Yummy: Lemony Kale Salad
If you’re headed to a BBQ and you want to impress everyone, or if you just want to make a big batch of healthy kale yumminess, this is the summer salad for you. Luckily, kale is available year-round so you can make this anytime. But it is very delicious, plentiful and light for right now. PFY teacher and social media manager Kristen Kemp makes Lemony Kale Salad all the time for her friends, her family and (mostly) herself. People ask her for the recipe often, so she wanted to share it here. Make a big batch to serve others or for yourself for the whole week. Lemony Kale Salad keeps for about 4 days in the refrigerator, and it just gets better the longer it sits. In fact, you’ll want to make it at least 3 hours before you serve it so the lemon can soak in and soften the kale.
Here you go, be sure to adjust the ingredients to your tastes. (And you’re welcome!)
Lemony Kale Salad
Ingredients:
Large bag of kale
4 garlic cloves
3-4 lemons
olive oil, 2-3 cups
shredded parmesan cheese, 1 cup
half-loaf of sourdough bread or baguette
agave syrup or sugar (optional)
red pepper flakes (optional)
Directions:
1. Take 5 big handfuls of kale, and put them in a large salad bowl. (You can use the entire bag of kale from Whole Foods, most of the large bag from Costco, or washed and cut up bunches of kale. But 5 handfuls are about right.) Tear out tough stems. Take a pair of scissors and cut the leaves into smaller pieces right in the bowl.
2. Juice 3-4 lemons. You need about 1 cup of juice. Put in a big measuring cup.
3. Put 3-4 cloves of garlic through a garlic press. Garlic goes into the lemon juice. (3 if you like less garlicky flavor; 4 if you like more.)
4. Put 1 cup of shredded parmesan cheese into the lemon juice/garlic mixture. (You can always add more or less parmesan to taste.)
5. Add about 2 cups of olive oil. You want the mixture to be 1 part lemon juice to two parts oil.
6. Whisk together well and taste. Depending on your lemons, the mixture may be too sour. (For example, Meyer lemons tend to be sweet, and others can taste much more sour.) If it is too sour, add 2-3 teaspoons of agave syrup or sugar. Mix well. Keep tasting. You want the dressing to have a lemony bite and also the tiniest bit of sweetness.
7. Pour the dressing onto the kale. Mix really well.
8. Tear the half-loaf of bread into small pieces and put onto salad. Mix well.
9. Let sit for a few hours. Serve with a generous sprinkle of red pepper flakes (optional).
10. Enjoy!
