Kale Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing Redux

I’ve written before about our favorite Kale Salad recipe.

Each Sunday we mix up a giant batch to enjoy through the week.

In a previous post, I linked to the original recipe source, but since so many friends have asked me to specifically publish our take on the recipe, I thought I’d share our adaptation of Kale Salad with you.

What I love most about this particular recipe is that I feel so good after eating it! I don’t know if it’s the extra B vitamins (from the nutritional yeast) or the raw veggies, but it agrees so well with me.

As a busy person, I also appreciate the flexibility of this recipe. You really can add whatever veggies and nuts you have in your garden, fridge or cupboard. You can’t go wrong. It’s incredibly tasty and easy (although a bit time consuming) to make. Trust me, you’ll make this salad again and again.

Lemon-Tahini Dressing

We use this dressing on everything: macro bowl of veggies and brown rice, salads, tofu, steamed veggies. It’s versatile and delicious! We usually double (or triple!) the recipe below and make a big batch of dressing for the week.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Tahini
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
4 tbsp water

Mix all ingredients in a food processor and puree until smooth.

Kale Salad

In addition to the vegetables listed below, you could add any others you find in your garden or fridge: sugar snap peas, tomatoes, bell pepper, squash or zucchini.

Ingredients:

1 large head of kale
1 cup red onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup carrot, diced
1 cucumber, sliced
1 avocado, diced
1/2 cup raisins, dried cranberries or dried cherries
1/4 cup hemp seed, optional
2/3 cup walnuts, roasted and chopped
14 oz chickpeas, salted
1 cup cooked brown rice, optional

First, remove the stems/veins from the kale (the bitter part!) and break each leaf into several small pieces. Wash and dry kale.

Add dressing to the kale and massage with your bare hands for 5-10 minutes (this is important to break down the kale and make it a bit more digestible!). The kale will reduce from a giant bowl to a much smaller amount:

Add remaining ingredients to the salad.

Either eat immediately, or cover, refrigerate and use within three days.

Savor and enjoy!