I love kale. I got hooked on it when I discovered how to make kale chips, but this is the second salad we’ve made with raw kale, and I have to say I almost like it more than the chip version. And you know you’re racking up nutrition points with every bite. It just tastes healthy, but not in a bad way. We found ourselves at Berkeley Bowl last weekend, so I knew I could score some fresh kale there. At only $1.09 a bunch I bought 4 bunches. This turned out to be way too much kale. We only ate just over 2 bunches for our lunches, I’ve already eaten kale chips twice this week, and I’ve still got 1 bunch left! By the way, the Berkeley Bowl produce section is amazing. Their selection and variety seems almost endless. I counted no less than 5 types of avocados and they had kefir limes. It almost puts the Alemany Farmer’s Market to shame. I’d shop here all the time if there wasn’t a big bridge separating us.
I love Acme bread. I made the breadcrumbs out of their Sweet Batard. I toasted about 6 slices in the toaster, but I don’t think I toasted them long enough. Make sure they are good and browned and dry, otherwise the crumbs in the salad will not be crunchy. Once the bread is toasted, tear it up in small pieces and then pulse the pieces in the blender to make course breadcrumbs.
I don’t necessarily love parmesan, but I do like it a lot. By using a microplane to grate the parmesan you can get it really fine and therefore it can coat all the kale and each bite can taste really parmesan-y.
I love 101 cookbooks. I read Heidi Swanson’s site regularly and have made a lot of her recipes. This recipe was made from her Raw Tuscan Kale salad, with some slight changes.
Ingredients
makes 6 servings
- 2-3 bunches of curly kale
- 6 slices of sweet french bread (toasted)
- 1.5 cups of grated parmesean
Dressing:
- juice from 2 lemons
- 1/4 cup of olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons garlic, finely minced
- 1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
Tear kale leaves from the center stem and then tear the leaves into bite size pieces. Throw away (or compost) the center stem. Blend the toasted bread into breadcrumbs. Whisk together dressing ingredients. Toss together kale, parmesan, and dressing. Add breadcrumbs last and then toss again to avoid them getting soggy.
