Kale: Great for Salads
Sometimes mistakes in the kitchen turn out wonderfully well. I had bought kale to go in a soup recipe and collard greens to use as a side dish for something else. I got confused, however, and ended up using the collard greens in the soup. It was no big deal for the soup, but I didn’t want to use the kale in the side dish recipe that was meant for collard greens. What to do? Justin suggested we use the kale as a side dish for our lunches that week. Great idea. I had been trying to perfect a kale salad off and on, and I figured this was the opportunity to try again.
A Simple Vinaigrette
I kept it simple: kale, vinaigrette, cheddar, and dried cranberries. Oh, the beauty of simplicity! It turned out to be quite tasty. For the vinaigrette, I used old white wine that had pretty much turned to vinegar. I also added the juice from half of a lemon. Feel free to experiment with this Kale Salad recipe. You could also substitute Parmesan cheese in place of the cheddar. Any hard cheese with a strong flavor would work well. I’m really glad I was forced to try to perfect this salad – now I plan to use it as a staple recipe!
Kale Salad with White Wine Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 1 bunch kale stemmed, washed, and dried
- 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tbsp white wine or white wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1/2 lemon juiced
Instructions
- Stem and wash kale. The easiest way to do this is to submerge it in water, swirl it around, and lift it out. Dry it in a salad spinner, or place it in a clean dish towel, go outside, and whirl it around a few times. Stack the dried leaves, roll them up, and thinly slice them.
- Make dressing. Pour olive oil into a bowl. Slowly drizzle in white wine/white wine vinegar while whisking together. Add in salt, minced garlic, and lemon juice.
- Pour dressing over kale and massage with your hands to break down the tough kale leaves. Add in cranberries and cheddar. Serve.
