Not gonna lie, I was intimidated by making kale salad simply because I didn’t want to/ know how to “massage” the kale, like all the recipes instructed. I mean, come on. I kept ordering kale salads from various places and they were so good, so I finally decided to give it a try. I also just couldn’t believe the kale wasn’t cooked, in all the ones I had ordered. They didn’t seem raw. The texture was easy to chew and not crunchy. Eating raw kale doesn’t seem very appealing to me, which is another reason I waited so long to try making this.

It took me a few tries to get the dressing and salt right, but once I did, it was great! I have made it every week since. A few great things about this recipe is that it uses ingredients I always have on hand (just need to buy the kale) and it keeps for days in the fridge (a good do ahead veggie side dish). This goes great with leftover butternut squash or any type of chicken as well. It can easily be made into a full meal with other leftovers. 

Here’s what I came up with:

KALE SALAD

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of kale
• 2 Tbs lemon juice (I used fresh but you don’t have to)
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 2 tsp mustard (optional)
• 1 Tbs maple syrup
• 1/4 cup walnuts or almonds, chopped (I buy walnut pieces so no need to chop)
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries or 1 pear or apple, diced
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• Black pepper

Instructions:

1.  Rip or cut the leaves off the kale from the stem
2.  Chop all the leaves up small
3.  Put the kale in a bowl and sprinkle with salt
4.  Aggressively scrunch the kale. Just take handfuls and squeeze it over and over until the kale is dark green and feels soft. It takes me about a minute
5. Make the dressing by whisking together the olive oil, lemon juice, optional mustard, maple syrup and black pepper
6. Dump in the dressing and toss to coat
7. Add the fruit and nuts

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