First of all, THANK YOU, from the bottom of our hearts, for all the love and excitement surrounding our big reveal! Our biggest joy comes from one of you telling us that you’ve made a recipe of ours and we can’t wait to continue to share even more easy and delicious recipes with you, plus a whole heck of a lot more exciting stuff! Okay – on to the recipe at hand.
This salad came about after returning from an amazing and quite delicious vacation in Charleston. It was filled with everything Southern dreams are made of – biscuits, grits, and a heck of a lot of butter. My favourite thing when travelling is immersing myself in the food of that location, and this time was no exception. It was my duty to try ALL THE FOOD and if that meant sometimes needing to eat two dinners, I was up to the challenge. My husband, thankfully, obliges my travellers food anxiety – anyone else relate?
But after a couple days of Southern eating, my body was needing some greens.
I am a firm believer in intuitive eating – eating what you want, when you want. If we could all just learn to listen to our bodies and eat when we are hungry, almost like the way we did when we were kids, life would be a happier place. So if I was craving greens – greens is what I was going to eat. Is there anything greener than kale salad? I think not. (side note – I think I will delve more into intuitive eating in a future post – would you like to hear that?).
I read something somewhere that kale was the vegetable of last year. Well, I wholeheartedly disagree. How can a vegetable be “last year?” It’s still here, we can still buy it, still cook, and still eat it. I’ll show you mr. cauliflower – kale is here to stay.
I’ve thrown in a handful of edamame for some extra protein and staying power and cashews for crunch. The asian dressing starts with a base of sesame and canola oils and some lime juice for acid. I’ve added some carrots, snap peas, and red peppers to compliment the kale, but I think radishes, cucumber, or celery would all work well. Or just dump out your produce drawer and toss it in with the kale.
Now I’ve listed in the instructions to massage the kale. You definitely could leave this step out, but I find it helps to soften the tough kale and I like the texture a little better. You could also give it a little rub down when you are tossing it with the dressing too. And the best part about using kale as your green de jour? You can make it a head of time and it doesn’t get soggy. Another point for kale!
Whether your coming off of a food filled Easter weekend or Passover has got you sick of brisket and turkey, or you’ve just got a craving for some greens, I’ve got your solution!
Dara
Asian Kale Salad with Edamame & Cashews
Serves | 4 |
Dietary | Vegan, Vegetarian |
Meal type | Main Dish, Salad, Side Dish |
Website | Adapted from Cookie and Kate |
Ingredients
- 1 bunch kale (tough ribs removed and leaves chopped)
- 1 carrot (peeled and cut into matchstick pieces)
- 1 red pepper (chopped)
- 1 avocado (pitted and cut into cubes)
- 1 cup edamame
- 1/2 cup cashews
- 1/2 cup parsley or cilantro (chopped)
Dressing
- 2 Tbsp canola oil
- 2 Tbsp sesame oil
- 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 lime (juiced)
- 1 Tsp ginger
Note
If you aren't serving this salad right away, leave the nuts on the side until you are ready to serve so they stay crunchy. The salad is also great after it sits in the dressing for a couple hours or even the next day.
Directions
1. | Place kale in a large bowl and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Massage kale with your finger tips for about a minute, until the leaves begin to soften slightly and turn bright green. Add remaining salad ingredients. |
2. | Pour dressing over salad and toss until evenly coated. |
Dressing | |
3. | Whisk all ingredients together. |
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