Recipe

Massaged Kale Salad with Radish, Apple, Avocado, and Roasted Sunflower Seeds

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by Eating Is Art

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by Eating Is Art

This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Salad with Apples
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Eating Is Art's Notes: The bright flavors and crisp, layered textures of this salad will immediately bring you out of your winter-time funk. First off, let me explain what massaged kale is (other than pure-green...
The bright flavors and crisp, layered textures of this salad will immediately bring you out of your winter-time funk. First off, let me explain what massaged kale is (other than pure-green-bliss). Kale is kind of hard in it’s raw form; it’s tense, it’s chewy, and super bitter–not the best–unless sauteed, baked, or, massaged with sea salt. And massaging works really with Dinosaur kale–the flat, dark green leaf, not the frilly leaves of Russian and other varieties of kale (although, you can use those too). To massage kale: take about a teaspoon of nice sea salt and sprinkle it over washed dinosaur kale leaves cut into 1/4 inch wide strips all tossed into a bowl. It’s up to you if you want to leave the stems on–sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. Then, using your hands, squeeze the kale vigorously, so that the kale softens and moisture begins to sweat out. Take a moment and taste a piece to see if you need to add a little more salt, it really brings out the moisture and softens up the leaves nicely. The result is delicious! The dressing for this salad was light, refreshing, and perfect for the cold/flu season as there is no oil base for it and it’s packed with good vitamins. Feel free to experiment with roasted pumpkin seeds or tamari almonds instead of the sunflower seeds as well. Enjoy!

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Serves 2-4

1 bunch kale Ask a question about this ingredient

1/2-1 teaspoon sea salt Ask a question about this ingredient

4 tablespoons honey Ask a question about this ingredient

4 tablespoons lemon juice (one whole lemon) Ask a question about this ingredient

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger Ask a question about this ingredient

1 apple (cored and sliced) Ask a question about this ingredient

6 radishes (sliced) Ask a question about this ingredient

1 avocado Ask a question about this ingredient

1/2 cup roasted sunflower seeds Ask a question about this ingredient

Rinse off the kale, Cut crosswise into 1/4 inch pieces, including stems if using dinosaur kale. Sprinkle on 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and begin to squeeze the kale and salt vigorously with your hands so that the kale softens and moisture begins to sweat out. Taste it to see if you need any more salt, which you probably will. Massage the kale until it’s moist and tender.
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Mix together the lemon juice, honey, and ginger, and combine with the kale. Toss together. Slice up the apple into small chunks, the radish, the avocado, add the roasted sunflower seeds and some pepper–toss it and serve.
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*to roast sunflower seeds, put into a shallow pan, preheat your oven onto 350 degrees F and bake for 10-15 minutes. For lighter a roast, 10 minutes, for a darker roast, 15 minutes. Enjoy!
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4 Comments on Massaged Kale Salad with Radish, Apple, Avocado, and Roasted Sunflower Seeds

BlissfulBaker added about 1 year ago

This recipe amazed me. As I massaged the kale, it transformed as if it was being cooked. I tossed in the other ingredients, tasted, and fell in love. Salty kale, tangy lemon, sweet apple, smooth avocado & crunchy sunflower seeds. What's not to love? The dressing is light & oil-free & the kale actually colors it a beautiful shade of green. This is a new favorite recipe.

robinbeth added about 1 year ago

Massaging the kale with salt and letting in sit with the lemon juice dressing while the rest of the salad was assembled worked perfectly to soften the tough, raw leaves. Bruised with salt, and pickled with the citrus, the kale’s texture became supple. The combination of crunchy radish, sweet apple, creamy avocado, and roasted sunflowers complimented each other well.

robinbeth added about 1 year ago

Ah hah! I had a dinosaur kale salad at Il Buco in NYC last week that was amazing and I was completely confounded as to how they got the raw kale to be so delicious. I'll definitely try this technique. Thanks!