Okay, Kale probably isn’t going to save the world like this t-shirt suggests, but it makes for a catchy headline, don’t ya think?
But kale will give you a healthy boost of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals (aka micro-nutrients). Eat kale and you will feel like a health-nut superstar. The trick to eating raw kale is in the massage. Yes, you heard me right. You need to massage the kale to make it more palatable plus this will break open the cell walls allowing your body to more easily absorb the high-powered nutrients. It only takes a few minutes. Here’s how:
- Wash the kale and de-stem. Grab hold of the end of the kale stem. In one swift stroke, pull down the stem to remove the leaf.
Remove the stem in one swift stroke
- Place several leaves on top of each other and roll up. Cut the roll length-wise once, then holding the roll together with one hand, chop it on the short end from one side to the other. Now you will have small, bite-size pieces.
Stack leaves, roll and chop
- Place the chopped kale into a large bowl and massage with your hands. You will feel the kale breaking up. Do this for about five minutes. There should be a noticeable breakdown in the kale. A full bowl of kale before the massage will amount to about half a bowl-full afterward.
Exercise for the hands
Now try your hand at it and make this yummy kale salad my sister, Cathy Corey, created.
Moroccan Kale Salad
Serves 6-8
2 bunches dinosaur kale, well-massaged and chopped fine
1/2 c green lentils, cooked and dried
1 medium red pepper, chopped fine
1 c green olives, chopped in quarters
1/2 c dried apricots, sliced
1/2 c Marcona almonds
Colorful ingredients are tasty and good for you.
Dressing
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp ground flax seeds
4 tbsp olive oil (can substitute with other oils)
2-3 tbsp Harissa sauce (or other thick, hot sauce)
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp tumeric
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine dressing ingredients and let sit for flavors to meld. For best results, combine dressing ingredients one day prior to making the salad.
Cook lentils about 30-40 minutes until soft. Drain and dry. Set aside.
Chop red pepper, olives and apricots.
Wash kale and chop. Place in large bowl and massage for about five minutes.
Add lentils, pepper, olives, apricots and almonds. Mix well with dressing and enjoy.
The final product: In this version, we added grape tomatoes on top.
LOVE KALE!!! We have a couple of recipes we use it in and I absolutely LOVE making Kale chips!! YUM! Thanks for the tips on how to strip it off the stem, I do something similar but it makes more sense to help break it down slightly since it can be more of a firm leaf.
Yum! We eat a lot of raw kale in our salads, in pesto, and in smoothies.
Looks awesome…
I hope everyone tries the kale salad recipe. You can buy harissa paste on-line at http://www.mustaphas.com. They have many morroccan spices and preserved lemons which I have been wanting to try in a kale salad with white beans. It is always fun to experiment with different ingredients in the kale salad. I always fall back to the original recipe. It is my favorite. Thanks for sharing the recipe Christine.
If anyone is in Madison, Wisconsin, there’s an awesome 100% vegetarian restaurant there called The Green Owl….they have amazing kale chips! Here’s a link: http://www.thegreenowlcafe.com
That looks delicious! I often put kale in smoothies or make kale chips, but not tried a raw kale salad, that’s next on the list to try!
Raw kale salad rocks. One of my favorites! Try it and let me know what you think.
I have to say, despite my aversion to kale, that salad looks fantastic.
Hello 300hikes, Hope you give it a try. If you do, let me know what you think. Remember the key to making raw kale edible is the massage. Thanks for stopping by!
That looks incredible! Relatively simple to do, also. I live on a sailboat as well, so I appreciate good recipes that don’t require a 2000 sq ft kitchen. Thanks!
I haven’t done a lot of cooking on my boyfriend’s sailboat but expect I will in the future. Simple recipes are always best in my opinion — on land or water! Thanks for stopping by!
Fabulous! I made some substitutions but kept the main ingredients — switched black quinoa for lentils, red sauce for harissa, and left out the oil. I love the flavour and textures of the apricots, kale and almonds. Superb :)