Enjoy a seasonal winter salad with apples, kale, dried fruit, cheese and nuts! (Omit and add ingredients to your hearts content)! This salad only gets better with time; the kale and apples store well in the fridge for up to three days.
Ingredients: (serves 4-6)
Salad:
- 4 cups very finely chopped or slivered curly kale, dinosaur kale or Russian kale (about 6 ounces on the stem, or half of a 3/4-pound bunch, stemmed and washed in two rinses of water)
- 1 apple, sweet, like a Fuji, or a sweet-tart, like a Gala, Braeburn or Pink Lady, cored and cut in 1/4-inch dice
- ¼ c sunflower seeds, or any nut of your choice (optional)
- ½ c dried cranberries (optional)
- ¼ c feta or goat cheese (optional)
Dressing ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon (or lime) juice (plus a little to sprinkle on the sliced apples and kale stems)
- Salt to taste
- 1 very small garlic clove, puréed, or finely chopped and mashed up (use the back of a spoon and a hard surface to mash)
- ¼ tsp ginger, pureed, or finely chopped and mashed up
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1-2 tsp honey
Directions:
- Remove kale leaves from the spine/stem of each leaf and finely dice. Set aside in a bowl with a little salt and give the leaves a quick massage. Set aside.
- Each stem of the kale leaves can be used! Dice up the stem into quarter inch pieces and set aside in a bowl with a pinch of salt and a little lemon juice. Massage the stems with the salt and lemon to break down the oils and let sit for 10 minutes.
- Dice apples and sprinkle the apples with lemon juice to prevent browning.
- Add apples, kale and stems together.
- Make the dressing: combine lemon juice, salt, garlic, ginger, olive oil, and honey in a jar with a lid and give it a good shake! Alternatively, you can use a food processor/blender to pulse the dressing into a liquid.
- Add the dressing to the apples, kale and stems.
- Toss with cranberries, nuts and cheese (if using) just before eating.
- Enjoy!