Recipe: Raw Kale Salad
While I mostly boil or roast kale, I've learned to appreciate the speediness and tastiness of preparing it raw by massaging it. This sounds like a strange thing to do, but it turns out that a little elbow grease and the right kind of dressing will break down and soften kale's tough fibers and cell walls much in the same way that cooking does. Any oil plus an acid (like a vinaigrette dressing) can be used to wilt raw kale with a few minutes of rubbing the dressed kale between your fingers. Even just marinating raw kale in vinaigrette for several hours in the fridge will soften it, but the massage method is my new favorite go-to prep for its speediness and simplicity.
Ingredients:
- handful of kale
- handful of basil
- 1/2 pint shelling peas
- 1/2 pint snow peas
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 3 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tbsp. sesame seeds
Steps:
1) Place each leaf upside down (stem side up) and using a small, sharp knife cut the stem out.
2) Switch to a larger knife and slice kale into thin ribbons.
3) Place kale ribbons into salad bowl and add lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and olive oil. Massage for 2-3 min to tenderize. Put aside to continue softening while you prep the rest of the salad.
4) Slice basil into similarly sized ribbons and combine with both types of peas (snow peas coarsely chopped and shelling peas shelled).
5) Add all to salad bowl along with sesame seeds and mix well. Other seeds like pumpkin or hemp or nuts like walnuts or pine nuts are delicious possibilities too.