Kale Salad with Tomatoes, Olives and Feta for Meatless Monday
The kale keeps on coming. Even if you don’t have a steady supply in your back yard, you can find organic kale in most grocery stores. Because it’s in season, it’s more tender than in the wintertime, making it great for raw consumption.
This is the fourth kale salad I’ve offered in the Meatless Monday series. I made this one several times last summer, but had to wait a while to make it this year, until I had enough ripe cherry tomatoes in my back yard. Tomatoes are exceptionally slow to ripen this year because we in Utah have enjoyed an uncharacteristically cool summer. All the dedicated homegrown tomato aficionados I know have backyards full of mostly green tomatoes at the moment.
On the plus side, the cherry-sized tomatoes are starting to turn. Because they are the sweetest, they are perfect for this otherwise savory salad. My ultra-sweet, low-acid Blondkopfchen tomatoes really brightened this salad. I also tossed in a few Isis Candy tomatoes, another excellent foil for the saltiness of the feta and kalamatas. Since tomatoes are in season now, any cherry tomato will work. Look for organic and/or heirloom varieties in your grocery store because they will tend to be ripest. If you have your own crop that includes yellow or orange tomatoes, you might want to steer toward those.
Shredded Kale Salad with Tomatoes, Olives and Feta
from epicurious
8-10 large Tuscan/Lacinato/Red Kale Leaves
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp. sea salt and fresh ground pepper
3 Tbsp. fresh dill and/or mint
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon mustard
pinch of red pepper flakes
2-3 ounces sheeps milk feta
few handfuls of sun gold or other baby tomatoes, halved
1/3 cup pitted and chopped olives, kalamata or other favorite
1/4 of a red onion, minced
Pull or cut the kale away from the stems. Work in batches and slice them into thin ribbons (alternatively, just go at it with a chop to get teensy pieces). If you know how to do a chiffonade cut, that’s the easiest way to do it. Put the kale in a large salad bowl. Drizzle in 1 Tbsp. of the oil, salt, pepper and roughly rip up the dill/mint with your hands and add that in too. Massage the kale with your hands to soften the leaves until they glisten. In a small dish, mix together the remaining oil, vinegar, mustard and red pepper flakes to combine. Pour it over the kale and toss to coat. Crumble in the feta, add the tomatoes, olives and red onion and toss again. Add more of whatever you wish to taste.
Because kale is pretty sturdy, this salad will keep in the fridge for a day or two. Totally worth making a double batch.
Here are the other kale salads on our Meatless Monday blog: