Simple Kale Salad with Lemon-Garlic Vinaigrette

Simple Kale Salad with Lemon-Garlic Vinaigrette

Back in January, I read that kale was so last year. Apparently this will be cauliflower’s turn in the spotlight. Seriously, who decides this stuff? Is there some powerful vegetable lobby group in Washington? An Anna Wintour of the produce world? Some marketing experts doing vegetable focus groups? These are the questions that keep me up at night.

So I set out to do some serious research Google it. It’s true: cauliflower is the new kale. Just ask your friendly global culinary trendologist.

I love a humble head of cauliflower as much as the next person, but I’m not ready to kick kale to the curb just yet. We have a close relationship that started with green juices. I used to buy kale by the bunch for $2-2.50, then I started growing it. Kale is hardy stuff; it’s easy to grow and hard to kill. I filled a huge raised bed with it, and we ate kale morning, noon, and night. Then life got busy, and Trader Joe’s offered to grow and wash and chop it for me in 10 oz. bags for $1.99! Could it get any better than this?

Hello, my darling Costco. They are now selling these big 1.5 pound bags of both baby kale & a deep green blend (baby kale, chard, and spinach) for $4.99. I’ve bought and loved both. These baby kale are more mild and less tough than their parents. If you tried kale before and weren’t a fan, it’s a new year! Try again. Just don’t tell Cauliflower.

For this salad, you could easily start with a bunch of kale and finely chop it. All pictures in this post were using the 3-green blend.

I have made Heidi Swanson’s Raw Tuscan Kale Salad so many times in the past three years. It is simple + delicious. But I was ready for a little more variety and flavor. I kind of feel silly for even calling this a recipe, as the ingredients could be endlessly mixed and matched to suit your tastes. Basically, chop a bunch of kale (or whatever greens float your boat), add any combination of dried/fresh fruit, hard cheese, and nuts you want, and toss with a simple lemon vinaigrette.

My current favorite combination is chopped apples, cashews, Parmesan cheese, and golden raisins. It hits all the right notes, while giving you a simple side dish or light lunch.

While I now keep a couple bottles of store bought salad dressing in the refrigerator, making your own vinaigrette requires no sweat and only 3 ingredients. In general, combine approximately 1 part vinegar (or other acid, like lemon juice) to 3 parts oil and add whatever additional seasonings (salt, mustard, herbs) you want.

The reason I love this dressing recipe is because it combines ingredients I always have on hand: olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic. That’s it. Shake everything together in a small jar, and you’re good to go. It gives any salad a bright, punchy dressing that tastes so fresh and flavorful. You could lightly toss it with a big salad to serve a large group or store the jar in the fridge to make one salad at a time.

Looking for a slight variation? Try this homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette recipe!

Simple Kale Salad with Lemon-Garlic Vinaigrette

Ingredients

4 c. kale (or other greens), finely chopped
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 c. dried fruit
1/2 c. nuts (sliced almonds, cashews, walnuts)
1/2 c. fresh fruit, chopped or sliced (grapefruit, grapes, apples)

optional ideas: grated carrots, chopped avocados, diced red onion

1. Place the kale or other greens in a large bowl and add all additional ingredients.
2. Gently toss with the lemon-garlic vinaigrette (see recipe below).

Lemon-Garlic Vinaigrette

Ingredients

1 lemon, juiced
6 T. olive oil
1 small clove garlic, minced

1. Place all 3 ingredients into a small jar.
2. Shake. 😊
3. Store leftover dressing in the refrigerator.

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I use my Amco Enamel Lemon Squeezer (Amazon) so often it rarely makes it back to the drawer: squeeze-rinse-repeat. I love how fast and easy it squeezes limes or lemons for hummus, guacamole, dressing, and more. If the lemon squeezer isn’t in stock, you can also check out the 2-in-1 lemon/lime squeezer from Amco!

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