Kale Salad

Kale is a veggie I haven’t posted much about. And I don’t even know why not because we really like these dark green leaves! Kale is one of the most nutritious green leafy vegetables around, it is packed with vitamins, calcium, iron, lots of good for us nutrients, plus it tastes really good too!

Believe it or not Matheus loves kale, in all shapes and forms. We go grocery shopping together and you might bet that there will be a bunch of kale in our cart. We like it sautéed with onions, garlic, salt pepper and olive oil, sooo good! And we love it as “kale chips” (which I will come back to post about), and now we have been venturing ourselves in the world of kale salads!

I tried a kale salad once in a cooking class I attended and I just loved the texture and taste, so when I saw this recipe I knew I had to try. And I did. And I have made it multiple times already since the first time we tried it. Which by the way I didn’t even get a chance to be photographed, yes, this salad it that good!

Yesterday though I made sure to get a picture as I like not only how it taste but also how it looks. The flavors in this salad are just as bright as the colors you see!

It is a very simple and easy to make recipe, and it has a bonus of being one of those salads you can (and maybe even should) make in advance. It really holds up, with dressing and all, and tastes amazing the next day.

I loved the combination of the lemony dressing with the earthiness of the kale and the sweetness of the mango chunks, plus the pepitas add just the right amount of crunchiness to make this salad even more attractive to the taste buds.

Something new and different to try!

Ana

Ps: I love those pepitas just by themselves, they are so good!!

Ps2: I made my salad mostly by tasting and adjusting the seasonings, I didn’t make the vinaigrette separate to put on top as the recipe stated as I thought it was flavorful and dressed enough after massaging it. Here I am posting the way I made mine, so if you want more specific measurements then click HERE and take a look at the original recipe.

Kale Salad

(adapted from an Aarti's Sequeira recipe)

1 bunch kale (remove and discard stalks), thinly slice the leaves

Juice of ½ lemon (more if you want)

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt to taste

About 2 teaspoons honey

Freshly ground black pepper

¾ cup diced mangoes

2 tablespoons toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

Put sliced kale in a large bowl, add the lemon juice, a bit of salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil and, using your hands, massage the seasonings into the kale leaves until the kale is softened and wilted, about 2 minutes. Taste to check the seasonings and add more lemon juice, another drizzle of olive oil and more salt and pepper, if necessary. Add mangoes and toss together with salad. Sprinkle the pepitas on top before serving.