Raw Mediterranean Kale Salad
Fresh kale salads are so easy to make and incredibly nutrient-dense. Pictured here is kale I have growing in my garden. Kale is a cruciferous vegetable. It has the ability to speak to our genes and upregulate numerous detoxification and antioxidant enzymes! A wonderful way to use raw kale, other than green smoothies, is to toss it with lemon juice and olive oil. This softens it and mellows out the bitter flavors.
Yesterday evening I made this salad along with my Sunny Sunflower Seed Burger recipe, Herbed Oven Roasted Potatoes, and a loaf of freshly baked gluten-free bread. It was a delicious summer meal!
I hope you are all enjoying this lovely weekend! We deep cleaned our house this morning. It really needed it. Now we are off to a family picnic in the park since the sun has decided to finally peek out.
Raw Mediterranean Kale Salad
Serve this nutrient-dense kale salad with baked salmon and cooked quinoa for a balanced meal. You can vary the ingredients in this recipe to what you have on hand. Replace the currants with raisins and the oregano with fresh basil. The pine nuts could be replaced with sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds to save money (pine nuts can be a bit pricey). This salad serves 2 adults and a few small children. You may want to double it if serving to a larger number of people. It needs to be eaten the day it is made so don't make any extra for the next day.
Pine nuts are actually a seed from the pinyon pine tree. Those who are following a nut-free diet can use pine nuts in their diets.
Salad
Dressing
- Whisk together the dressing.
- Place the kale into a large bowl and pour the dressing over it. Gently massage the dressing into the kale with your hands. Let stand for about 20 minutes. The lemon juice and olive oil with soften the kale and take away some of the bitterness (though young kale leaves are much sweeter and not as bitter compared to more mature kale).
- Add the remaining salad ingredients and toss together. Serve.
Use this recipe in our Meal Planner
About the Author
Ali Segersten
Alissa Segersten holds a Bachelor's of Science in Nutrition from Bastyr University and a Master’s of Science in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine from the University of Western States. She is a Functional Nutritionist, the mother of five children, a whole foods cooking instructor, professional recipe developer, and cookbook author. She is passionate about helping others find a diet that will truly nourish them. Alissa is the author of two very popular gluten-free, whole foods cookbooks and guidebooks: The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook and Nourishing Meals. She is also the co-author of The Elimination Diet book. Alissa is the founder and owner of Nourishing Meals®.Nourishing Meals Newsletter
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Comments
Hi Ali,
This is soooo yummy - my almost 8yo daughter even ate it ALL up. I had to change a few things since she can't have citrus (replaced lemon juice with rice vinegar), and I didn't add any nuts or currents (she still doesn't like too many things in a salad). To my surprise - she liked it and ate up her entire serving in no time! Then she started talking about how she has a plan to look on your blog every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to find a recipe to cook for the family - what fun!
Hooray! I just got kale from my CSA organic farm, and I've never cooked with it before. Can't wait to try this recipe.
David - Thanks, glad to hear you are enjoying the kale recipes!
Shirley - Oh yes, our deep clean took us all morning and into the afternoon! So glad you are enjoying the green smoothies, don't you just feel great after drinking them?! We have pear trees also on our property, they are young though, and we have yet to have any fruit on them. :)
Thanks, Ali :)
First off, if I deep cleaned my house, it would take a lot longer than a morning!! You are so efficient on everything, Ali. :-)
This salad looks really terrific. I have really been enjoying the kale in the smoothies in the morning. The first day I drink one glass right away and the remainder goes in the refrigerator. That gets poured into a sports-type container the next morning and I enjoy it--chilled and fresh--on my way to work. This is a great system. Pears and apples are my favorite fruits to use so far. We have pear trees at our mtn property. I hope our visits will be timed so we're there when they are ripe. We may have to fight off the deer to get them, bit I need them. LOL
You guys are helping us all with your wisdom and recipes! :-)
Shirley
This looks fantastic; I appreciate the ever-growing list of kale recipes you are providing us. My wife and I grow a few varieties in our garden. We toss it into many of our main meals. Thank you!
CM - Glad you are addicted to such a good thing! :) I am sure you will enjoy this kale recipe. :)
Katrina - I don't know if I have any favorite kale recipes - I just love anything with kale! Green smoothies are probably the most common way to use up our kale though.
Jennifer L. - Peaches, nectarines, any apples still floating around, whatever frozen fruit we have in the freezer (plums from last season) - these all work great in summer green smoothies. Glad you enjoyed the zuke bread! :)
Ellen - wow I thought my throw-together kale salad was unique but it sounds like it has already been done! :)
Thanks, - Ali :)
I can confirm that this is a yummy Kale salad. I made the same one at home after ordering it at the take-out counter from a Whole Foods in LA last year. It is so delicious! And so easy to make! Hard to believe that these ingredients could make such a fabulous salad, but it's true. And everyone who I make it for loves it. Definitely a winner!
We have so much kale growing in our garden that I was hoping that you would post a new kale recipe.
What is your summertime fruit base for green smoothies? I know you talked about it somewhere before, but I can't remember where I read it. We can still get apples grown in the US, but the only pears we find are from Argentina.
I was going to share a good find (the asparagus/broccolini salad) I found on 101Cookbooks.com, but upon glancing through the comments I saw that you found it first :-). It's a small internet world!
On a different, different note, we made your zucchini bread and love, loved it :-).
OH YUM!!! Kale is such an amazing, overlooked veggie. What are you favorite kale recipes? A best of... post maybe?!
This looks so good I can't wait to try it. I am addicted to your asparagus, garlic, and lemon recipe and have to have it all the time now. But I have also been looking for something good to do with kale and this recipe looks yummy.