What do you do with a burgeoning bounty of backyard kale as autumn arrives? Of course, there are many wonderful ways to cook kale. But when you have a LOT of it, and it’s fresh and tender, kale salad is the best.
While I love raw foods in the summer, when it gets cooler, they don’t provide the internal heat my body needs. So today’s kale salad uses a hot cider vinaigrette to wilt the kale slightly, and make the salad more warming.
I prefer Tuscan kale (aka Lacinato kale) for salads—not just because it is abundant in my back yard. In general, it’s better suited to salads than curly kale, which is much thicker and tougher.
This is based on a recipe I found in my go-to cookbook, The New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. I’ve added and subtracted a few ingredients.
Kale Salad with Hot Cider Vinaigrette
- 1 bunch Tuscan kale, stems removed, sliced in 1/4″- to 1/2″-inch strips, enough to make 4 cups without the stems
- 4 green onions, thinly sliced, including a few inches of the greens
- 1 thinly sliced apple (The original recipe doesn’t call for an apple, but it was very good.)
- 4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
- 1 T organic apple cider vinegar
- 1 t mustard
- 3-4 T olive oil
- Sea salt and freshly milled pepper
Combine the first four ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. Heat the next four ingredients in a small saucepan until bubbling. Pour over the kale mixture and stir to coat.