Kale is one of those vegetables that I love to grow. It’s hearty, tasty, and can easily survive a winter in my garden. My sister has planted it in her garden and it grows well there, too, and she lives in Alaska!
I usually sautee kale with onion and minced garlic and then splash it with fresh lemon juice and red pepper flakes at the end. It’s also tasty to add tender baby kale leaves to a green salad. Catch the leaves before they get too big and you’ve got baby kale leaves!
Carrot and kale salad is a great way to use carrots from my 10-pound bag of Earthbound Farm Organic carrots that Costco carries and the kale fresh from the garden. Soon, I’ll have fresh carrots but they’re only about 1-inch long right now. I know that because I had to peek at one! (I couldn’t help myself – my carrots didn’t do well last year but this year – high-fives all around!)
Sometimes the stalk of the kale leaf can be really tough. When I saute them, I simply chop them small and add them to the pan while the onion is cooking. If I’m making salad with them, I cut the stalks off and toss them into my vegetable bag that I keep in the freezer for adding to my homemade chicken broth.
I try to make this salad and then let it sit with the dressing on it for a couple of hours before serving it. The dressing really softens the kale leaves. It’s also good the next day. My daughter will eat it the next day for breakfast.
- Salad
- 3 cups carrots, shredded
- 3 cups kale, finely chopped (if I haven’t grown the kale myself, [url href=”http://earthboundfarm.com/” target=”_blank”]I buy Earthbound Farm’s[/url])
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, roasted but not salted
- Dressing
- 1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon soy sauce, low sodium
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon Rooster sauce ([url href=”http://www.huyfong.com/” target=”_blank”]chili garlic sauce[/url])
- 1 Tablespoon organic raw blue agave sweetener or honey ([url href=”http://wholesomesweeteners.com/Products/product-detail/PId/14/Organic-Raw-Blue-Agave” target=”_blank”]I used Wholesome Sweeteners[/url])
- salt/pepper to taste
- Shred carrots in food processor or with a box shredder.
- Remove stalks from kale and chop leaves into small pieces or ribbons.
- Place carrots and kale in a large bowl and mix together with hands.
- Place all dressing ingredients in food processor and mix until well combined.
- Pour dressing over salad and stir.
- Sprinkle with sunflower seeds and stir again.
- Serve and enjoy.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
You can always skip the sunflower seeds but why? They’re super tasty but if you have picky eaters, just put them in a bowl and let everyone serve their own. Easy.
Yes, my cute stool is from Goodwill and so is the cloth napkin. Honestly, the plate and silverware is from there, too! I had to replace the fabric on the stool – I doubled the fabric by folding it in half first and then staple gunned it onto the stool. Very frugal and fancy!
What’s your favorite way to eat kale? Do you like to grow it, too?
Go Gingham related links:
Egg salad sandwiches – you’ll wish you had chickens
Shrimp and quinoa salad – a summer favorite
Simple summer salad with tomatoes and cucumbers – oh, and onions and fresh dill
Our favorite summer tomato meal – it’s called summer dinner!
Asian shrimp noodle salad – another tasty make-ahead dish you’ll love
Disclosure: Wholesome Sweeteners sent me several of their products to try but did not compensate me. I really like the agave sweetener but I’ve been reluctant to buy it because it’s expensive and what if I didn’t like it?! If you’re looking for a natural sweetener (I don’t “do” fake sweeteners) that’s not maple syrup or honey, this is very good. I like it because it’s not too sweet and it’s also low glycemic.
Go Gingham 
As soon as I read this recipe I knew I had to make it, which I did this morning to serve later today, so thanks for sharing it. I re-hydrated some sprouted and dried lentils and added them to mix for additional protein; but will wait to add the sunflower seeds when I serve it so they don’t get rubbery.
Sadly, my carrots were a complete failure this year (3 late snows and one freezing rain day after they were seeded and germinated, and a little bunny who nibbled all the tops off what DID survive), but I now have cucumbers and tomatoes aplenty to deal with…. Last year I didn’t have many tomatoes, but will make up for the low numbers this year – and such is the mystery of gardening!
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Kale is a vegetable I can’t handle in a salad…..but the idea of a garden grown salad sounds so good. Today I woke up to find my first tomato sprout eaten away by the green tomato worm. Bad worm!!!!
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It is so exciting that kale is being enjoyed by more people, because it is SO good for the body! Kale leaves soften really well just by adding the following to a bowl of chopped kale: Fresh squeezed lemon, olive oil + salt. I also had a kale salad at a bistro in Phoenix and the waitress had whipped up the same mixture but also added some honey–it was mind-blowingly yummy! Chef Amber Shea Crawley also has a fabulicious recipe for kale chips here: http://chefambershea.com/2012/08/13/practically-raw-recipe-pizza-kale-chips/
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