It’s no secret that I love kale. So of course I love kale salad. This healthy Autumn Kale Salad is at the top of my “things I love right now” list (just slightly behind Ted Lasso – side note, if you’re not watching that show, I highly recommend it!).
If you’re not a kale fan, maybe you just haven’t tried the right recipe yet. When I was younger I did not enjoy kale. My mom used to prepare a Dutch dish that did the kale no favours. It was a mushy mix of mashed potatoes and hard-to-chew kale (sorry, mom, and sorry, Dutch relatives). It was unappetizing and unpleasant to eat!
Kale is such a great addition to your diet, however, because it’s a nutrition superstar (so many nutritional benefits and very few calories). Let’s see if I can convert you into a kale fan!
The secret to melt-in-your-mouth kale is to tenderize it before eating. For this salad, that means massaging the kale with olive oil first. I do this with all my kale salads and it is a GAME CHANGER. It is messy because your hands get full of olive oil (also very moisturizing!), but do not skip this step.
This is an Autumn Kale Salad because I’ve used ingredients that are bountiful right now in Nova Scotia and part of the fall harvest: kale, onions, apples, and radishes. I bought them all at local farm markets this week.
The dressing is a zippy lemon Dijon mixture that is very easy to make.
My kids like this salad and that’s always a cue for me that I can introduce a recipe to the rest of the world! I hope you enjoy this healthy kale salad as well.
AUTUMN KALE SALAD
Ingredients:
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- juice of 1/2 a lemon
- 1-2 tsp Dijon mustard (I use 2 because I like zesty things)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- black pepper to taste
- 1 head of curly kale, washed and torn (or cut) into bite-sized pieces, woody stems removed
- 1 large apple – I like Granny Smith, Jona Gold, or Honeycrisp, thinly sliced into quarters
- 1 medium sweet onion, thinly sliced into rings
- 4 large radishes, thinly sliced
- 1 cup walnuts – 1 tsp olive oil, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, sea salt to taste
Directions:
- Wash kale, pat dry, and tear or cut into bite-sized pieces.
- Place kale into a large salad bowl, and drizzle with the 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil. Get in there with your hands and massage the oil into the kale leaves, making sure to coat each leaf completely.
- Sprinkle the nutritional yeast over the kale and toss well to coat the leaves. Set aside.
- Make the dressing: in a small bowl, whisk together the 1/2 cup of olive oil, the juice of half a lemon, the Dijon mustard, sea salt and black pepper.
- Toast the walnuts. Place the walnuts on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the walnuts with the 1 tsp olive oil, the onion and garlic powders, and sea salt. Toss to coat. Toast for about 5-7 minutes. Watch them very carefully as they will go from barely toasted to very burnt in the blink of an eye. I do this in my toaster oven but you could do it in your oven at 350 F. Allow the nuts to cool before adding them to the salad.
- Add the apple, onion, radish, and dressing to the salad. Sprinkle the walnuts into the mix, and toss it all together to mix well.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate for later. As with most kale salads, this one tastes fantastic the next day as well, as the flavours set in and the kale softens even more.
P.S. If you’d like to try my other kale recipes, check out my marinated kale salad, and my not for date night kale chips!
You can also find tons of healthy and delicious recipes in my e-cookbook, Nourish Your Body. Buy your digital copy here!
