I am happy to report that our little garden is BURSTING with kale right now. Summer is salad weather, and to me the key is in the right preparation. When I find something I love, it’s easier to eat it a lot. I hope you enjoy our take on kale salad, two different ways.

We eat a lot of “hearty greens” salads with kale, spinach or power greens type of mixture. While we’re eating kale in these salads, you could easily substitute any hearty green.

Simple kale salad

This salad is so simple, you can forget ingredients and it still tastes great. Just last night I completely forgot the garlic and didn’t even realize it until I sat down to write this post. It is 100% inspired by the salads that Roland makes and demonstrates in the Hyatt Training lecture series. It requires no advanced preparation.

Ingredients

  • Clean kale, leaves chopped into strips
  • Olive oil
  • Balsamic vinegar
  • Minced garlic
  • Sea salt
  • Toasted pine nuts
  • finely shaved/grated pecorino cheese

 

Directions

  1. Prepare vinaigrette: Finely chop fresh garlic to taste.
  2. Whisk garlic in large bowl with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Use roughly 3:1 ratio for the oil to the vinegar.
  3. Add sea salt to taste. Taste test to see if you need to add anything else for your liking. You are making enough vinaigrette for this one salad, so start with what feels like a moderate amount of oil/vinegar because you can always add more!
  4. Add chopped kale to the large bowl with vinaigrette. Use your hands to massage the dressing into the kale and cover to taste. If it feels like too much dressing, add more kale. If not enough, add more oil or vinegar.
  5. Finely grate pecorino over the top. Add pine nuts to taste. I prefer them freshly toasted so they are a slight bit warm.
  6. Serve and enjoy!

kale salad

Lemon tahini kale delight

This salad (pictured in the main post image) was loosely inspired by both the lemon tahini dressing on the New Season’s salad bar and the kumquat kale salad with tahini dressing from the Minimalist Baker. It’s a little bit like a vegetarian cesear, and creamy even though it is non-dairy. I love it.

Ingredients

  • 6+ tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 lemon
  • 1/2 cup tahini
  • 1-2 teaspoons sea salt
  • 1/4 cup warm water
  • Clean kale, leaves chopped into strips
  • finely shaved/grated parmesan cheese
  • splurge: homemade croutons

 

Directions

  1. Prepare dressing.
  2. Combine: zest of one lemon, juice of 1/2 lemon, tahini, olive oil, 1-2 teaspoons sea salt, 1/4 cup warm water.
  3. Whisk together or shake in small mason jar until combined. Add more warm water to reach desired thickness.
  4. Make the salad.
  5. Place kale in large bowl. Massage kale with the other 1/2 juice of lemon, olive oil and salt. Amounts are approximate depending on how much you are making
  6. Pour desired amount of tahini dressing and croutons into massaged kale.
  7. Gently toss until combined with your hands – they’re already dirty anyway!
  8. Grate shaved parmesan over the top.
  9. Serve and enjoy!

 

Homemade croutons

    1. Purchase whole wheat baguette
    2. Chop into square pieces, the size of your desired crouton.
    3. Toss with olive oil and sea salt in a large bowl.
    4. Turn out on large baking sheet. Bake in oven until nicely roasted. 300 degrees would be a nice oven temperature. The truth is, I toast the croutons while the oven is heating for other items, so it is not super sensitive, but when you smell them, check and likely remove them.
    5. Store in mason jar in the refrigerator.

Hyatt family eats are occasional posts devoted to sharing some of the things our family is cooking. We believe in a whole-foods, minimally-processed approach to nutrition that is realistic for a busy family of four. We’d love to hear about what you’re eating too! Email us at Go@HyattTraining.com.