We eat salads on a daily basis because I literally crave them! When I say “we”, I’m also talking about my hubs Walker – he loves salads too. Even though Vienna doesn’t get as excited about salads like we do, she loves her veggies and will pick out what she wants to eat from a big salad bowl.
She often drinks the remaining salad dressing out of the bowl too. It’s pretty hilarious! Have you seen it on my instagram stories?
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Since I love veggies so much, I’m always looking for creative ways to get more of them into my body. Have you tried my Sticky Carrots? Roasted Root Veggies? Cauliflower Fried Rice? While those are all smashingly delicious and healthy recipes, a salad is usually the quickest and easiest way to get more veggies in when time is limited.
This particular recipe was requested by you! After I posted my Roasted Chicken Thighs with Dijon Marmalade a lot of you were asking me for the kale salad recipe we had with it. Before I get to this recipe, I thought I would answer a question I get a lot:
What is the difference between dino kale (aka tuscan or Lacinto kale) and curly green or curly black/purple kale?
From a culinary perspective, dino kale is the best one for raw salads because it’s the most tender, once you remove the inner stem of course. But you still have to chop it A LOT, otherwise it can be tough. Even though I do make salads with curly kale, dino kale is my preference.
When using curly kale, you really need to massage it to tenderize it. Otherwise, curly kale can be the texture of tree bark. This is one of my pet peeves when eating out at a restaurant – tree bark kale. I find that most restaurants still don’t know how to deal with curly kale. I wish I could just tell everyone to massage it, haha!
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Curly kale is excellent for making kale chips because if you’ve made a “cheese” sauce or have a lot of seasoning then it can get into every nook and cranny. Whereas dino kale has a smoother surface, as you can see. I think it’s called dino kale because the surface looks like the skin of a dinosaur. Dino kale is sweeter than curly which tends to be more bitter and sulfurous. Either are delicious if you’re making pesto .
From a nutrition perspective, there’s not much of a difference. It’s like comparing a Royal Gala apple to a Pink Lady apple. Each kind of apple will differ slighly in terms of their phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals, but not dramatically. Either way, both types of kale are a rich source of glucosinolates which are key for detoxification.
Kale is rich in vitamins A, C, K and B6. It is also a fantastic source of antioxidants including quercitin and kaempferol.
These nutrients together have powerful heart-health benefits including blood pressure lowering and anti-inflammatory compounds.
This salad is the perfect balance of sweet and savoury because I added apples and medjol dates along with celery, carrots and red onion. The avocado I used was perfectly ripe, making it lovely next to the crunch of the celery. The salad dressing is simple, yet delicious. You could add some fresh or dried herbs as well.
Recipe not found.
This salad serves 4 to 6 people depending on how hungry you are, or two people as a main. I recommend you enjoy this salad with some Sweet Potato Wedges and the Roast Chicken Thighs with Dijon Marmalade ! Or if you don’t eat meat, it would also be lovely with the Roasted Acorn Stuffed Squash .
I hope you love the crunch of this satisfying salad and it gets you eating more veggies. If you are looking for more yummy recipes to enjoy kale, here are a few of my favourites:
Roasted Chickpea Kale Salad with Creamy Dressing
Rustic Kale and Sundried Tomato Galette
Kale Salad with Creamy Cashew Dressing
Have a joyous rest of your week!
Joy
P.S: I made this whole recipe on Facebook the other night. You can watch the replay. I am getting back to a regular routine of doing facebook LIVES so “like” my page if you want to join me!
18 thoughts on “Juicy & Crunchy Kale Salad”
Thanks a lot for sharing, Joy!
Looks delicious and the ingredients are super-healthy!
It’s one of those “food as medicine” examples 🙂
Kale is also rich in calcium and creates an alkaline environment, which prevents bone demineralization. Older women (and everyone else) will get a much-needed bone protection from this amazing salad.
Cheers and keep it up!
Very true! Thanks for sharing!
Can’t wait to try this with those chicken thighs, which by the way were FABULOUS!
Hi Joy! Thanks for de-spelling the hesitation around kale. Love this salad! You mention massaging is key in your intro but I don’t see it mentioned in preparation…is it both kinds of kale and literally folded in a towel and rubbed?
Thanks!
Glad you love the Dijon Orange Chicken!! Sooooo good!! Perfect combo with this salad 🙂
Glad you loved them Kathy! Those delicious chicken thighs go really well with this salad!
Oh yes! I mentioned it only in the intro because you really only need to massage “curly” kale, not dino kale. Therefore, I didn’t include it in the method because I used dino kale for this recipe. Dino kale is a lighter texture, not so “woodsy” like curly. Hope that makes sense! In this video here, we show you how to massage curly kale, it’s really funny! https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=73&v=R_Ch55QRLJE
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YUM! This was so good and exactly what I was craving!
Perfect Diane. Enjoy!!
Made this last night – OMG!!! I did add some raw pumpkin seeds and it was glorious!! Hubby loved it and the kiddies picked out the apples 😋. Will absolutely make again!!
Hurray! Glad you and your family love it Ashley! Adding pumpkin seeds sounds like a delicious addition. Thanks for your comment.
This looks amazing! We’ve been making a kale and beet salad recipe of yours for a few years now and everyone always loves it 🙂
Glad to hear it Kristen!! Enjoy this one, just as delish! 🙂
Tried it and was fantastic. Substituted fresh figs for the dates and added yellow pepper!
That sounds like delicious subs! Glad you enjoyed it!
This salad is a family favourite! I love having it with roast chicken and rice for a hearty lunch.
So happy to hear that! That sounds like the perfect pairing 🙂