As someone who has said things like “the world would be a better place if we could all stop pretending that kale tastes good” (on p. 67, in fact) and who is unwaveringly certain that the last thing the internet needs is another kale salad, I am not even sure what I’m doing here. Am I on the wrong blog? But I can’t help it. I had an unforgettable kale salad last weekend and seeing as my life (and undoubtedly various legal statues) does not allow me to move into Barbuto (believe me, I’m considering it as I type… would they notice? I’ve always wanted more windows…), I had to attempt to riff on it at home. And if I’m going to be making it at home, well, it seems rude to keep it from you. We have no cooking secrets here.
We did the Chef’s Table for my husband’s birthday on Saturday night and were this the kind of blog that covered restaurants, this paragraph would be all, omg it was so good, squee, vegetables! and each dish was better than the one before and they were so generous! and you would quickly realize why I don’t. Fortunately, I’m only interested in talking about the parts of great meals outside my kitchen that I can drag back into it, and that brings us to kale.
Yes, kale. Look, I came around on kale, I did! I realized that I didn’t dislike it so much as much as I was suspicious of fervor around it, as if there had never been any other healthy vegetables before it, as if it its renaissance was the result of the kind of PR team only a certain troubled mayoral candidate could dream of right now. And the kale chips of 2010 didn’t do much to convince me [ducks; sends self home from the internet in disgrace]. But it turns out, I like kale the way I like my slaws — raw, finely slivered, not overwhelmed by dressing and with just the right extra punches to round it out. Here, they’re golden raisins gently plumped with wine vinegar, deeply toasted walnuts, crunchy breadcrumbs, toasted in olive oil, and an uncompromising volume of salty aged pecorino romano. Both at home and the restaurant, we polished off the kale salad first; sheesh, even the resident 3 year-old was curious enough to take a bite (but, predictably, deemed only the raisins acceptable). In my house, that’s considered a home run.
One year ago: Leek, Chard and Corn Flatbread
Two years ago: Peach Butter
Three years ago: Zucchini Almond Pasta Salad
Four years ago: Roasted Carrot and Avocado Salad
Five years ago: Huevos Rancheros
Six years ago: Mixed Bean Salad
Kale Salad with Pecorino and Walnuts
Like I did on a recent ice cream cake, please consider this a tale of two recipes, one that’s bare bones (add the raisins, walnuts and crumbs without the extra prep) and one if you’d like to get a little more depth from each. Both work, but the slightly longer prep (toasting the nuts, the crumbs in olive oil, plumping the raisins, etc.) really makes the salad sing and will not be regretted. You can choose your own adventure, too, doing more for some ingredients and less for others.
We had this with a tortilla de patatas (Spanish potato, egg and olive oil omelet), our first one of the summer, and it was the perfect weeknight dinner. It also reminded me that it was time to update and streamline/simplify my recipe from 2007, which I did. See it here.
1/2 cup (55 grams or 2 ounces ounces) walnut halves or pieces
1/4 cup (45 grams or 1 1/2 ounces) golden raisins
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup panko (15 grams or 1/2 ounce) or slightly coarse homemade breadcrumbs (from a thin slice of hearty bread)
1 tiny clove garlic, minced or pressed
Coarse or kosher salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 bunch (about 14 ounces or 400 grams) tuscan kale (also known as black or lacinato kale; this is the thinner, flatter leaf variety), washed and patted dry
2 ounces (55 grams) pecorino cheese, grated or ground in a food processor, which makes it delightfully rubbly (1/2 cup total)
Juice of half a lemon
Freshly ground black pepper or red pepper flakes, to taste
Prepare walnuts: Heat oven to 350. Toast walnuts on a baking sheet for 10 minutes, tossing once. Let cool and coarsely chop.
Prepare raisins: In a small saucepan over low heat, simmer white wine vinegar, water and raisins for 5 minutes, until plump and soft. Set aside in liquid.
Prepare crumbs: Toast bread crumbs, garlic and 2 teaspoons of the olive oil in a skillet together with a pinch of salt until golden. Set aside.
Prepare kale: Trim heavy stems off kale and remove ribs. I always find removing the ribs annoying with a knife, because the leaves want to roll in on the knife and make it hard to get a clean cut. Instead, I’ve taken to tearing the ribs off with my fingers, which is much easier for me. Stack sections of leaves and roll them into a tube, then cut them into very thin ribbons crosswise.
Assemble salad: Put kale in a large bowl. Add pecorino, walnuts and raisins (leaving any leftover vinegar mixture in dish), remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and lemon juice and toss until all the kale ribbons are coated. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt, pepper and some of the reserved vinegar mixture from the raisins, if needed. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving, if you can, as it helps the ingredients come together. Just before serving, toss with breadcrumbs and, if needed, a final 1 teaspoon drizzle of olive oil.
Kale is tough to argue, pecorino always welcome! This week I will be turning my chlorophyll goodness drinks into a garlicky gazpacho, and serve with a summer rose wine!Rosemary Bread!
Amazing salad! I’ve made it a few times now and just wanted to share how much we love it!
THIS LOOKS SO GOOD!! Thanks Deb.
LOl it would be a better place it we did stop saying Kale and Arugula taste good! However I would eat Kale any day over Arugula!!!! This salad is amazing I can see myself eating two servings…
There have been a few kale salads in town I’ve found myself talking about. One had slivered, slightly pickled red onions. The other had roasted butternut squash. I have my eye on a recipe from Melissa Clark’s newer book: Kale salad with anchovy and dates and citrus. Something like that, anyways. The kale that comes in my CSA is never the right kind of kale for salads, though. Ah well.
All kale is the right kind for salads unless they are pre-cooking it. Just try it. (spoken from someone who runs a CSA).
This looks delicious! Do you have any suggestions for an alternative to the walnuts, for those of us who can’t/don’t eat them? Toasted pine nuts, maybe?
Mmmm! This is SO good! Thanks for the great recipe.
Pine nuts should be fine…and you wouldn’t have to chop them up–a big time saver. You could even use slivered almonds, pistachios–any nut type thing. I find the recipe very forgiving. For example, I don’t bother with the soaking of the raisins or the sauteing of the nuts and I use rice vinegar rather than what’s listed in the recipe because it’s milder and I like it better. I never used to buy kale or grow it; now I do both, just so I can make this recipe!
Love kale, but please don’t serve it to me in a glass. Pretty salad. And when I want to take kale to the dark side, I saute it with freshly made garlic oil and a handful of tiny fingerling potatoes, sliced lengthwise, and finish it with a little freshly chopped applewood-smoked bacon.
I can’t wait to try this! I think you should add this recipe to your second cookbook. When will that come out, btw? ;) I saw your first book for sale in my local Chapters in Ottawa. Was never happier to see a cookbook for sale! Congrats.
That looks really good. The last batch of kale I bought was overly tough so I have kind of stayed away from it since. Perhaps I will have to try out this recipe!
Kale needs a bit of love to make it taste good. of course their are some who like the bitterness (like me) but I totally understand that statement. The addition of golden raisins in this salad is bound to change their minds! For an indulgence i like to simmer the raisins in a bit of dry white wine, then add seeded mustard to the soaking juices for a dressing. Either way this looks delicious
Shundara, culinary blasphemy! I just got hooked on arugula. So much so that for the past four days, I’ve made an arugula salad with grapefruit, goat cheese and avocado with a vinaigrette. It’s my way of making up for having guests here for a week and totally throwing caution to the wind, not to mention eating too much.
So far I’ve only been able to do kale in homemade veggie juices/smoothies. But this looks quite tasty! I’ll give it a chance!
Oooh, look at those golden toasty bread crumbs. Looks like my kind of kale salad!
Oooh…I love kale so much. Definitely my favorite green. I like to go out to the garden, take a few leaves and toss them into whatever I’m making. This recipe sounds and looks awesome. I really like massaged kale salads, so I might try massaging the kale ribbons first. Super excited to make it! Thank you!
Raw, finely slivered, not overwhelmed by dressing is how I like my kale, too. But I do like kale chips, too :) Sounds like you’re not a huge fan. But I would definitely be a fan of this kale salad. Can’t ever go wrong w/ pecorino, that’s for sure!
My favorite kale salad is a southwestern Caesar salad type with pepitas, cilantro, cojita, jalapeno, and corn bread croutons. The restaurant I used to order it religiously decided it’s not summery enough and took it off the menu and I haven’t been buying kale since there are too many tomatoes to eat. Whole Foods also has an excellent Asian kale salad as well.
Toasted walnuts, cheese, and my beloved olive oil fried bread crumbs just bumped this to the top of the must make list.
Raw kale pleases me in slaw and smoothies!!!! Your slaw looks awesome!
This looks amazing. Will def try to make this.
Also, I really like the leaves massaged for salads like this to help tenderize the membranes a bit. Using pressure instead of heat helps the kale retain its sweetness. This is a good tip for all the kale-phobics out there!
I think a strong cheese like pecorino makes everything better! We’ve had some kale sitting in our crisper for a while now. Keep getting the stuff from our CSA and can’t bring ourselves to turn on the oven to make kale chips. But this recipe sounds like a great use for it. Planning to try this for dinner tonight — we’ve already got all the ingredients. Thanks for planning my dinner for me : )
Kale is one of those things that really needs to be bought locally in my experience. The difference between fresh, local kale and the California stuff (unless one lives in California) is dramatic. I think that when folks complain that it’s bitter, tough, or tasteless, it’s because the kale isn’t fresh enough.
Where in the world does one find Tuscan kale?!
kristen — It depends on where you are. Here in NYC, it’s readily available at Whole Foods, often at Trader Joes, and really most big grocery stores, as well as Greenmarkets.
The photo on Flickr is priceless. M&M people! Jacob will collapse in laughter when you show this to him when he’s 6.
Um…YUM! I’ve done sauteed spinach with golden raisins, but this looks even better! I can’t ever find Tuscan kale around here, but I will have to go on search for it. :)
The kale salad looks delicious!
What is the dish that is photographed with the kale salad with walnuts and pecorino?
Is it a cornbread or flatbread to serve with the salad? Is there a recipe you recommend?
Thank you very much.
St.Claire McIntyre
Potato Tortilla, one of my favorite foods on earth!
Haters gonna hate but I love kale…and arugula ;)
Looking forward to trying this very soon!
Do you think that the different types of kale vary that much in taste and texture? I’ve only seen the curly edge one, whatever that’s called, here in VA.
Curly vs. Tuscan Kale — I have seen salads that use curly kale (it’s usually massaged first) but it’s trickier for raw salads than the flatter, thinner kale. However, I’m hardly a kale expert and definitely want someone to jump in and comment if they have made kale salads with curly kale. Thanks.
P.S. Totally hate to toot my book’s horn here, because I bet you’re all quite sick of it, BUT I do have another kale salad in there. I sorta Thanksgiving-ed it a little, with dried cherries, pecans, radishes, goat cheese and a honey-coarse mustard vinaigrette.
Jennifer — I mention in the recipe’s headnotes that we had it with a tortilla de patatas, recipe here.
Yes, definitely can make salad with curly kale! Massage it with your clean hands and some olive oil, grated garlic and salt before adding the other ingredients. You’ll know it’s massaged enough when it turns bright green and feels softer.
I made this today with curly kale. The flavors are good, but this type of kale needs massaging first or is too hard. I also would splash more olive oil at the end, as I found it pretty dry.
I always use curly kale. Of course, I de-stem it, and then slice it, after rolling it up, very thinly. I don’t find it tough at all.
I was always surprised there was not more kale in your archives. Glad you’ve come around! But really, even if kale was gross, this combo of topping would make it delectable, wouldn’t it?
The only kale salad I’ve had was made by a self-professed kale salad officianado. It was massaged until barely recognizable and drenched in dressing. I was disappointed to find that it still tasted like kale. ;) ah well, bitter greens are not for everyone…
A perfect way to use all the garden kale we have right now, I’m obsessed with kale salads. Super yum!
No matter how much I coax kale into looking and tasting good, my husband just averts his eyes and grabs a roll or three. I, on the other hand cannot wait to try this divine-looking salad. Another hit, Deb!
Ready to try this! What’s that you are serving with it?
I’ve had it as a meal–it’s that good! But, it goes with anything that a regular salad would go with…which is to say, anything! It keeps for days and days in the fridge. This recipe got me to start growing kale, of which I never have enough of now!
I recently had a very similar kale salad that I thought was absolutely outstanding. It had parmesan, toasted hazelnuts, and dried cherries (a Michigan staple) instead of the pecorino, walnuts, and raisins, and was served with a lemon and olive oil vinaigrette. This sounds like a great variation.
I’d never tastes kale before, as my mother was forced to eat it every Sunday at her grandmother’s house for dinner. So after growing up and swearing she would never touch another kale leaf, my childhood was decidedly kale-less. It was always touted as this disgusting, evil thing that should never grace a proper table.
When it became the next hot food fad, and there are so many, I just shrugged and ignored it. I tried kale chips, and eh, they’re fine, whatever. But this salad intrigues me. The combination of ingredients works in my head…now I just need to see if it works on my plate.
And of course, I won’t serve it to my Mom!
Maybe you should serve it to your mom; it might just turn her around on it. I’d only ever had cooked kale when I first tried this salad. I haven’t cooked a leaf of kale since…but I’ve had lots of this salad! I find I crave it and whenever there is a good looking bunch at the supermarket, I grab it just for this recipe!
Wow My husband hates Kale!! I hope this salad changes it!!
Kale is one of my favorite vegetables. I need to try this recipe.
Looks great, any suggestions for swapping out the walnuts? (Nut allergy)
I am so with you on the feelings you had about kale.I never got onto the kale bandwagon myself, and believe that variety is the spice of live and eat almost all veggies. However, this salad looks good and I will be trying it. Thanks.
What a beautiful salad, definitely perfect for summer! Thanks for sharing :)
The chef’s table feast (and a feast it is) at Barbuto is not only delicious but the biggest bargain in town at $65/head. I always recommend it for any group get together in NYC. And thanks for the kale salad recipe so inspired. I’ll be making this soon that’s for sure! And if you’d like a roommate at Barbuto, count me in. Ha!
I find Tuscan kale to be a bit milder than the curly kind. The texture is more like collard greens as opposed to the curly which is a lot like crumpled up paper. That being said, I way prefer using the curly kind for chips. All the nooks provide good hiding places for salt and garlic. YUM!
Oh Yum, I love kale spinach, any leafy green veggie really. This look pretty outstanding. I marvel at your creativity when it comes to food. I just love it. :-)
I am already overwhelmed with the too many vegetables I bought at the Farmer’s market today, but I am going to buy kale next week and make this. Also – love the use of the word “rubbly”.
Kale chips are disgusting.
Good kale salads are amazing. Glad you finally came around. It took me awhile too. But there is just something so refreshing about them. They just seem healthier :)
Deb– you need a Smitten Kitchen APP!! One that will give us devotees access to ingredient lists so we can navigate the grocery aisles without frantically refreshing the SK page on our iPhone browser! Get thee to an app developer! It would be a huge hit. I’d pay for it. :-) My family and I love the site, and adore the cookbook. Our 2 year old doesn’t love any of it yet, but he will if he knows what’s good for him. Thank you for many great meals!
Yum Yumm Yummy will have to try this !
I would TOOOO! (See #45, Hallie Kapner)
Like Erin said one of the best things you can do it put the shredded kale in a bowl with a little salt and massage it. Breaks it down a little and brings out the sweetness. I normally massage it until it is shrunk to 1/3 of it’s original size. Avocado in this salad is also great. The creaminess counters the sharp kale flavor.
You are a mind reader! I was just thinking of (why? I don’t know.) your exact kale comment from the book as I have been enjoying this sautéed kale with white beans and sausage thing lately. I was going to make it again tonight but now I might make this instead!
I know what you mean about kale; it’s either terrible or fantastic. There’s no middle ground to play with and most of the fantastic preparations I’ve tried involved lots of other strong flavors to beat down the kale-y-ness. Looks great!
Kale, Schmale. I was all ready for a week of popsicles! Yeah, I’m 3.
Popsicle Week — Did you guys really want a week of popsicles? I was thinking of lining it up when I go on vacation, later this month, but only heard faint interest. SK is a democracy!
About an App — Here’s my question/conundrum: Do you think you’d like an app or would you like a website that works better on your phone, with all the functionality the website? I hope this doesn’t depress people, but I’m really not into apps for websites like this one, as in, not a game, so you don’t need the app technology to make it more functional. Hear me out. First, they’re expensive to develop, and I’d never charge you for it (when the site is free); I’d pay for it and chalk it up as a business expense if I didn’t have so many issues with them, such as: They’re also a lot of work to maintain, so you really need a team doing it. Plus, you’ve got so many phone platforms these days, you would need a different version of the app for each, and constantly releasing updates and security fixes. And the biggest hurdle, in my opinion, is that places like the Apple Store want you to show that your app does something different from your website. I, in fact, want the app to be exactly like the website (why favor people with nice phones?), just to work well on phones. Which made me realize that (again, I’m just opinionating here) that many companies use apps when what they really, really need is websites that are fully functional on all phone browsers. Thus, I’ve made the latter my priority. (I.e. Obviously not done yet, but something that’s at the top of the list.) Personally, I never use apps (which to me, are usually pale imitations of the full websites they’re branded by) when the website (such as The New York Times) works fantastically on my phone.
So, those are my long-winded App thoughts. I’d love to hear yours — refute away! I’m glad we had this talk. ;)
This salad is straight up fun! Love the kale and walnuts in there!
I was surprised to see this when I loaded the page because of the very reason you stated- your dislike of kale is in your book! :) But I completely understand about changing one’s mind. Love the addition of raisins and romano cheese. Can you ever go wrong with pecorino romano?
The addition of the breadcrumbs is kind of genius. And amen Erin (comment #18) on the massaging recommendation. Truly magical the difference that makes for kale salads. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m one of those odd ducks (or maybe, insufferable people) who is actually enamored of kale, likely because raw is the first way I tried it and I loved it immediately. (Kale and spinach, in a stew, always smell like feet to me.) I’ve worn out my welcome with my kale Brussels sprout salad with smoked almonds, pecorino, and grainy mustard vinaigrette, so this is a lovely addition! I can’t wait to try it!
As for curly v. Tuscan, I’m no expert but I’ve gone both ways in a salad and enjoy them both. Curly is harder to manipulate for the de-stemming and and chopping, and I do usually give it about 20 minutes to absorb the dressing prior to eating (I refuse to “massage” a vegetable). It also seems harder to manipulate with a fork, but I’m willing to do that because lacatino kale isn’t always available and is sometimes much pricier here. I think curly kale is sometime a turnoff for people because, as Mitchell from Modern Family said, it just seems like garnish.
Kale? Those picture look like what we in Victoria, Australia, call silver beet – and some other states call spinach.
It has a much milder flavour than what is sold as kale here which is MUCH curlier and extremely tough stems.
The recipe looks nice. I like silver beet– it is forgiving so long as it’s not boiled then it is gross.,
Sometimes the big stems can be cuts and dipped in egg and breadcrumbs and shallow fried- rather nice and good economically.
I’m not crazy about kale, but who can hate toasted bread crumbs, pecorino, and walnuts? I also love golden raisins, although that’s the one piece of this recipe that makes me go, “hmmmm?” But perhaps I will pick up some kale when I’m at the store tomorrow night…
With enough pecorino and walnuts, anything can taste delicious but I’m willing to try this….
Yum! : ) Lol I have to ask–were you at Barbuto this past Saturday as in a few days ago? We went there for the first time and I was sitting in the main room just adjacent to the big open oven (which is, um, hot) eying multiple dishes being passed around a large table in front of the oven. Was that your party?? I wanted to try everything… I made myself get the tomato salad instead of the kale because I make it home so much. But- the chicken! So good. I can’t wait to go back. Regardless, thanks for this recipe : )
Salvegging — We were at the 6:30 seating. Were you there earlier or later?
Lou, meet DeeDee; DeeDee, meet Lou — :)
What’s a good substitute for raisins? I’m not a raisins fan at all.
You had me at the rehydrated golden raisins. I’m all in.
I like kale, I don’t eat it often but I like it. It goes well with eggs :)
This is similar to Il Bucco’s kale cesar…aka…the most delicious thing in the entire world.
I was there then I believe : ) It looked like a lovely gathering.
I adore kale, cooked, in any format; really cannot get enough of it. But I just can’t get excited about it raw; I feel so uncool. Maybe this will be the raw kale salad recipe that breaks me.
Yes, give us popsicle week!
No, don’t give us an app. I opt for a site that works well on an Iphone. Although I use, and am so happy and content with Pepperplate. Only problem, my phone is constantly smudged with creamed butter/sugar or bits of ground nuts or egg white. Gross, eh?
Where I live kale is still a boutique green and is kind of expensive, this salad looks great though and I might try it with a chiffonade spinach salad.
Pastaria in St. Louis has a great kale salad with breadcrumbs like yours. They do it with a caesar dressing though.
Um, what’s the delicious looking item next to the kale in your picture?
Re: apps, I agree with you and thank you for spelling your point out so clearly. Apps are for great for cookbooks, though.
I’ve been asked to bring a side dish to a cookout Sunday. Do you think the salad would hold up for a few hours outdoors? Kale is, after all, sturdier than other leafy greens…
I’ve made Kale Caesar Salad plenty of times, but I’ve never once checked to see if I was buying Tuscan or curly kale! Ha. I do massage it before eating, though.
Yes to a really good mobile website. I agree with you about the app thing, plus I’m on android so I would end up waiting for any app you develop ☺ So, please develop a really good mobile website. I would be so grateful. And this salad looks great, I’ve not really tried kale before because it’s expensive and hard to get in Australia (especially this kind) but maybe I should give it a go son.
I’ve been loving kale Caesar salads this summer, this would be a great change of pace!
Point heard re:app! Optimizing the site to work on mobile–specifically the search function and ingredient lists–would more than suffice! Wonderful!
THANK YOU SO MUCH for choosing not to waste precious blog entries detailing restaurant menus and other dull (read: non-recipe) subjects. I’ve gotten so tired of checking other top food blogs and being disappointed when I see an entry about some mouth-watering dining experience that I couldn’t even dream of replicating. I know it must be a temptation to do that, since you live and dine out in New York City, but I’m impressed that instead you choose to interpret/funnel your inspiration into new recipes that you can share with us. That takes so much more energy, generosity, and imagination. And that’s why you’re the best. In the words of Elaine Benet from Seinfeld: “Give me something I can USE!”
On the topic of having a SK app vs. having a mobile-friendly website, I would vote for the latter. All I would really want is to be able to read the recipe more clearly on the smaller screen–larger font, no zooming in with my fingers, etc.–so I can use it quickly and easily in the kitchen and grocery store.
I find that the tender curly geen kale is even better than the lacinato kale in salads. Unless you’re really into massaging your vegetables (which strikes me as a big time sink) the key is to slice the kale very finely (almost a chiffonade) and put eh dressing on about 10-15 minutes before serving. I’m not a fan of walnuts, so I make this salad with chopped pecans and either dried cranberries or raisins, lemon zest, olive oil, and a really mellow balsamic vinegar.
Longtime lurker/fan here! Love love love your site, cookbook, everything! This salad sounds delicious. I recently tried recreating an amazing kale salad they have up here in Boston on the Mei Mei Street Kitchen truck. Kale + feta + a slow poached egg and garlicky breadcrumbs = absolute heaven! Thanks Deb :)
I am not sure how I didn’t know you hate kale. Well, hate is obviously too strong a word, but it was YOU, yes, you who turned me around to liking it. I posted your kale salad on my blog after I made it for Thanksgiving last year (to much applause, I might add) and find it hard to believe you have not always embraced the leafy bugger.
Looks delicious, can’t wait to try it! I’m in a salad rut and this might shock me out of it!
I vote for a mobile friendly site over an app. Apps take up space on my home screen, which I don’t really like. A nice, mobile friendly, recipe index would be great.
This looks great, but I do feel like I have seen many very similar recipes. On another note: any reason why you don’t do restaurant reviews after you’ve been to them?
Ooh… I’m going to make this with hazelnuts. Wait- who has only hazelnuts? (That would be me!) Deb, do you have to skin hazelnuts before using them? And how long should I toast them?
gwen — Actually, one of the best things about kale salads is that they keep very, very well, and are possibly even better a few hours later. Just stir in the breadcrumbs at the last minute. And you might want to double it if it’s a big crowd because the kale does “relax” a bit as it sits. (From needing the big blue bowl earlier on in my photos to a fairly medium one for serving.)
Shayley — You only have to skin hazelnuts if their skins annoy you. I usually toast them at a similar temp and time, rolling them around a little halfway. They might need a few minutes longer. I find that the more toasted I get them shy of overdoing it, the easier it is to take their skins off.
Karalyn — That sounds delicious. I think this, too, would be great with a poached egg, because the greens will hold up under the heat.
ATG — Hundreds and hundreds of reasons, all just personal preferences, but a few: I really don’t want to evaluate meals when I’m out, I want to enjoy them, totally non-objectively. I could never be an objective observer, in part because I’m not a professional reviewer (I’m paying my own bill, I’m not making multiple visits, I will not have scouted out other like-minded restaurants for comparison) and in part because I cook so much on my own, what I’d really be saying is “I could/could not make this better,” which isn’t fair because home cooking and restaurant cooking are totally different practices, so I would feel out of my realm then delivering my opinions to millions of visitors, and potentially hurting their businesses with an unqualified review. (I would be so sad if SK was known for hurting businesses!) Mostly, though, I like what we do here now: cooking, talking about cooking, and finding cooking solutions. I’d rather leave the serious restaurant reviewing to the people who tackle it like pros. Yes, I guess I’ve thought about it a little.
App vs. Mobile Functionality — Thank you. I am reading and very seriously considering all of your comments. This is definitely an ongoing debate for me and I imagine, one day (possibly when I admit after all these years that I need to hire help or an assistant because it takes me forever to get the smallest things tweaked here — ha) there will be both, but I am still leaning towards the Mobile part coming first. But please, keep your thoughts coming. I read them all. Twice.
Salvegging — Now I’m all paranoid I was on terrible behavior? It’s not my fault they kept refilling my Aperol spritz… ;) (P.S. The panzanella was also excellent. They brought out the pesto pasta and the gnocchi, then the cod, the chicken, and a skirt steak. Then a caramel panna cotta. All so generous and ridiculously amazing. And affordable.)
thank god someone else thinks Kale isn’t all that. I’m still not convinced, but just like with Broccoli, maybe trying it this way will change my mind. I’ll find out soon, or your 3 yr old and I may be on the same side of this salad.
Deb:
Gotta try this- I love kale slaad but i always saute it a half minute and go the red pepper flakesi/garlic/oil/ lemon/ route. However, Jonathan Waxman generally knows what he’s doing (is there a better split grilled chicken?) and it sounds like you’ve captured the method to his madness here perfectly.
I admit that I’ve never tried kale. I want to which is why I bothered to read the post and comments and I’m glad I did so I can comment about pops and apps. First, bring on the pops! I have a just two y-o and just four y-o that love pops. Second, I say work on the mobile functionality first. And on the subject of Jacobs picture: too stinkin’ cute. My four y-o draws people exactly like that!
I made a similar one yesterday with red wine vinegar and toasted sunflower seeds. Yum!
Okay I must so be behind the times because I just discovered kale chips. And then blogged about them. Shameful I know. I actually have not tried them any other way then that way. Shameful again, I know. I bet the pecorino in this adds a nice saltiness to the kale. As far as the app… I would probably just never use. I like to see the website for what it is. Even when the mobile version pops up on my phone I always switch it to the full version.
I have been wanting to try a kale salad and this looks like it!
Regarding apps vs mobile site, I say go with making the site mobile friendly. I think Deb is spot on in saying that very few apps rival the functionality of the original site. I can read your site okay now on my iphone, but will be forty in some years, so larger fonts would be helpful!
Hi Deb! I’m a HUGE kale salad fanatic and a bit of a kale expert! I eat a kale salad pretty much every day. It’s the best because it can be made ahead for a dinner party or for lunch the next day. It also is the only salad I know that can last for 3 days and still taste great. My kids are addicted to kale salads as well, seriously they love kale. We tend to use the lacinato/dinosaur or also called tuscan kale. It can be called any of the three depending on where you live. I always call it lacinato kale. Lacinato kale has more vitamins than curly kale and also tastes less bitter. Curly kale has a bit of a chalky taste to it. So if you’re new to kale, then try the lacinato kale. You want to make sure that you find kale that is soft and flexible, (more like lettuce) not paper like in texture. If the kale leaves are tough and paper like then they will not absorb the dressing well and will be hard to chew.
If you love kale, I have 3 amazing kale recipes on my blog, my lacinato kale salad, kale salad with ricotta salata and a miso kale salad. All three are kid approved, made with pantry ingredients and even taste great on day 3. They are our 3 staple salads.
I also have a video on my blog which shows how to wash, de-stem and thinly slice kale leaves. I agree with you that it’s much easier to de-stem the kale leaves with your hands rather than a knife.
Ok, I’m trying your salad next Deb! :) xoxo, Jackie
I made this tonight with kale from our garden, added a little apple and it was so delicious! What do you think about diced dried apricots instead of (or in addition to) the raisins? Thanks again, Deb, for helping me decide what’s for dinner!!
Use scissors to de-rib kale!! So much faster than any other method.
We’re talking kale when we could be talking popsicles?
Then again, I need to figure out what is going on with my freezer so popsicles are a possibility. (Fruity partially frozen slush isn’t slumming it, by any means, but I do think I need to get a handle on things, LOL!)
you know, i have never (ever) considered myself to be a raw kale salad person (despite loving kale, cooked, with abandon).
i do believe i may have to relegate this self-impression to the past tense.
thank you!
Just wanted to weigh in in favor of the mobile-optimized website coming before the app. Another feature I would love (though it’s more of an app-like feature than a mobile web feature, so here I go contradicting myself): a grocery checklist based on items from one or more recipes.
Thanks for all you do, including this recipe, which I can’t wait to try. I’m sure whatever mobile option you go with will be as thoughtful and well-designed as the website.
I make kale salads all the time, and usually what we get from our CSA is the curly kind. It works just the same as Tuscan kale, although I usually take more care in cutting it finely, and massage it a bit more with some olive oil and salt before assembling the salad. Honestly, I’ve been meaning to try making kale chips for ages, but I never get that far because we always have pecorino, bread, and good olive oil on hand, and why heat up the oven in summer….?
Deb, I love your compatibility with Pepperplate. No need for you to have a separate app when it’s so easy for me to copy and paste your URL into their recipe import page. My only issue is that *sometimes* your recipe isn’t quite formatted properly, and some information is missing from the import. I notice pages that have multiple recipes (beef chili with cheddar biscuits really threw me) seem to be worse.
I would say, if you’re going to add mobile site compatibility, add a button that allows us to copy the corresponding full site URL for pasting into Pepperplate. That would be super useful.
In regards to this recipe, you haven’t quite convinced me about kale… But, to be fair, I’ve only ever tried a tiny bite of the dried stuff. So maybe it’s time… :-D
Thanks for all your hard work.
Also, as a response to D. A. above ^^^
Pepperplate conveniently makes a shopping list of whatever recipe(s) you tell it to. So, once you import your favorite Smitten Kitchen recipes, you can schedule them on a calendar or add them to a shopping list, etc. It’s really a nice app.
Yum! Great way to get your green intake. Looks delish.
Your photography is looking especially lovely today, Deb.
I love this kind of summer salads: quick to put together, fresh and light! I loved that you enchanted the natural flavor of kale with some walnuts and breadcrumbs, not to mention how great the pecorino romano has to taste into this dish! I’d skip only the raisins, since I’ve never liked them (I know, weird!)
Anyway, thanks for this inspiring recipe, Deb!
xo, Elisa
I’m so glad I just came across your blog. I just bought bunches of kale, because it looked so fresh at the shops, and was wondering what I would do with it tonight – great timing. Thank you :)
In The Netherlands mashed potatoes and kale with smoked sausage and meatsauce is a national winter dish. Delicious! Especialy when it is harvested after the first night with temperatures below 0 degrees celsius (frost). As a salad is new for me. I will try this if I can get kale here in summer.
How do you massage kale? With your thumbs? I have some in my fridge but I’ve never tasted kale!
Amazing salad. Thank you
As for the mobile site, perhaps it’s not the best idea as time goes by and teck too any mobile in the nearly future will be able to open any site…..
But of course, mobile has many advantages like speed which is important…
So it’s up 2 u sk, we will surf u no matter how :-)
A good website, one that emails you when there’s a new entry, is way better than an app that just clutters up your phone and you always forget to use anyway.
This is the summer of kale. LOVE IT. I made your kale salad from the book twice in two weeks because I loved it so much!
Okay, I’ll bite! You are solving a bunch of kale problems. Since I hate raisins, what do you think about substituting currants?
Deb,
Great recipe.
In your first photo, the vegetable looks an awful lot to my veggie eyes, like Swiss Card and not Kale.
Raisin-haters — Use any other dried fruit. But, if you’re on the fence, trust me that raisins plumped with a vinegar mixture (especially if you add a half-teaspoon of butter to that saucepan, whoops, did I say that?) taste nothing like the raisins you probably picked out of your cereal. These belong in salad.
Ruth Eddy — I see what you mean! But it’s definitely, definitely kale. :)
Debra — I wasn’t sure if you were looking for that feature here, or if you already knew I had it, but you can use the “Subscribe by Email” link in the sidebar (5th one down) to sign up to have posts emailed to you. They will show up in your inbox usually the morning after they are published (i.e. this is yesterday’s post and it was sent out early this morning, so maybe a 12 hour delay). There’s an incredibly annoying CAPTCHA to sign up — I’m looking at switching companies because of this (people have complained a lot and the company is unconcerned) — but it does work.
App vs. Mobile priority — Thanks again and again. I’m actually excited to hear that it’s not just me questioning the necessity of apps (when a fantastic mobile site will cover our needs, for free, on every phone with a browser, with no app store hoops to jump through). They’ve always reminded me of those early days of the internet (which I remember, because I’m old, yo) when people used AOL to filter it. AOL created folders and rooms and … organized the web for people so it made it less scary. Apps feel similar to me. I think that once mobile sites get better, Apps that don’t do something specific that you can’t do on a website (i.e. apps that aren’t games or the like) will go the way of the original AOL. (Sorry, AOL.) Now, to get moving on that better mobile site. :)
That salad looks delicious, and having tried many of your recipes, I know it will be a crowd pleaser! Your recipes make me the kitchen queen – so thank you!! Also just bought your cookbook here in Pembroke, Ontario, and have added it to the often referenced shelf. It’s so nice to come across a cook who can write really well, who is funny and wise without being patronizing, and who obviously enjoys what she’s doing. And to top it off, has fabulous recipes!
Hi Deb – I’ve been a devoted reader for a long time…back to the Smitten days?? Love your work – in fact, I made your wedding cake for my brother’s wedding this summer. Your posts made me feel like someone was holding my hand through that crazy endeavor.
Anyways – I vote for the web friendly site!! Most of the time, apps are not as intuitive as the developers think they are. I get frustrated and end up hunting down an actual website. I think you’re right on in your assessment!
You can remove the ribs from the kale leaves by placing the leaf face-down on your cutting board. This makes it easy to slit the rib from the leaf. Reserve the ribs. Cut the ribs into 1-inch to 2-inch lengths. Saute in butter or olive oil until lightly browned. Add liquid (chicken stock, apple juice, wine, vinegar, etc.) and braise a few minutes (5-10) until tender. Full of nutrients and fiber, tender-crisp like good asparagus. Shame to waste it.
I’m one of the weirdos who loves both kale and arugula, but I can see how others may not be fans of them. I must try this salad though, and I wonder if instead of golden raisins dried cranberries would work too, as I’m not a raisin lover.
I use this site on my phone and ipad all the time. I probably wouldn’t use an app, but would definitely love a mobile ‘version’ of the site that was a bit easier to navigate on a phone. I like using the site in the grocery store to figure out ingredients, then my ipad comes in the kitchen as my ‘cookbook’.
Kale is so tasty! My garden is exploding with it this year. I’ll have to serve this recipe at my next dinner party! Thanks!
I have seen an almost exact replica of this salad in a local restaurant; they’ve had it on the menu for maybe 3 years. They use currants instead of sultanas, and pine nuts instead of walnuts. I love it. I too figured out how to make it at home. As to the site question, I vote for the website over an app, but that’s probably because I, like you, don’t use apps.
Re: Mobile Site versus App – I had this long, thoughtful note composed in my head and when I came to write it down, you had beaten me to the punch. Your note (end of #117) summarizes my feelings exactly, esp. this part: “I think that once mobile sites get better, Apps that don’t do something specific that you can’t do on a website (i.e. apps that aren’t games or the like) will go the way of the original AOL.”
What I’d really like is for all those hours that companies spend on producing an app, to instead be spent creating a mobile site. I hate hate HATE that I have to “check” a website on my desktop b/c the app on my phone leaves my high and dry. Just a maximized mobile site, pretty please (and I ditto the request to have it work with Pepperplate).
And this recipe – yum, yum, yum! All my favorite flavors in one dish. So good.
Happened to have everything on hand except for the raisins … then substituted some delicious fresh plums sliced into small wedges to match the kale. SO DELCIOUS. Dare I say the plums are even an upgrade? And better for lunch today, even. Thanks, Deb!
I’m surprised you posted this kale recipe after The Onion article entitled 45,589,321 Healthy Kale Recipes to Try This Summer. (http://onion.com/18bj5C5 )
Best line: Am I on the wrong blog?
i maintain that kale does taste good..especially when you add sweet/salty/acid flavors to it. now radicchio on the other hand….hopeless.
Deb, I think you’re on the right track with mobile optimizing your site.
Speaking from recent experience, don’t bother with app development if you are not a tech company. They are a huge pain, very expensive and very annoying to maintain. My organization recently dropped our iPhone app after two years of work. Unless there’s a clear need for app functionality, it’s better to spend your time making your existing site a great mobile experience.
P.S. Vinegar-soaked raisins in salad = mind blown. Thanks for the tip!
Oh man, I wish you had posted this 2 weeks ago when I had kale coming out my ears. I made some very unsatisfying kale chips that made the whole house smell like…well, like a fart. I was the only one who ate them. Next time I will try this salad for sure. By the way, I am currently eating leftover tomato corn pie – heavenly at this time of year. I make it at least once every summer!
This looks so good!! I love the walnuts in this.
This looks and sounds incredible!
The hype around kale is reaching quinoa hype levels. If I blogged salads (I don’t) I might feel obligated to avoid kale salads just for that reason. But if we’re talking flavor, I can get behind this in a big way. Especially with walnuts!
Deb, your kale salad with dried cherries, radishes, goat cheese, etc is a favorite in my house! This one looks great, too, so I’ll try it next time. I have used curly kale when Tuscan (also called dinosaur and lacinato) isn’t available, definitely needs to be massaged but it’s not bad.
I am a Kale Konvert…used to associate it with green drinks and uber-pushy health food nuts (like one of my cousins). Cutting it into the very thinnest of strips (does that make it chiffonade?) and pairing it with dried fruit, toasted nuts, cheese and a light vinaigrette makes for one delicious and NUTRITIOUS salad. I add shredded carrots for more color and Vitamin A. Even my husband eats it this way (as long as the shreds are totally wispy)… Thanks for another great recipe…
P.S. I made the tomato, corn, zucchini galette – fabulous!!!
I am a great Kale fan. Living in the North of Germany this is a typical Winter meal. I am always interested in new versions of something. In this case I wonder if I see Kale on the pictures. Can any body help me? Looking in wikipedia for Kale leads to a completely different type of cabbage. Did I miss something.
jentze — Here, we have two types of kale. Wikipedia has photos of the first one, curly kale (aka dinosaur kale). Here, I’m using a flatter-leaf variety called Tuscan (aka black or lacinato kale). It’s thinner and doesn’t need any massaging work to be eaten raw.
Hi Deb,
Like you, I am not a kale fan and feel a silly need to rebel against all of the kale-hype of the past couple of years. But I love your blog and everything I’ve made of yours has been amazing. I just might have to be trendy after all and give this recipe a try!
I have a love-hate relationship with kale. Sometimes I adore it; sometimes, I just can’t stand it. I love the look of your kale salad, though. Thanks for this recipe.
Wow this looks great! I usually just make Kale chips in the oven :)
Shoot! I just finally made use of all the kale that I keep buying and then losing enthusiasm for once it’s in my house…back to the market I go!
This is phenomenal. I had a similar salad at a local restaurant. It also had pomegranate seeds and was divine. I made a version at home and I’m glad I have your recipe for reference!
A good kale salad is a delightful thing! I was turned off of kale for a long time because I don’t like the texture when cooked. However, when raw in a salad with an acidic dressing I adore kale salad!
Made this last night… One word, delicious!!!!
I made this tonight and it was amazing! So good. Between my husband and I we ate the whole bowl.
Hi Deb, you’re so sweet to have added the gramms etc. Especially now that I know you have to put extra work in it while you are allready so busy. I had thought it would be a matter writing it down differently, but now I realise you really do it differently. So a big thank you once again, best from Mieke
I am going to try this, despite normally avoiding kale at all costs. Regarding the app, no need. I know how expensive they are, and I manage quite well with the current website on my iPhone in the grocery store, so a mobile friendly one would be fantastic! Here I go…succumbing to the pressure….jumping on the kale bandwagon…okay…one…two…….three….here I come!
Just made this tonight. Yum! I didn’t do the recipe exactly as written because I used what was on hand and also remembered incorrectly which items I thought I already had in the fridge and upon discovering my memory failed me, I had to improvise.
For those who were wondering how this would turn out with lime juice (instead of lemon), brown raisins (instead of golden)+balsamic vinegar (since the raisins i used were brown i made the executive decision to switch up the vinegar to match the dried fruit), curly leaf kale instead of lacinto (there was only curly leaf at the farmer’s market today!), and home made breadcrumbs (from a slice of jalepeno cheddar bread) – it works!
the intended ingredients most likely really make this salad sing, but the substitutions mentioned above worked seamlessly.
Delicious! Made it tonight, along with the tortilla, and both were fantastic.
We had this salad and the tortilla de patatas (topped with some balsamic marinated cherry tomatoes) for dinner tonight- yum. And somehow on the table in under 45 minutes! Thanks for the idea, Deb :)
A couple of notes: my garden has red russian (flat-leafed) kale, so I used that with no problem. I didn’t have walnuts but toasted almonds were a delicious substitution.
About the app/mobile question, I would definitely use a more mobile-friendly site. Although my phone’s browser is no stranger to the site as-is :)
And yes please to more popsicle recipes!
Kale… um maybe later if I want to feel super healthy.
Popsicles, though? The popsicle molds I ordered from Amazon came today so pretty, pretty, please- bring on the popsicles!
(I’ll be making those strawberry ones first.) :)
How do you keep coming up with these amazing combinations? Really looks delicious.
Looks good in the pictures, but I’m not sure I will like Kale. Is there an alternative I could use? Maybe regular spinach?
App Q: I vote for the better website on mobile phone rather than an app. I find most apps are a bit dippy– they never quite work as well as just going to the main website for information. I have pulled your website up in the grocery store on my phone as is rather easily. You are bookmarked on every digital device I have. :)
Kale: One of my favorite vegetables as of late. I grew the tuscan kale in my vegetable garden this past spring/early summer and boy did we have loads of it. This recipe has been added to my “kale” recipe pile to try and hopefully soon!
This looks delectable, kale + fresh pecorino make a happy lady. Thanks for the inspiration!
I have not been able to make myself try kale no matter how much eloquence is waxed over a recipe. I can’t tell you how many bags of organic, prewashed kale from Trader Joe’s I have thrown away. Since you had the same level of suspicion, this one I might actually try. I’d want to like kale, I really do since it’s supposed to be so friggin’ healthy.
This is about the potato recipe you made with the salad. Why use all the oil if you drain it off? Couldn’t I just us the few tablespoons? Thanks.
Lori — Spanish tortillas are traditionally made by cooking the potatoes in olive oil. They’re not sauteed, they’re more like poached. There are probably other ways to cook the potatoes, but I like the traditional one the best as the flavor is incredible.
I’ve found that using scissors to remove those pesky kale ribs works best for me.
I really like that you described the prep of the kale as “stack and roll into a tube”. I am so tired and mystified of directions such as “roll up like making a cigar” WHAT? How many among us has ever done that?
Massage the kale first and it will be better:)
I loved kale before it was cool. Sigh.
Boo, Deb! What happened to the “good reads” links? I navigated around in search of them.. where have they moved to?
My roommate made this for dinner last night, and it was great to come home to after a nice run! We got a bag of kale from trader joe’s and it was curly, which made the salad a little more… (can’t think of a better word) awkward? I wish we had used the leafy kale, but it was still perfectly wonderful. He also substituted pepitas for the walnuts, and I loved their little crunch in there. I brought some for my lunch today and it was still great, and hadn’t really wilted or gotten weird at all. Thanks!
You had me at kale!
I’m interested in what Kim said about massaging the Kale. How do you “massage” it”? I do love this recipe and each of the ingredients. I always sliver my greens that way… Whether or not I intend to cook them.
You’ve already gotten a lot of responses on the site vs. app front, but I’ll add my vote for the site from an IT perspective. Working at an organization that, at a high level, made an app for their service and ignored their site while my team made our site mobile-friendly, guess which one of us wasted more time? Hint: my team hasn’t had to do anything major other than regular content updates once we implemented mobile while the larger org struggles to keep their app updated (and it doesn’t include basic tools that are on their homepage).
I’d also suggest not doing a mobile “version” of your site (like m.smittenkitchen). That’s what our head org ended up doing once the app didn’t take off and it’s twice the work to update since it’s essentially two sites to maintain. We redesigned our site using responsive design, which is much easier to deal with across devices.
Anyways, blah blah blah techy stuff, the salad looks delicious!
This looks good! My s-i-l makes a delicious chopped kale, grated carrot, dried cranberry and almond salad with ginger lime dressing that is extremely good and sort of a similar riff. The only other way I eat Kale is heaping pile roasted under a couple pork chops covered in a generous shaving of parmesan cheese and doused in olive oil. :-)
Kale tips from the farm (where we always have lots of kale):
ribbing kale: the very quickest way to rib kale is to hold in one hand the end of the stem. With your other hand, make a circle with your index finger and thumb that encircles the stem and slide your hand down. You’ll end up with the kale on your cutting board and the stem in your hand. Discard stem. Repeat.
types of kale: lacinato is nice, though I find it a bit tough/strong in the summertime. If you can find it, try a russian-type. The flat leaves are thinner and more tender than your lacinatos and curly types in the summertime. Post-frost, all bets are off — just eat lots of sweet tender kale!
I’m wary of totally raw kale. Seems to digest better cooked or fermented in some way. But massaging (or, at least the way I’ve figured to do it, kinda squeezed) it with dressing has become a favorite too. If you’ve got picky kiddos, try your thin thin slices like here, then “dice” it the other way too and stir-fry it for a moment before tossing in the leftover rice from the pot. Green flecks in the rice that don’t need chewed. So tasty too.
My first kale salad; guess I was living under a large kale leave all this time ;)
This salad is addictive… I kept fishing for the next raisin, and next thing I knew, I was scrapping the bottom of the bowl. The raisins-in-vinegar + red pepper flakes makes it!
yum. glad you came around. it only gets better. recently made a kale, basil, fresh tomato salad with some sunflower seeds. in the summer, you may as well eat as much raw as possible. delicious. I can’t wait to this recipe.
you know that lovely, delightful, delectable veggie slaw you
gave us not too long ago — well, I have been adding thin
wisps of sliced kale and…is it ok to use ”wow“ a lot? I am
running out of adjectives…
seriously! this looks incredible!! making this tomorrow.
thanks deb, yet again. X
Deb, Just wanted to chime in that a mobile site would work fantastically. Many a time I’ve been in the produce section cradling my iPhone, risking my vision, to decipher teensy tiny ingredient lists on one of your recipes – while wrangling three children! A mobile site would make it quicker and easier with none of the app hassle for you. Thanks for being so thoughtful! :)
Love your cooking blog…especially love your cookbook! I’m working my way through it and everything is exceptionally delicious! You’ve convinced me to purchase a scale for baking/cooking, but the choices are overwhelming. Could you please recommend one? Many thanks – bon appetite!
Maureen — I don’t have a favorite, but I do often use Amazon for suggestions — do a search, sort by customer reviews, and go from there. I’ve never been deeply unhappy with something that had overwhelmingly rave reviews. You can still then go buy it at your local kitchen supply store, if you want to support a local vendor instead. ;)
Ok now I’m going to share one of the few useful ideas I learned on the Rachael Ray show. She held the kale from the thick end, pinching the rib and slid the kale leaves off by running your other fingers down. Works like a charm and so fast!
I can’t eat the golden raisins because of the sulfites, can I use regular ones?
If you ever find yourself in Williamsburg you should check out the kale salad at Five Leaves. It’s similar to this (with hazelnuts instead of walnuts) and very, very tasty. Like this salad, it makes kale into a totally amazing salad green, not a “look at me I’m so healthy” menu item.
Also, when I skimmed the recipe and read “simmer the raisins in white wine vinegar,” I ignored the “vinegar” and got really excited about poaching raisins in wine. I highly recommend it.
Generally, would you say the kale cares if the massage is shiatsu, reflexology or anma? :) That is, if I use it for something other than this great salad recipe?
I enjoy kale cooked, but I have never really developed a taste for raw kale in salads. It seems too tough a leafy to be enjoyed raw. That said, your kale salad does look really, really good. The raisins and walnuts must certainly make it delicious.
I’ve been seeing these recipes all over the internet and wanting to try them, but unfortunately I live in northern Germany and only get curly kale. If you can figure out how to make THAT taste good, I’d be so very pleased….
@Joana, you can still make this salad, just use your hands to “massage” curly kale first with a little salt. It tenderizes the leaves and makes it totally edible raw. Lay the kale leaves flat in a stack, holding them down with your hand, then roll the stack tightly into a cigar shape and slice as thinly as you can for ribbons. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over the ribbons, then grab big handfuls and squeeze them over and over again until you have a mass of limp, tender greens and continue on with the recipe.
Making this salad right now! The measurement for the walnuts appears to be off. 1/2 cup of walnuts is 2 oz or about 60 grams so now I’m wondering do I use more walnuts than the volume measure. I say yes! Better to have too many than not enough.
I just want to tell you I really love your blog. All of the recipes I have tried have come out amazingly good, all of them. And I enjoy so much reading you, I have a lot of fun, I always end up laughing and sharing with my kids. Thanks for sharing and I would say stick to the site.
About the salad, where I live I don’t come around golden raisins easily, are they very different from regular ones? Could I try the latter or cranberries maybe?
I have that exact same blue bowl! I got it from my great aunt. I feel very Mad Men when I use it. :o)
Yum- I love kale. This looks like a great side to any weeknight meal!
Sounds like a very interesting twist on a kale salad! Will be sharing this with some of my members.
I make an experiment. I use kale salad with tea and i feel really happy.
I made this last night, and it was a HUGE hit (even our kale-averse and all-cheese-hating 12 year old ate it). What a wonderful combination of favors. Thank you!
Absolutely delicious! Took this to a BBQ potluck and got rave reviews. Made it from the Toscana kale I grew from seed in my garden this year. Nice to have a recipe for it. Wll definitely make again. Yum.
Made this for dinner the other night and everyone really liked it, even the teens, so that is saying something! I used Trader Joe’s bag of chopped organic Tuscan kale. I pulled most of the big stems off, but since it was already chopped, couldn’t roll and and sliver cut it. So I tossed it in the cuisinart with the slice blade which worked well. I had to pick out some of the larger stems I missed. I used regular old, dark, Thompson raisins and champagne vinegar cause that’s what was in the cupboard and it tasted fine! We had it with BBQ chicken and couscous, the teens thought the kale went well with the couscous. Definitely a keeper recipe!
…and I vote for good mobile website.
I’m so glad you caved! This looks fantastic! And I magically have every single ingredient in my kitchen at this very moment, so I’ll definitely be making this salad this weekend. Thanks for sharing!
Deb, this is a variation of Lulu Wilson in Aspen’s kale salad. They are now closed I believe, but we ate it more than 5 years ago there, so I believe they began the raw kale salad trend. It is made with curly kale, currants, toasted pine nuts, finely chopped Parmesan cheese and a lemony (including zest) vineagrette. I’ve been making it for years and people go bonkers for it.
Had to host a dinner for my brother and sister-in-law and made this kale salad with the curly kale along with some grilled chicken with Jerk sauce. I’m not a fan of kale and this salad tasted amazing, even with the curly kale. Thank you for your delicious recipes. My husband is a huge fan of your website. :))
@tunie – thanks! I’ll try that!
Kale is such a great veggie! I discovered my love for it last year. Have to make this delicious looking salad soon. Somehow I’ve never eaten kale raw… This needs to be changed!
This simply looks so delicious. I think I could have it at every meal!
We had this last night with the potato tortilla, roasted red peppers with anchovy garlic dressing and a nice Spanish white (verdejo). Had some olives and grilled halloum with grapes with cava as we cooked. Made for a lovely, one-night staycation! The salad is a perfect balance of salt, sweet and crunch. Loved it. Very happy that I bought an extra bunch of kale, as I plan to make it again tonight.
Love the thought of pairing this salad with a Spanish egg dish!! Looks amazing!
My Mom has the same blue pyrex bowl! She got it as a wedding gift in 1962.
I’ve had a recent kale epiphany, too, so I look forward to trying this.
i am looking forward to the day when kale and gluten-free are replaced by another new fad on my grocer’s shelves! In the meantime, I will try this beautiful recipe with arugula….. Thanks!
If you want to massage your kale here is a link:
http://www.insonnetskitchen.com/how-to-make-massaged-kale-salad/
Deb, this sounds yummy and I will definitely try it when my CSA includes Tuscan kale again. In the meantime, I made the Eggplant and Three Cheese Calzone from your cookbook this week. YUM!!! Since I share my CSA with a friend, I adapted it slightly by cubing the eggplant and making four smaller calzone rather than the single larger one that you suggest. Also made your Bacon Corn Hash and have Tomato Scallion Shortcakes with Whipped Goat Cheese on the menu for tomorrow, except I plan to swap basil for the chives, as I am not a fan of onion flavor. I’m not sure what we would eat around here if you didn’t share your recipes!
I love the slaw method for making raw kale more tender. Makes a salad that so much nicer to eat!
it’s nice to get back to the fall veggies after a summers delight in berries and miniproduce…getting back to the core of essetials with big chunky leafy greens and tenderly braised rootveggies!
Delicious salad!!! My husband, who was doubtful of eating kale, absolutely loved it!!! He’s now thinking of growing kale in our community garden plot next year!!!
I have struggles with kale in the past… but this looks like something I could get behind.
I for one can’t get enough good kale recipes, thanks for this great one!
The fact that you were originally suspicious of all the kale fervor is EXACTLY why I love your blog. Also that you don’t do restaurant reviews. I love the focus on cooking, at home, and not in a faddish way.
I was also distrustful of kale, and was won over by a kale-coconut-soy sauce-sriracha over farro/brown rice thing that Joy the Baker posted. It’s really strangely good – crunchy/chewy/salty/yummy. This recipe looks great too – rehydrated raisins, cheese, breadcrumbs – check, check, check! :)
Barbuto is so good – they could make anything taste amazing!! I actually love kale, and your salad recipe looks so good! I can’t wait to try it
The lemon and olive oil softened the kale perfectly! I subbed blue cheese for pecorino and left out the raisins, because I’m lazy. Bliss. Utter bliss. From kale. Who’d have thought?
Made it this weekend and it was WONDERFUL. I left the raisins out because I’m not a big fan, but my clueless-about-cooking husband ate it and said, “You know what would take this to another level? Those yellow raisins.” So, there you go.
Made this last night and it was outstanding! Used curly kale as it was all I could get and it was still delicious. Hubby not too keen on trying it (case of kale perceived kale aversion!) but even he agreed it was a most definite keeper! Can’t wait to try the kale recipe from your book next.
I have made this twice since I saw the recipe and it soooo good. I made it with curly kale diced very finely, and substituted Craisins and later currants because I didn’t have any golden raisins and it still resulted in me eating half the bowl! Such a great way to enjoy a healthy green! The breadcrumbs make it. Thanks!!
I recently discovered I actually like kale too! I have taken to chopping up a bunch of it and throwing it in my crunchy chopped salad. I especially love that even tossed with dressing it resists getting soggy when I have leftovers stored for a few days.
I’m eating this as I type. It’s delicious!
So I have now made this twice in the last two days it was so good the first time. I used almonds instead of walnuts because that’s what I had, and the first day all I had was lime, and the second day I was running out of kale so I added spinach. All that to say that this salad is perfect even with those substitutions. It has what I feel to be the three key salad ingredients: a fruit, a nut, and a cheese, mixed with a green other than lettuce. (After having this salad I may need to add garlic toasted bread crumbs to my list of ingredients necessary to make a perfect salad.) My otherwise-wonderful, wary of raw greens husband even ate some and liked it. And I think I used curly kale, but I’m not sure as it was a bag labeled “kale” from Trader Joe’s. I have your cookbook, but must have missed the other kale salad, a mistake I’m going to remedy soon. I guess I was distracted by the baked french toast and smores cake.
Great recipe! I am normally not a huge fan of kale but I made this as a side for dinner last night – delicious!
I made this last night and had the leftovers today for lunch. It’s even better on the second day and it MIGHT be one of my favorite Smitten Kitchen recipes I’ve ever made which is saying quite a lot. I never thought I’d be so excited about salad.
I’m some kind of kale novice, and I have not paid enough attention to figure out if Tuscan is available where I shop, but I suspect it isn’t. I bought kale for the second time to make this salad, and it was curly green. I’m glad I didn’t read the commentary about massaging it, or I might not have bothered with this salad! I think the curliness probably made it more time comsuming to slice, because I couldn’t take the lot of it and roll it up to slice and had to do it as a series of bunches I could corral under my hand. Maybe how thin I sliced it (as thin as I could manage,) and crushing it a bit while doing so was enough, because I liked this salad a lot! It wasn’t tough to chew at all. I liked it even better the next day since, inevitably, there were more nuts and raisins in the second half.
I hope I can prepare it faster the next time I try it, now that I’ve done it once.
Wanted a quick dinner, and I think this only took me about fifteen minutes from start to finish! Didn’t toast the walnuts in the oven, but used the pan I then used to fry breadcrumbs. And I never have golden raisins on hand, so I subbed in dried cranberries, and red white vinegar for the white. Anyway, FANTASTIC. The addition of the plump, slightly tangy fruit really changes things. I’d been looking for a new twist on my beloved kale salads, and I think this is it!
I was similarly suspicious of the how fashionable arugula was suddenly several years ago that I didn’t even try it until my cousin fed it to me 2 years ago. I love it now, as salad or pesto.
This looks delicious! I have another kale salad that is delicious with a fresh ginger dressing, shredded carrots and slivered almonds. The best thing about kale is that it can be dressed for a few days without getting wilted. I planted 8 kale plants I’d summer ‘just to see’…I have an abundance of kale :)
This is THE BEST thing I have ever eaten. So good, in fact, that I have made it three times in one week. Thank you, Deb!!!!!!!!!
Salad sounds delish. I see a beautiful piece of vintage pyrex in the mix too!
SO good with eggs! I made this on Saturday night, and then served it to (well just myself) for brunch on Sunday with 2 runny fried eggs and some whole wheat toast. It was delicious!
I found some beautiful Tuscan kale on Saturday and immediately thought of this recipe. I took the time with each step, as you recommended, and it was awesome. My husband totally flipped over it. And I love how the leftover salad lasted in the fridge for a couple days. We kept sneaking forkfuls from the bowl.
Yum. This salad was great, but chopping curly kale is a little like scaling fish – the job gets done, but not without little bits flying everywhere, including your hair.
Wow this is good. Thanks Deb, you seriously knocked it out of the park with this one!!
Yum. I was underwhelmed by homemade kale chips last night, so I think I’ll give this kale rendition a shot. Thank you!
Soooo good. Even the kids (preteen, teens) loved it. Next time they want a little less cheese and breadcrumbs–whaaaaaaat?! My kids have never uttered the words “less cheese and breadcrumbs”
Guess that means they like kale!
I made this last night and everyone loved it! I think this method of cutting kale (chiffonade?) has, at least temporarily, cured my boredom of kale.
We made this kale salad with the tortilla for supper last night. Both were wonderful. The Tuscan kale made a big difference. My one concern is that I used too many pots and pans for a salad along with heating the oven. Here are my recommendations for simplifying this delicious salad:
1. toast the walnuts in the small frying pan on the stove top and then reuse the frying pan for the garlic bread crumbs
2. put the raisins and vinegar and water in a small microwave proof bowl and microwave and let sit and soak, maybe covered with plastic wrap. (Double your raisins because everyone that walks into the kitchen will steal some and you want a few left over to put in the salad!!)
I used a whole lemon and a touch more Spanish olive oil. Leftovers today were very good.
Made this salad tonight following all of the directions as written. It was fantastic! We were fighting over who would get the last scoop of salad. Thanks for a fabulous recipe!
This was my first time using Tuscan kale, and I really enjoyed it. I love the sweet-salty-crunchy-chewy tastes and textures. Delicious.
I followed the tips in comment 227, and also found that the juice of a whole lemon was more to my taste.
Great recipe, as always!
Generally I think kale with a caesar dressing is the pinnacle, but this was also delicious. My only issue was with the garlic in the breadcrumbs – it cooks faster than the crumbs, so it had a bit of the unpleasant burnt garlic taste. (I might just leave it out next time). Otherwise, fantastic.
I am NOT a cook. But I’ve been craving a kale salad, and made this recipe. OMG is it good. Here’s what I posted on my Facebook page: “I made this kale salad. For those of you who know me you understand this is a minor miracle. Thankfully I realized that the kosher salt wasn’t the Panko crumbs just before dumping it in.”
Thank you!
Well–I love kale. But I usually end up sauteeing it with garlic and something spicy, so in the raw will be a new venture for me. As long as I get to the kale currently in my fridge while it is still fresh enough–if it is a bit wilty this will have to wait until my next trip to the grocery! Looking forward to trying this!
I made it and it was delicious. No leftovers. Loved the raisins!!!
Am back, and made it with manchego–good substitute as it’s also sheep’s milk cheese. Loved it! What is it about fried bread crumbs that is so good, anyway?
Greetings from down south! First, thank you for this wonderful adaptation. My daughter made it over the holiday weekend and spoke very highly so tonight I had to try it! I mixed red kale with the flat leaf and upped the garlic and pecorino just a tad. This is now my favorite kale salad. Kudos and more kudos! and health to you and yours!
If you’re ever in Boulder, among the many things you might want to try is this kale salad: http://blogs.denverpost.com/food/2012/12/24/kale/16966/
Yay! JUST heard you on NPR – boy was I surprised (and thrilled!) Maybe I’ll give kale ONE more try…
Driving home tonight after my last piano lesson, down the Piilani Highway in Kihei, Maui and NPR was on. And there you were! Loved your description of the Kale Salad – yes, I said. I’m so tired of BAD Kale Salads. Now this was a recipe that had me salivating right there in the car – of course, I was hungry and had to make dinner yet for my husband. I looked you up on the internet when I got home and have all the ingredients written down for the salad. First thing in the morning I’m off to the market for the fixins. Thank you soooooo much. ALOHA
I too was so excited to actually hear your voice on NPR last night. You definitely have a radio voice!! And the salad sounds amazing. I received your cookbook for Christmas and have been trying different recipes – so good to have a voice now in my head as I read the recipes.
So I made this salad tonight. And then I ate an entire bunch of kale myself. Because: amazing. Best kale salad ever, and I love me a kale salad so I have tried lots.
OMG…I hate Kale but this was over the top GREAT! “Texas Kale” is notoriously tough and bitter….ugh. So, I bought a bunch, used most of it for healthy smoothies and saved the tender bits for this salad, but I think the secret is cutting it into a chiffonade…genious!
My Minnesota Man heard you on NPR and came home requesting your dish. Mind you he has NEVER asked for a veg dish ever.
Made it tonight and enjoyed it tremendously. Thank you!
Totally ate at Barbuto last night. It was amazing. I am OBSESSED with trying to recreate the kale salad. Thank you so much for posting your version of the recipe. I can’t wait to try it! I think I might use blanched slivered almonds in place of the walnuts because that’s what they used last night & I’m not really a walnut fan.
SO EXCITED!
kate — I was back there last week (me = Barbuto junkie) and it did indeed have slivered almonds. They change their menu almost every day, sometimes only slightly and other times more significantly, based on what’s good.
I also heard the NPR interview and was inspired to try this salad. I LOVE kale but have shied away from putting in salads because the local store only carries the curly kind. My go-to recipe is braising the kale and adding orzo toasted with tumeric – while I could eat this every day my family was starting to rebel. This salad was an unqualified success – I massaged the kale like someone suggested and added extra raisins. Only downside is no leftovers!
This was delicious! I followed every instruction to a T (rare for me) except I used regular purple raisins (cause that’s what I had) and I went overboard on the breadcrumbs. Warning: do NOT do that. I just thought “more toasted breadcrumbs = always better” and went for it. Dried out the salad. I still snarfed it down, as did my hubby, but he complained it was dry. He didn’t get to eat it before the breadcrumbs went in as I did while I was cooking. Let me also say this: I actually used the cheese you recommended, and I was happy I did. I almost went for straight parmesan, but the extra tang of the pecorino made ALL the difference!
Deb — a mobile-friendly site sounds fantastic! Although I would download the app, I realistically would just go to the site more often than not. Few things are more irritating than a mobile-unfriendly website!
What is the fascination with kale? It’s started appearing in everything over the past year, and sounds awful (see: bitter). I’m Australian, and things don’t often make their way over The Great Sea-Air Gap; that being said, kale is in my local Coles, as of yesterday. Can you make it less bitter? And why is it so popular?
I made this salad last night and it was magnificent! My husband has mentioned at least 5 times since then just how much he liked it. Such comments are unprecedented.
Deb, you made kale GOOD. I am so impressed! Thanks for the great recipe!
My sister passed along this recipe swearing by its deliciousness. Then my other sister made it and agreed. I hesitantly bought the ingredients knowing my husband groans every time I mention the health benefits of kale. But as I type he’s washing the dishes in a chipper mood, about to grab another plate of kale salad seconds with lasagna on the side. Thank you for the recipe!
I LOVE this recipe— except I used pecans instead of walnuts. Best. Use. Of. Kale. EVER!
Fabulous. I made this last night for my girlfriend, and we both loved it. For a simple but wonderful dinner, pair this with SK’s latkes. With good applesauce and sour cream on the latkes, it’s divine!
Deb, this was a HUGE HIT in our house. My husband took one bite and said “This is amazing”, and he isn’t heavy handed with compliments so I knew he really meant it. I shared it with my CSA (crediting you of course) and it was another huge hit there. Had it again last night. SO, so good!
OMG, I am addicted to this kale salad! I’ve been substituting dried cranberries for the sultanas, soaking them in sherry or apple cider vinegar.
Made this with what I had on hand – baby kale, dates instead of raisins and white balsamic vinegar – it was awesome. Someone mentioned pecans, I’m gonna try that next time. I find walnuts a bit too bitter.
Hi Deb. I loved this salad! I love salads, especially well-made restaurant salads but I never know what to do to spruce them up at home. They always end up over-dressed and pretty boring, maybe because I usually think of salads as being a quick meal. I spent the extra time making this one, and it was definitely worth it. I used dried apricots instead of raisins–excellent!
Extra points for using the word “rubbly.”
Writing from Kazakhstan where there is no kale to be found but we have a wonderful crop of swiss chard in the garden that I substituted in this recipe with great results. I’m assuming its a tamer taste than the kale but its still very nice and earthy and held up well with this preparation. Thanks for the recipe!
This was an absolute hit at my dinner party tonight. My husband and I love
kale salad (especially from your cookbook) and I decided it would be the best side to a dinner of pancetta wrapped pork with plum chutney and wild rice. It was certainly the right choice. I did a little change, though,and used the salad dressing from your “cookbook” kale salad. In a word, fabulous!!!!!! Everyone raved-and ate every bite.
I am sitting here eating the Kale Salad AND the One Pan Farro with Tomatoes. Perfecto! I subbed hazlenuts for the walnuts because I don’t like walnuts. Also Sherry wine vinegar for the white, because I didn’t have any white. Still very yummy! Thank you for all the amazing recipes. I’ve been a mostly silent, lurking fan, for many years.
THE best Kale salad I’ve ver had!! Thanks so much…
With the addition of some sliced apple and hard boiled egg this is the perfect salad for a week of very fall appropriate lunch.
I cannot believe that an american girl is using kale! That’s the most used vegetable in portuguese cuisine. We use it for a soup that mmmmmm, I have no words for. If you’d like google it, it’s called CALDO VERDE, and it’s made with kale, onion, potatoe and portuguese sausage (called CHOURIÇO). Yesterday I made it for dinner llolol. Just landed on this website through Cupcakes and Cashmere, I believe we’ll have a very longlasting relation :) Nice meeting you.
We made this for dinner last night (thanks to our local Produce Box, we had everything on hand!) and it was spectacular. Thank you so much for continuing to provide inspiration for great food to be made at home!
I’m making this kale salad for the second time tonight. I had it about two weeks ago and it’s fantastic!! Thanks so much for the recipe.
A really, really solid recipe. This is entering my permanent collection of rotating salads.
Delicious! I skipped the raisin step (not a fan of them) and threw in raw pomegranate seeds instead. I could eat this every day.
Dear Deb,
I was just lying in bed reading your cookbook, and turned the page to see your kale salad recipe. First of all, I can’t tell you how awesome it feels to be typing a message to someone while their cookbook is sitting right next to me. Second, I have been meaning to tell you I made that salad about a month ago, then harvested all the kale from my backyard and made variations of it again, like six times, and did nothing else kale related. With beets it was delicious! Will I ever cook kale again? Maybe, probably not this year.
So thank you. Have a lovely thanksgiving. I have the week off, and one day in, I am up to my arms in recipes I want to make, and leftovers making that decision impractical. It is times like these when a boyfriend would come in handy–a tall, hungry one. Maybe one who would do dishes.
Prepared this recipe for a dinner party exactly as you directed and it came out so wonderfully delicious. I had tomake it two days later just for myself! The second time around it was so quick to make. It’s definitely going into my permanent recipe collection and will be in heavy rotation for a while. :)
My daughter made this for Thanksgiving. It was VERY delicious. She used a tender, organic kale and supplemented with a tender, organic spinach from a lovely local grower. Wonderful.
I made this last night and Deb is right, this is the best kale salad ever! I served with a hearty bowl of soup and it turned out to be a fantastic weeknight dinner. We were both wishing there was more. Who says that about kale salad! I guarantee I’ll be making it again this weekend.
Oh Deb, this is so good. Just what this pregnant woman needed. I will be honest and admit that I made adjustments to avoid a trip to the store (the temps are around -20 here), and I used regular raisins, cider vinegar, and (gasp!) garlic powder. I’m sure it would be better with the originals, but this hacked together version is stil outstanding. I LOOOOVE the garlicky breadcrumbs. Thank you!
Made this tonight for dinner. So, so delicious. Already looking forward to the leftovers.
I kind of hate myself for loving this salad as much as I do! It’s the perfect combo of sweet, salty, and tart, with a lot of nice texture as well. I have actually been making it where I combine the kale, olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar and raisins; I store the panko and cheese in separate containers and will top as I eat individual portions. I love how well this salad keeps!
I made this tonight and just loooved it. I mean, it blew my mind. Deb, your recipes always turn out for me – and are incredibly delicious and interesting. I love some other bloggers, but even folks at the NYTimes don’t prove the consistency that you do. When I make your recipes, I’ve learned that they’re going to be fantastic. Every time. Thank you for this work you do!
I have made this maybe 10 times in the last 3 months. It is SO good. Make it.
This was ahh-mazing!! I’ve tried kale a few times with no success. I’m not a fan of raisins but I did the recipe as it’s written and it was delicious. I had to stop myself from eating it all!
It’s taken me months to get around to telling you how wonderful this salad is (surprise!). I have turned dozens of friends on to it but why I’m here today is to recommend that you try next-day leftovers tossed in bowtie pasta, drizzled with a little olive oil and topped with a bit more pecorino. TO DIE FOR! And almost better than the fresh salad (almost). Many, many thanks.
Hi smitten,
It looks and sound delicious, and worth trying. It would be great if you could add a follow me thing and a pinterest button and maybe a facebook and twitter button to your site, so it was possible to save the page somewhere and you could get more people reading your blog.
Cirsten — Thank you. They’re all in the sidebar. I prefer not to otherwise add brand logos to the site.
I just brought home a grocery bag from Whole Foods that says “Collard Greens are the new Kale!” It made me laugh out loud!
I had this salad at Barbuto last summer as well. I’m not a kale fan but loved this! Is there anything else I can use besides raisins (i loathe them) to give it the same texture?
Bridget — Perhaps dried currants or another dried fruit. The raisins aren’t used for texture but for a tart-sweet bite, so it’s best to think in that direction for a replacement.
This salad is one of my new favorite things! It’s my go-to accompaniment for most Italian meals or meat + veg meals when we don’t feel like some simple roasted green. It’s also my new favorite lunch, topped with some evoo-packed tuna — divine!
I’m not a fan of raisins so I substituted diced kiwi into the mix. Absolutely yummy salad, and one I will make many times. What’s additionally nice about the kiwi is it injects a bit of tartness in, and you don’t need to do any preparation for it like with the raisins, other than cutting off the skin.
I added chickpeas to this salad so it would be a little heartier for lunch… so good! I used bon appetit’s spicy garlic chickpeas recipe–highly recommended.
This salad has become one of my favorite ways to eat kale. I simmer the raisins in apple cider vinegar instead of white wine vinegar because that’s what I had on hand when I first made this and, well, old habits die hard I suppose. I usually make the croutons with a slice of sandwich bread or half an everything bagel. Great served with chicken for some extra protein.
Have you been back to Barbuto recently? Their kale salad now has an anchovy dressing (no raisins) and is amazing! Any ideas on the recipe?
Nicole — I was bummed because I am a total baby about anchovies — I can always taste them. I’m sure you can minced one up and whisk it into this dressing. And I’m sure they’ll change it again soon. I need to go back!
I used currants (left over from Easter hot x buns) and it was fab.
Wow, this was truly the best way I’ve ever had kale! (I usually just throw handfuls into my smoothies so I don’t have to chew/taste it but still want the nutrients). I used extra dressing with a drizzle of honey to cut through the lemon, and pine nuts instead of walnuts. I am a huge fan of your blog and just wanted to say thank you so much for the recipe! I will be making kale salads all summer now!
Made this twice in one week. Can you tell what is coming in my garden? It was a hit both times. I substituted cranberries for the golden raisins. Delicious.
I have made kale salad before and I made this recipe yesterday evening. I did not have crotons so I did not use them. I also used shredded Mexican five cheese instead of Pecorino which I did not have at home. I also used regular organic kale. It turned out absolutely delicious and my mother-in-law could not stop eating it. This recipe is absolutely delicious if you like kale. Thank you very much for sharing it. My next project is to make one of the other kale salad recipes.
Just tried this tonight — it was multiple salads night. It was the only one that everyone came back for seconds (and the only one they said they didn’t want at the beginning.) Absolutely delicious. Raisins cooked in vinegar are now my new favorite thing.
I’ve made this salad a couple times, and I’ve always wanted more goodies + dressing to kale ratio. Maybe my kale bunches were just particularly large or I just don’t like kale enough, but I’ve enjoyed it best when I doubled everything except the kale.
Kale salads are a great way to enjoy the benefits of the keto diet while getting a delicious and nutritious meal. Kale is a nutrient-rich leafy green that is packed with vitamins, minerals, and fiber. It is also a great source of antioxidants and phytonutrients. The keto diet is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet that can help you lose weight and improve your health. Kale salads are a great way to enjoy the benefits of the keto diet while getting a delicious and nutritious meal.
Deb, I have found it terrifically hard to warm up to kale, but this is delicious, even when pared down to the ultra-simple level – kale, lemon juice, oil, pecorino, salt and pepper – making it so easy to whip up for a nutritious lunch. Great combination.
I’ve just recently had time to make some of your old recipes I’ve bookmarked and wanted to let you know how much I LOVE THIS SALAD! Not kidding – I’ve made this salad alone, exactly as how you’ve described, 5 times since discovering it. Thanks for making all your recipes so clear, fool-proof, and easy to follow!
This salad is FANTASTIC. Even our 3 year old loves it. I am thinking of making this for a crowd of 28 and wonder if I can toast the breadcrumbs in the oven since it would take forever and many batches to make it in a skillet. Do you think it will work? And can they be made ahead of time? Even a day ahead?
This is my all time favorite salad, and I was so sad to find thst this salad didn’t work for me anymore when I switched to a paleo diet, but I recreated all it’s goodness here: http://www.southofvanilla.com/blog/2014/11/17/ive-loved-kale-since-before-pre-k
Thought I would post for anyone who loved this salad but also couldn’t eat dairy or whets products :)
And thank you Deb for originally posting this recipe!
Ok, so I have to let you know that I brought this to the two Thanksgivings I hosted/attended and it was literally the first thing to go. At Thanksgiving. Where there was also sweet potatoes, stuffing, turkey? They went for the kale salad. Plus I doubled the recipe. Another knockout recipe, Deb. You’re making me a popular dinner host.
this was absolutely delicious. I used panko breadcrumbs, and after simmering the raisins, there was no liquid left over (?!) but it didn’t matter – so, so good, and I normally can’t stand raisins!
This fantastic salad is one of our go-to potluck and party dishes. The depth of flavor created by a few simple ingredients surprises and delights people. We always double or triple the batch, which is time intensive in terms of washing and chopping so much kale. But the salad keeps so well in the fridge (adding crunchy panko at the last minute) that we can make it hours or a day in advance, which is very convenient. I really like the kale ribbons. They look pretty and are easy to get in your mouth!
Hi Deb! I was thinking of making this for a new mother and I read in the comments about how well it keeps, but was wondering what the maximum of time you would recommend letting it sit around? Or maybe is there another recipe of yours that you think keeps even better? Thanks!
Ana — It should be good for a while, it just gets softer and more wilted. Some people prefer kale salads that way. I would only add the breadcrumbs right before serving, so they didn’t soften.
This is SO good! I have made it several times and it is my favourite kale salad. I like the balance of salty, sweet, crispy, garlicy, tangy – and green. Thank you!
That Kale salad @Barbuto IS DIVINE…I often dream about it along with the Bruschetta Di Caponata eggplant!!! Thanks for the recipe!! I’ll be making this tonight :)
Hi Deb, thanks for the great recipe. I made it for lunch and it was delicious! On another note, may I ask where your place mats are from? I saw them featured in your cookbook too and am curious where you got them. Thank you!
Kaela — Oh boy, okay we no longer have that table or those placemats, so I’m relying on memory here (never a good start) but I think they were from the Dwell Studio line for Target. They were boards covered in a kind of contact paper design and were very easy to wipe but of course didn’t look great after a year or so. I’m not sure they sell them anymore, but eh, I’m sure you can do better. We have Chilewich mats now — they’re also just okay? I mean, they protect the table from scratches but not spills. In summary: I’m not very good at buying placemats. :)
This is the BEST kale salad ever, hands down! I could eat this every day. I have made it several times and it’s fantastic! It takes a little time but is not hard – and it’s worth every minute!
We have made this salad many times and it is a total favorite. It absolutely improves a bit with some time in the fridge and goes great with a glass of good Italian wine!
Since this famed “Tuscan kale” you speak of is impossible to find around my part of the world (which is actually, like, 300 miles away from Tuscany itself, go figure?) I tried this out with that other kale. It was quite a mess to shred, but worked fine, if anybody else had been wondering.
I thought this version was delicious but the kale weirdly wilted after about 30 minutes. Is this normal? I have made your other kale salad and that particular version was even yummier day 2.
Hi Deb,
I was just enjoying leftovers of the salad for lunch and found myself doing the happy dance in my cubicle because I love it so much, so I had to let you know. I’ve made it countless times and can’t believe a salad can be THIS good! Thanks for keeping us in great recipes; you’ve become my go-to when I need to add something to my repertoire – keep ’em coming!
I make this all the time as written, and it is perfectly, absolutely delicious.
However, if you’re in the mood to switch things up a little bit, subbing blue cheese for the pecorino and adding a few chopped hard boiled eggs is also a very clear win.
Made this tonight – no changes to the recipe. I doubled it for a crowd of 7. It was gobbled up – perfect amount for a crowd that big, allowing some people to have 2nds. I LOVED this Salad! I am going to make it again tomorrow just b/c I love it that much!
Can I use gluten free panko? and what about goat gouda instead of pecorino?
I feel a bit odd being obsessed with a kale salad. But here it is. I’m obsessed with this recipe. Thank you for bringing it into my life.
Had a very similar salad at Catelli’s in Geyserville, CA recently, so it was a funny coincidence to see this in the SK newsletter today. They used blood orange instead of raisins, pecans instead of walnuts, parmesan instead of pecorino, and meyer lemon juice. Absolutely addictive and delicious! My husband said it was the best salad he’s ever eaten, which considering it’s kale based, was a surprising statement. Will definitely be making at home often!
I had this salad at my book group tonight and could barely restrain myself from just eating the whole salad by myself. It was so good, I had to come right home and pin it so I can make it myself.
Putting it right out there: I do not like kale… That is, until I made this tonight. It was terrific! I was offered kale from a friend’s garden; how could I refuse anything fresh from a garden? I harvested the kale this morning, kept it in the fridge in a plastic bag until 5:30 pm tonight. Then I made the salad. Excellent! Another winner! I am now a person who doesn’t like kale except for in this salad.
I’ve made this probably 5 times (and just polished off leftovers from yesterday’s batch – it held up pretty well overnight), following the recipe exactly as written. This salad is a crowd-pleaser. Kids like it, the kale-averse like it.
This salad is absolutely delicious! It is going straight into regular rotation!
This recipe is fabulous! A true crowd pleaser.
I think that either the oven temperature or time recommended for roasting the walnuts in incorrect. I have made this recipe two times and each time the walnuts begin to burn before the 5 minute mark when the oven is set to the recommended 350 degrees.
How many does this amazing-looking salad feed?
2 to 4, 2 if you’d you’d just like it as a meal.
I make kale salads all the time but rarely follow a recipe, but this one looked so good that I had to try. It was well worth it! I didn’t bother to soak the raisins but I did toast the walnuts (on the stove, not oven) and I sauteed some panko in olive oil and garlic, and am so glad i did! I think the breadcrumbs really made the dish something extra special. It was really delicious.
I love this salad. I’ve made riff after riff after riff of it. Basically using different nuts and dried fruits. Playing with the seasonings I use on the panko. I’ll make the components and package the panko and nuts separately so they stay crunchy and eat off of it for days. I’m a fan.
I’ve made this salad twice and love the flavors but I found it a little dry and under-dressed. I saw your post on FB saying you could make the dressing in advance. But did I miss something? What is the dressing exactly?
You’re so right; I was thinking of another salad. I’m sorry about that. For this, I’d prep the elements and mix them right before serving. For most salads, I’d whisk the vinaigrette days in advance and just have it ready when needed.
I made this last night, but I had an abundance of curly kale instead of dino, and fancy feta instead of parm. I did everything else as-is and it was WONDERFUL!
Prepping this salad is my day-before-Thanksgiving annual tradition. Thank you so much Deb for this wonderful recipe, it will continue to be a Thanksgiving staple for years to come.
This salad was pretty awesome. I added it to our Thanksgiving menu, and as it turns out, this salad was the belle of the ball–rave reviews all around, along with folks asking for the recipe…. This will now be my go-to salad for company!
I made this tonight for Christmas Eve and it was so delicious. I couldn’t stop eating it.
Wow, this was so good. My husband and I never really hopped on the kale train so I was a bit skeptical (silly, I know, since you never disappoint), but I’m so glad I gave it a try. Letting it sit for 10-15 minutes was key; when I tried it right away it tasted fine, but after sitting and the addition of the breadcrumbs, it was fantastic. Thanks for another keeper recipe!
Oh. My. God. This may be the tastiest thing I have ever eaten. And I don’t really like kale. I followed the recipe exactly, and it was delicious. Easy to prep while the chicken was roasting. My husband and I finished the whole lot. Now I know what to do with those bags of kale that tend to turn up in the veg box every week at this time of year. Thanks!!
This was my gateway to kale. <3 <3 <3
How would this be if you soaked the raisins in balsamic, rather than white wine vinegar? I have a very good balsamic at home (and am out of white wine vinegar). Just curious what you think.
Or apple cider vinegar?
I’d go with the latter so it doesn’t make them brown and also because balsamic can be sweet and heavy and we’re actually trying to mitigate the sweetness of the raisins a bit with acidity.
right on. That’s pretty much what I thought, but figured I’d throw it out there. Definitely making it this weekend. Thanks!
What are your thoughts on subbing out Chard for Kale in this recipe?
I have personally had very few raw chard salads so I cannot say for sure but if you already like chard in salads, go for it.
hold the bread crumbs, switch parm for pecorino, add thinly sliced raw fennel, some green apple…add some honey and finely chopped shallot to the dressing… all else same… also wonderful. I prefer baby kale, but works with regular
Made as directed with outstanding results. Guests and husband devoured every bite and there wasn’t a kale lover among them. Everyone went back for more until it was gone. 100% a keeper. Thank you!!
THIS SALAD IS WONDERFUL!
I followed Deb’s recipe exactly, except I omitted the panko. Thanks, Deb!!
Love love love! It reminds me of a fantastic salad we had at Estela in NYC a few years ago – I’ve tried to recreate that one at home but this version is the best. The plumped raisins really elevate it. I boil water in the kettle and let the raisins steep in that plus the vinegar in a bowl, rather than using a pot on the stovetop. Also, we’re Team Panko here.
This is the second year for Thanksgiving that I am using this recipe. It is so simple yet so satisfying. It’s also very versatile and works nicely with different dried fruits and nuts (i love tart cherries and hazelnuts.) So lovely !
I made this to bring as a side dish for our family Thanksgiving dinner. It got rave reviews, in fact my teenage nephew said it was the best part of the dinner and the only thing he had seconds of! I did add just a touch of my wildflower honey to the dressing, but I think it needed that only because I used an inexpensive olive oil in the dressing and it was slightly bitter. Other than that I made the recipe exactly as written, including using a food processor to crumble the pecorino. This will be going into my regular recipe rotation.
This salad was served at Christmas lunch yesterday and all 12 of us thought it was absolutely delicious. I am making it fir a dinner starter on Thursday followed by a mac and cheese cauliflower bake by Gordon Ramsey.
The bake sounds delicious — would you recommend it?
Just about every time I need a recipe, you have the perfect one on your site. Thank you for your work and for all that you do!
Wow this salad is great!
Thank you
Deb! I wish you would post how many it serves!
Made this for the zillionth time tonight. Literally one of my favorite salads ever.
I am hosting an Easter Brunch. I am going to make 2 breakfast pizzas (one sweet and one savory). Do you think this salad would pair well with that? Or is it not “Spring-y” enough?
I see a lot of people made this around Christmas and Thanksgiving… what are your thoughts on April?
Absolutely. I love a kale salad with brunch, personally, I think it offsets so much of the heaviness of the other food. Some avocado or grapefruit segments tossed in might give it a brunch-ier vibe.
How many people do s this serve?
How many people would this serve. I’m taking this to a party o6 with other side dishes. There May be a few non kale lovers among us
Not many, as the kale shrinks as it sits with the dressing, and especially if there are people who love a good kale salad. I think you could easily double or triple it (for generous portions).
A delightful overabundance of kale in my garden – and this salad was the perfect way to use it! I used pecans because that’s what I had, and added a hard boiled egg for extra heft. I made pangrattato from this recipe (another favorite) https://smittenkitchen.com/2015/02/spaghetti-pangrattato-with-fried-eggs/
Only complaint – ate it all, no leftovers….
This was amazing!!! I used russian red kale, which is really tender and mild. My husband is not a big raw kale fan, and while I was making it he warned me that he’ll try it, but he may not eat much. He ended up scraping down the serving bowl! It was so delicious I can’t wait to make it again. I didn’t have walnuts, and just left them out without a substitution. Next time I’ll plan better!
Whenever I’m in a dinner rut, I love turning to you for recipes. Have been for 10 years. This kale salad was ahhhmazing!! Loved the soaked raisins idea. Although I didn’t have golden raisins on hand, I subbed tart dried cherries. Thanks Deb. You’re the best.
Always so good. Brought this to book club tonight ~ every last bit was gobbled up.
I’m just back to say that I make this salad *all the time*. It’s gotten me through more dinners than I can count. And, as delicious as it is as written, don’t feel weighted by the recipe… My rules are basically these:
1. Massage the kale (curly, flat, whatever you have).
2. Add some veggies (blanched green beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, charred corn)
3. Cook the onions and garlic together.
4. Always add a dried fruit soaked in something (vinegar, whiskey…)
5. (Not too) hard boiled eggs are required.
6. Cheese: I’ve done this with cheddar, blue, pecorino, goat, gouda…
7. Don’t skimp on the bread crumbs. Panko are best.
8. Add some tang: lemon, cider vinegar, orange…
9. Nuts: pecans, walnuts, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, almonds… Always toasted.
Super forgiving. Always delicious. And at least feels healthy (cheese doesn’t count when you eat with kale, right?)
I loveeeeeee this. I live with a self professed disliker of kale and he inhales it every time. I served it at Thanksgiving with my brother and sister in law, both of whom also claim to not be kale fans, and I’ve never seen it disappear so fast.
It’s magic, basically. Has been in regular rotation for awhile now-and I love that it keeps well for lunches.
Side note- I can’t always find Tuscan kale, I’ve used both curly and red and it works fine with a brief massage first. I’ve also subbed in dried cranberries for the raisins. One of these days I’d like to try something similar to what you mentioned in the post with hazelnuts and dried cherries, too…
I make this often and love that it keeps in the fridge for days. Heads up, you can plump the raisins (I use cranberries!) in the microwave. 🙌🏻
I made this a couple of weeks ago, and it was so delicious, I could eat an entire bowl! I cut down on the oil a bit, and used avocado oil as I didn’t have olive oil.
How many would this serve? Are all your recipes for four?
Not at all; this is probably 2 to 4 but it’s really going to vary by whether it’s a meal or a side dish.
This is so good. I didn’t have pecorino so I just used parmesan. It was still good. I will make it again.
I made this but used the curly kind of kale. I did blanch the kale and then chopped and dressed with lemon and oil. The salad was good however all the prep seem like to much effort for me. Browning the panko in garlic and oil and using as a topper to any thick leaf salad is a delicious and great idea. I will be using that tip in the future. Possibly mix the grated pecorino cheese right in.
Thank you for all your inspiration!
Sitting at a plate of this salad as I type. Made a few adjustments to accommodate my pantry. Used regular raisins instead of golden, and boxed panko crumbs instead of homemade. This is utterly and exquisitely delicious. Need to double it next time . . .
Amazing salad! One of my guests actually daid it was the best salad he had ever had! The raisins add a burst of flavor and the panko gives the salad crunchiness!
Love the simplicity of the dressing with these great flavors boosting up the kale! We added fresh pear and highly recommend that (or apples) next level.
awesome salad! made me a kale lover!
I made this salad for a dinner and one of my guests said it was the bast salad he had ever had in his life! I’m a big fan of kale salads but this is my new favorite! Thank you!
Really great salad. Made it with no changes. Yummm
How far in advance can I plump the raisins? Is overnight ok?
Yes, no problem.
This salad seems so simple, but it is verrrry good. Usually I like a salad with more filling than lettuce to mask the lettuce, but all the extras in this salad really make the kale shine. It’s a perfect salad and it goes with everything: chicken, pork, steak, seafood, pasta, soup, sandwiches, fritata, casseroles. I’ve tried it all. I’ve made it exactly as written too many times to count, one time I added dried figs, and one time I added bacon and dried figs. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Yum!!! I didn’t have raisins so I tossed some diced apple with the lemon juice before adding. Perfect side for Halloween dinner of leftover cassoulet.
Could you substitute dried cranberries for raisins here?
My husband wouldn’t eat a raisin even with a knife at his throat. Anything that would work as a sub?
Thank you for the picture clue about what you meant by using the food processor to make “delightfully rubbly” pecorino. I was feeling a little clueless about what that might mean and was ready to ask but the picture above captures it well. We have been in the same kale camp but got a little more on board with What’s Gaby Cooking’s Chicken Larb Bowl in which it is disguised somehow. Today is the day that we see what the beloved family will do a full-on salad.
My husband has never requested anything I’ve made more than this salad. We can’t get enough! Making getting our greens in under quarantine easy!
Made a version of this in the time of coronavirus when you couldn’t be as picky about what produce you got. Happy to report it works well with curly kale, I’d just add lemon and a bit of olive oil to the kale a little while before you want to eat so that it can get tenderized. I did mine 90 minutes before eating, but you can also prep + tenderize a large batch of curly kale and eat it over the course of 48 hours.
Normally I absolutely hate when people make something completely different from the recipe and then post, but hopefully, given the CV limitations people will find this useful as this salad is endlessly riffable. My interpretation of this recipe is: lemon and some sort of fat in the dressing + a nut + a sweet fruit or veggie + pecorino + breadcrumbs. This week I did a dressing of Tahini, Maple Syrup + Lemon, coupled with almonds and apples in the salad, topped with Pecorino and breadcrumbs. It was still great, so you can work with what you have!
And that is the story how how I ate half a bunch of kale all by myself. Reporting that is worked well for me with curly kale, chopped mejool dates in place of the raisins, and Pamesan instead of pecorino romano. Thank you. This was a delightful surprise.
Excellent recipe. Family loved it. I added diced apples and halved the raisins. Will definitely keep this in my repertoire.
This recipe got rave reviews in my house as possibly the best ever kale salad. It is perfectly balanced. (I subbed almonds for the walnuts. They worked great.)
We stumbled over here coming from a different web address
and thought I might check things out. I like what I see so now i am following you.
Look forward to looking over your web page again.
Whoa! This blog looks exactly like my old one! It’s on a completely different topic but it has pretty much the same layout and design. Wonderful choice of colors!
Looks delicious, something I’m definitely going to try! I have a question… What is the golden looking “cake” in the cast iron pan to the right of the salad in one of your photos? (It’s the photo just before your list of recipes from previous years)..
Thnx so much!😊
Love your recipes!
Pam S
It’s a potato tortilla.
Any thoughts on a rasin substitute?
Can skip the raisins and it’s still amazing.
Currants, cranberries, grapes or diced butternut squash
This salad is an all time winner in my kitchen. I have made it 4 times and haven’t gotten tired of it yet. Even my husband loves it which says a lot! The golden raisins really add a flavor/texture sparkle.
However,I found that Lacinato Kale is just too coarse (though definitely easier to roll up and slice) and no matter how much I massaged it, it still remained coarse. I switched over to Red Russian and another time I used a plain curly kale from the supermarket. Red Russian is the winner. I have heard that White Russian Kale is even more tender. I’ve planted some in my garden; can’t wait to try it.
I also think that the breadcrumbs are a nice addition yet leaving them out doesn’t detract from the salad. With or without the crumbs this salad is a keeper. Thank You!
My neighbor brought over some freshly picked kale from her garden which was so young and tender and I knew you would have a great kale salad recipe and, boy, was I right! Took it to our friends house for a socially distant BBQ. OMG! Best kale salad ever. Everyone (all four of us) LOVED it. Planning to make it again this week for the family.
This looks delicious. I love all things kale. I’m allergic to milk. Could I sub nutritional yeast for the peccorino?
It is the ONLY kale salad.
So healthy!
If there are typos in this comment, it’s because my husband and I are snarfing this salad down right now. Delish! And the recipe is so well laid out, the directions are so clear it’s like Deb is next to me showing me the ropes. Don’t miss making the breadcrumb topping. It’s a nice crunchy finish. A definite winner of a recipe! Now,if you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to eating it!
I leave out the raisins, toast the walnuts on the stove then throw them in the food processor with the cheese. I add white balsamic to the bowl along with the olive oil and lemon juice. It’s so delicious!
This sounds lovely, however, I need a gluten free version, so instead of the breadcrumbs I sprinkle Dukkah, of which I always have a jar in the fridge. What is Dukkah? It’s a spice and nut mixture from Egypt. Simply divine on all veggies, cooked or raw.
I make this all the time, but switched to making it vegan because it’s still delicious and way cheaper. I add nutritional yeast to taste instead of pecorino. I also make garlic breadcrumbs out of whatever loaf of bread I have laying around. Thanks for the recipe!
delicious!!!!
Hi, 1/2 cup of walnut halves does not equal to 105 grs at all! 105 grs is almost a cup
You are correct — now fixed, thanks.
Thanks!
Our entire family (4 adults sheltering together) is in love with your recipes, Deb. We massaged the kale with EVOO, lemon and salt before tossing with the raisins (only had black, and used red wine vinegar), then plated and added walnuts, crumbs, plus warm leftover thinly sliced tri-tip dressed with chimichurri. If we were going to restaurants, I would have so ordered this! Thank you for guiding us deliciously through our COVID year—
For toasting nuts – I have found it much easier to toast in a microwave oven where you can control the time by seconds rather than minutes. Nuts can burn so easily in a stove oven and why heat up such a large space for a small amount of nuts? I usually begin with 2 minutes, then stir and check after each additional second or minute you deem necessary to reach perfection – I lose fewer nuts that way.
I just read this for the first time last week and I need to try it. Thanks for the tip.
We don’t like kale so much but this salad was really, really good. Thanks for the great recipe!
Subbed currants for the raisins, since I had them on hand, but otherwise chose the more detailed ‘adventure’ and enjoyed the result SO much. Definitely will make this one again – thank you!
How many does this serve?
I’d say, depending on appetites, 2 to 4.
Thank you. It’s so delicious. In my house it serves to for dinner and one for lunch the next day!
A friend and I teamed up to make ravioli with this salad as the filling, and it was really good, even with the occasional soggy breadcrumb (oops). Definitely a more labor-intensive, time-consuming project, but a fun one with delicious results! Even as a kale lover, I was really caught off guard by how much I liked this salad.
I didn’t add raisins and used honey-fermented garlic to make up some of the sweetness, and although I loved the breadcrumbs in salad form, I’d just add toasted garlic alone if making ravioli again.
How many does this serve as a side salad? (Not main course) – thanks!
Kale has always been one of my top 3 vegetables, in any format (except kale chips! my least favorite form of kale). I made this salad today for the 3rd or 4th time and as always it’s delicious, and an easy way to really up your iron intake. A fun addition this time was some pomegranate seeds, either alongside or instead of the raisins. My housemates in my university student house were all jealous! Thanks as always Deb <3
This was delicious! I made it with curly kale, and substituted cranberries for the raisins, and roasted butternut squash cubes instead of the breadcrumbs. The taste of fall in my mouth! Yum!
Fantastic recipe! I added roasted chickpeas for protein to make this more of a main dish, and subbed pecans for the walnuts. Absolutely delicious…I especially loved the pickled golden raisins.
I am a bit wary of kale but we got a bag in our veg box this evening. This recipe is so good. I only had substantially out of date but unopened Paxo breadcrumbs (tasted fine, worked fine), and I used parmesan instead of pecorino. It was absolutely stunning and we nearly finished the lot in one sitting.
I did the walnuts on 170 degrees fan in my convection oven; they looked scarily dark but tasted amazing.
Haha! I did this again tonight but did them on 160 rather than 170 and they were just as delicious and a bit more robust. I was driving myself mad trying to remember the temperature I did them on the first time.
Note: if you don’t have breadcrumbs to hand, coarse matzo meal works fine substituted 1:1. (I have used up my out of date breadcrumbs and am now getting to work on my out of date matzo meal.)
This does sound fantastic! As for butternut squash, I use it mainly to make butternut squash soup. I use the recipe from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything, and I use his version two of the recipe, which is sweetened with apples. I have pear trees, so I made it with homemade pear sauce– same as apple sauce, but using pears. Both work, but the pears are just that much better. I also grow tarragon, but any would do. This is also integral to the recipe. Being it is sweeter than most because of the pears, I think your daughter would love it; I do!
I made this the other night and it was fantastic! We’re having it again tonight. I soaked the golden raisins in Maker’s Mark, and used regular curly kale. It was even delicious the next day.
I made this but used Arugula, Parmesan and regular raisins and it made me want to become a Vegetarian. It is such a satisfying and delicious salad. Keeping this one
How many servings is this recipe for?
I absolutely love kale but have been feeling a bit uninspired lately so will definitely be giving this a try! Thank you.
We must have the same taste buds because all of your recipes look fantastic! One question- I don’t see a quick button to print this recipe and don’t want to print all the pages. Am I missing something? Thanks!
Just made this kale salad recipe tonight, it was outstanding!!!
My husband and I are not kale fans, but we loved this salad. I used dried cherries instead of raisins but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. It was delicious and is going into the permanent rotation. Thank you!
Commenting here because I made this salad for about the 100th time last night, and, as always, it was a huge hit. It’s my favorite go-to for fall and winter dinners – we’ve even served it at Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s definitely in my top ten favorite recipe list. Thank you for a real keeper, Deb!
Absolutely delicious!
I didn’t want to use the oven so toasted the walnuts in a skillet and then used the same skillet for toasting the breadcrumbs.
I am not a good cook and I made this tonight. This was amazing! I doubled up on the raisins though because it seemed to scant for my tastes, which I’m glad I did. Definitely worth the extra steps with the walnuts, raisins, and bread crumbs as it completely elevated the dish to somewhere I did not think was possible when I assemble something. Super easy to follow. Can’t wait to make it again!
This salad is ridiculously good. I double or triple this recipe and keep it in my fridge at all times. I don’t even like nuts in things normally. Make this!!
I would like to make this for a school function, so needs to be nut free – any suggestions as to something that adds the crunch of the walnuts? :). Thanks!
I just made this again last night! I love how much it makes and how delicious it is and how well it keeps in the fridge! I would not swap out the walnuts. They, along with the garlic and parm. cheese are like the trifecta of ingredients. Maybe just put a sign next to the bowl stating that there are walnuts in it.
Laura, maybe “corn nuts” would work, or “Chinese noodles” but you would want to check to see what they were cooked with–what kind of oil was used.
I use rice wine vinegar because it is not so pungent and I like it better. I’ve also played around with soaking the raisins and toasting the nuts–I honestly don’t find any discernable difference, so I don’t bother.
Thanks Barbara – unfortunately our school (and most schools) are nut free, so absolutely cannot bring it in with nuts. Thank you for the response! :)
I made this with curly kale that was not massaged and it was fabulous.
I had a ball of burrata that had no where to be so I shredded it up on top, soooo good.
One of my favorite salads! I like to chop the kale, mix with the olive oil and “cook” quickly in a pot on low heat to soften the kale. I let it cool and complete the salad from there. If I’m out of raisins I’ve used dried apricots and dried figs. Thanks so much Deb!
Life-changing. I followed the recipe exactly, except I couldn’t find the walnuts that I swear were JUST THERE! Subbed in pecans. Walnuts would probably have been better, but it’s hard to imagine how anything could have been better. And I’m not really one of nature’s kale-lovers, although I certainly seem to grow a ton. Now I know what to do with my bumper crop.
I absolutely love, love, love this recipe. I was a “kale denier” but the first sentence of the article intrigued me enough to try kale again. I crave it, and find myself going back for more. Instead of something sweet, I will reach for another bowlful of kale salad as the evening snack. The only change I make is to use rice vinegar. I like its mildness. I also use granulated garlic–it’s much easier and again, smoother than raw garlic…and it is still unadulterated garlic without the fuss and muss. I recommend it to all my friends, and have printed out more copies of the recipe than I can say. I now make room in my vegetable garden to grow kale, just for the sole purpose of making this salad…and I never seem to have enough. Amazing flavor profile. The lemon, garlic and cheese are the trifecta of flavors that marry beautifully with kale. Try it; you’ll like it!
How many servings does this make?
How many servings? I guess that depends on how big your servings are! It also depends on how much comes in your kale “bunch” but it would easily serve a family of four and you’d probably have leftovers. It keeps beautifully in the fridge for quite a few days. I make it in a giant stainless steel bowl that I mainly use to make and knead bread in. This allows me to have enough room to toss it around to incorporate all of the ingredients. It is important to let it sit for a while before serving. This is making me crave it…I’ll have to add kale to my shopping list, I guess.
I always follow a recipe exactly as written the first time. However, today I didn’t have kale and no time to run to the market. I made it as your recipe directed, except I used very thinly sliced red cabbage. It was incredible. I plan to experiment more when the farmer’s market reopens and lots of greens are available. But, next is kale as written. 😁
This really was so delicious. And easy! No modification whatsoever. I took all the extra steps and don’t regret them one bit. We finished it all up. It’s a beautiful salad that’s eminently dinner-party worthy. Thanks for this!
This salad has changed my mind about kale. It’s delicious and I could eat miles of it too.
WOWZA. I already love kale… But this salad is so. freakin. good. I used parm instead of pecorino (personal preference) and hazelnuts instead of walnuts (in my pantry). Everything about this is perfection.
Run.. Don’t walk.. To your kitchen and make this.
This salad was divine. I don’t love kale but the toppings sold me on wanting to try this recipe. No regrets! My grocery store only had curly kale so I swapped that in which was fine, though harder to get into strips. After adding the oil & lemon juice I spent a few minutes massaging the kale before adding the walnuts & co, which softened up the leaves. It also holds up well as leftovers – I’ve had the remaining salad for lunch these past two days. Just store the panko topping separately and sprinkle on top when you’re ready to it eat, otherwise those would sog out, but otherwise everything can stay in the bowl!
Nothing short of amazing. My husband, self- proclaimed salad hater, stood over the bowl and ate it with his fingers! Thank you!
This salad is absolute perfection! The flavors blend so well together and was a huge hit with my family!
LOVE THIS SALAD!
A question: am I the only one who doesn’t know how to reference a previous comment by its “number”? I’m sure I’m staring right at it, but for those of us who still don’t see it, where is the comment number hiding?
Thanks so much!!
Hi Tina — You might be seeing older comments. We used to have a numbered commenting system but cannot anymore with threaded replies.
Wonderful!! Excellent flavors! I will be making this again and again! The only modification I made was to use chopped dried apricots instead of raisins, since that’s what I had on hand. So yummy!
I was a skeptic, but OMG. It all works together in the most wonderful way. I was limited with kale options, so I went with Trader Joe’s Cruciferous Crunch mix and massaged a little longer than if it was just kale.
I ended up needing a bit more lemon juice and olive oil, but otherwise followed the recipe. Wow!
This is a family favorite!
I did a mash up of this salad with the Snow Pea salad from Smitten Kitchen Keepers. Just sliced up the snow peas thinly, cut them in half so they weren’t quite so long, and threw them in with the kale etc. They added a lovely crunch to an already delicious salad.
Mmmm! This is SO good! Thanks for the great recipe.
I’ve made this salad many times, and I love it. It is delicious on its own or alongside some salmon or chicken for a complete meal. It’s versatile and tasty.
A few tips:
– I normally find the salad a tiny bit dry as-is (perhaps because for me, most of the liquid used to plump the raisins tends to soak in during that 5 minute cook). I’ll often add up to the juice of one lemon, depending on how juicy it is. An extra splash of red wine vinegar in the final salad is also nice for this
-I sometimes use curly kale instead of Tuscan, depending on what I have. If I use curly, I recommend briefly massaging the kale first
-I’ve used other nuts, or subbed parm, and it’s never quite as magical as with toasted walnuts and pecorino!
I will always love this salad. I made it for my first work potluck at 21 and make a variation of it all the time, especially during winter. I don’t always include the cheese or the walnuts (subbing something else crunchy or roasty like hazelnuts) or add roasted beet. The chiffonaded lacinto kale is key. But this is a decade-defining salad for me. Thank you, Deb.
I really wish you could give quantity of Kale by weight. They vary so greatly. And yeah, I probably have the experience to figure it out but still… would make life easier. ❤️
I find this recipe very forgiving and add and subtract amounts of ingredients as I wish. I am always amazed at how much kale comes in one bunch…there for a while, after Covid, the store was pretty stingy in amounts…but, of course, charged at least as much. I used the same amounts and found that I could almost double the other ingredients and have it be wonderful.
Thanks! Actually I just noticed that the recipe does indicate weight!
I couldn’t find Tuscan so I bought curly. Thinking of either letting it marinade in reasons or a quick sautee?
It will be just fine. Just cut it thin.
Store didn’t have Tuscan so I got curly. I’m thinking of either marinating in dressing or a quick sautee ? Which do you recommend?
No longer a kale hater after making this salad!
First time kale user here. Everything I’ve read indicates the need for “massaging” the kale. Unless I missed it, there’s no mention of it here. Thoughts?
I never do–massage my kale, that is. I, too, can eat miles of this! Often times, it’ll be my “midnight snack” if I’m lucky enough to have some around.
I do massage the kale. I think it helps the texture.
Thanks to Barb and Carol for providing advice.
You can massage it, but I never do.