Friday, October 19, 2012

Massaged Kale Salad

I heard about massaged kale a few months ago, but never really got around to finding a recipe for it. Instead, I waited for one to fall into my lap. Is this what you call destiny? Or true love? Or something like that?



The recipe was from Eating Well magazine, which I like because it has pretty do-able, healthy recipes. This recipe is no exception. The hardest part is stripping, washing, and drying two bunches of kale. That's a lot of kale for someone who doesn't have an obscenely large bowl. I ended up splitting the kale in a big bowl and a stock pot, splitting the seasonings so that each pile of kale got some, massaging each separately until the volume decreased to half the original size, then putting it all back together. This made it much more manageable.

Basic idea: strip the kale from the stems, throw away the stems, break the kale into bite-sized pieces, wash, dry (I used a salad spinner), season with

  • 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
  • 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 3 minced garlic cloves
  • 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • and 1/4 teaspoon salt
Then WASH your hands and squeeze/massage the kale for a few minutes until the volume halves. The massaging process releases enzymes that make the kale less bitter (as Eating Well magazine explains). So, if you didn't like kale before, give it a try with this recipe and see if you like it a little better!