Today, Jenn, “Live Green, Wear Black” brings us more yummy and nutritious food ideas. Kale really is good for you. I am embarrassed to say I never had it before a few months ago. When I did, I didn’t remove all the stems…that did not taste good! Luckily, I tried it again after some good advice. Can’t wait to try this new recipe!
Crunchy-Crispy Kale & Fennel Salad
It’s a fact that kale is one of the most nutritious foods you can eat – it provides both a high level of nutrition AND a high level of satiation/satisfaction for very few calories. Raw kale provides a powerhouse punch of Vitamin A and Vitamin C, as well as carotenoids and chlorophylls. Want to make your body happy? Make this delicious salad – you can make up a big batch of it and it will keep in the refrigerator for several days!
Ingredients:
- 1 large bunch lacinato or dino kale (remove stem & chiffonade to 1/8″, give a few coarse cross-chops)
- 1/2 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced & cut into 1″ pieces
- 1/2 large red onion, finely sliced and coarsely chopped
- 1/2 large fennel bulb (or 1 small – to your taste!), thinly sliced & coarsely chopped
- 1/4-1/2 c Meyer lemon juice
- fresh rosemary & oregano to taste, finely minced
- 1/4 c capers, rinsed & coarsely chopped
- 1/4 c pitted kalamata or nicoise olives, coarsely chopped (optional)
- extra virgin olive oil to taste
- fresh ground black pepper to taste
Instructions:
Really, all the work here is in chopping up the vegetables. Once you have the vegetables in the bowl, add a small handful of coarsely chopped capers (rinsed!) and olives. Drizzle with the lemon and olive oil, toss to coat, add chopped herbs and pepper to taste. If you are storing it in the fridge, remember to toss it every so often to move veggies down to the small puddle of dressing in the bottom of the bowl. This salad keeps very well for several days and is very satisfying!
Yum!
We just had to tear out a lot of our fennel to make room for the other herbs it was crowding out. Soon enough, though, the seeds it dropped will provide us with new bulbs to eat.
I love kale salads, but often find them to be a little tough without wilting. Do you find that the lemon/oil wilts the kale enough to make it tender?
Yes – the lemon definitely wilts it. If you massage the olive oil & lemon into the kale before mixing the other veggies, that also softens it up. It's much better after being in the fridge for a day.
Oops! I forgot to add
*2-5 cloves garlic, pressed or very finely minced
Thanks for another great guest post, Jenn!