Thursday 27 February 2014

Kale Salad

I've been a bit slow to get on the kale bandwagon, but now that I've started cooking with it, I love it! We first started with kale chips and have moved on to using it in place of spinach or other greens. This is my first attempt of using it in a salad.

After having carrots left over from making the soup earlier in the week, I decided that roasting the carrot to bring out that beautiful caramel flavour would complement the green kale perfectly. Adding some orange for sweetness and pine nuts for crunch, it was delicious.





The dressing used the juice from the orange, mixed with some oil, salt and pepper. It was mild and sweet. If you prefer a bit more zing, add some lemon juice or white wine vinegar, or use it instead of the orange.

To sate my salmon obsession, I served the salad with pan fried salmon fillets which had been sprinkled with sumac. A very simple way to serve such a beautiful fish.

Now that I've made my first kale salad, I think I'm going to have to get experimenting a little bit more. The sweet tartness of dried cranberries would also be great, as would fresh or dried apricots. Can't wait to have a bit more fun in the kitchen!






Kale Salad


1 carrot, peeled and cut into large chunks
A drizzle of olive oil
2 sticks of kale
1 orange
1 Tbs toasted pinenuts
1 spring onion, thinly sliced
1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste





Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Place carrot in a small roasting pan, drizzle with oil and toss to combine.
Roast for about 30 mins or until tender and starting to caramelise. Set aside to cool.
Cut the kale leaves away from the stalks and then tear into bite size pieces. Place in a bowl.
Boil a kettle full of water and pour over the kale leaves. Allow to sit for 1 minute, then drain and refresh under cold water. Set aside to cool and dry.
Cut the ends off the orange and then peel with a sharp knife to remove all the pith.
Segment the orange in to a bowl, taking care to reserve all the juices. Squeeze any remaining juice from the core and set aside.
In a serving bowl, combine the roasted carrot, kale, orange segments, toasted pine nuts and spring onion.
Measure the reserve orange juice and add an equal amount of extra virgin olive oil. Season to taste and whisk to combine.
Dress the salad with as much of the dressing as you feel it needs and toss to combine.

Enjoy.

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