl first.
Next, I add some dressing early. I like to kind of press it into the kale. Some people “massage” their kale to soften it up. I mix it firmly and between some pressing and the dressing (I’m good at rhymes) it gets softer and kind of mellows. Maybe unnecessary, but whatever, it works for me.
Next, I add some ginger. I tried to show the size piece I use. For me, ginger is the food equivalent of that friend you like but can only handle for an hour at a time. I use it sparingly, in a small dose. I peel it with a knife and mince it up really well. I throw it in with the dressing and kale and mix again so it can start working it’s gingery magic on the leaves.
I section up my mandarin and add it in.
Chop up the strawberries! Man, I love summer fruit.
I add a little more dressing, and voila! I sometimes put it on a plate, but usually, I just eat it directly out of the bowl. It’s so delicious, I don’t want to wait.
If you want this to be an actual meal, I’ve added both a hardboiled egg and chicken (NOT AT THE SAME TIME, because then you’d be eating a mother and a child and it just seems so wrong). I also think some sunflower seeds and/or nuts would be amazing on this. It’s delicious, I promise.
Have you joined the Kale Revolution yet? What do you like to eat with it?
I’m not the biggest fan of Kale but this does look pretty good. The line in here that killed me was “I’ve added both a hardboiled egg and chicken (NOT AT THE SAME TIME, because then you’d be eating a mother and a child and it just seems so wrong)” I started laughing out loud at work! awesome
Omg. I love kale. I had CB make me a kale salad the other day and it was so good. He used red peppers and a little onion and citrus vinaigrette. Feta too. I think it’s really good with sundried tomato too. Mmm.
I’ve never eaten kale as a salad, but if it is what I think it is (I had to look up the German translation), it’s also very good as a cooked side dish!
Sounds good! I’m definitely going to try it. Kale is my favorite.
This looks so good! We tried kale for the first time last month and I was surprised at how much I liked it. I think we might grow some in the garden this year.
YUMMMM! That looks incredible! We love kale in our household :)
I prefer cooked kale – in a stirfry with garlic and broccoli. :)
Honestly I just find kale too crunchy for me so I think I need to get on the massaged kale bandwagon. This looks so delicious and easy, I will have to try it!
LOVE kale! My favorite way to eat is is pressed and then baked into kale chips. Throw some kale on a baking sheet, drizzle two tablespoons of olive oil on top, and then add some of your favorite seasonings…my favorite choice is cavender’s greek seasoning. Bake for 10 minutes and enjoy!!
YUM. I love kale and anything with ginger. I’d throw in some diced nuts (maybe almonds? Or pistachios?) and possibly some crumbled up chevre.
I would also rebel and eat with egg and chicken AT THE SAME TIME. ;-)
My first introduction to kale was in the form of something called “kale chips”. One of my friends makes this on the regular for snacking at dinner parties. It’s kale baked with salt (or any other seasoning you might want to use) and olive oil and it’s sooooooo yummy!
Hahaha! Mother and child. You crack me up.
I love kale….where did you find the packaged organic kale salad mix?