Kale Caesar Salad

I am so glad my taste for kale has returned, because it is such a delicious green and so healthy too! One of my favorite ways to have kale is in a cold salad, believe it or not. If I am feeling lazy, I’ll massage my torn-up kale pieces with some lemon juice, olive oil, salt/pepper and parmesan cheese. It’s quick, easy and quite tasty. Massaging the dressing into the leaves helps them wilt slightly and become much more palatable. This is a great option and all, but if I am truly inspired and have the ingredients on hand I make a fresh caesar dressing, which works perfectly with the kale and holds up to it’s bolder flavor and texture.

I have made this numerous times and finally decided to share it with you all. I don’t know what took me so long, really. As you can see my recipe here (from bon Appetit) has been well loved and used often. Essentially, this recipe is rather simple. Throw your ingredients in a blender, press start and a minute or two later you have yourself some perfectly lemoney, salty, tangy fresh, homemade dressing. What could be better?

Anchovies! Don’t be scared of them! This sounds vaguely familiar doesn’t it? A direct quote from myself in another caesar salad dressing post:

“Another key ingredient in the dressing is anchovy paste. You should be able to find it in your grocery store near the canned fish. Don’t be scared of it! It provides the saltiness in the dressing (no other salt is added) and does not have a strong fish taste. Once in the dressing you won’t taste any fishy flavor, it simply provides a nice deep salty flavor that you’ll recognize as caesar.”

In this recipe, instead of using paste I use the flat fillets. If you do not have a blender and are making this by hand you may prefer to buy anchovy paste. Either one will work so it’s up to you.

This recipe also calls for fresh garlic.

“good” mustard and freshly squeezed lemon juice

I know this is a lovely picture… everything into the blender. Stream in the olive oil as it blends.

Once it’s all nice and blended, pour everything into a bowl and add grated parmesan and black pepper (salt if needed).

Now just assemble your (insanely cheap) kale into a large salad bowl and pour dressing over top. Mix well. This can be served as is, or with chicken and pine nuts for an entree. Unlike typical caesar salad that uses romaine lettuce, this salad can hold up for a few days even after it has been tossed with the dressing, because of th strength of the kale.

I hope you try this one, it is one of my faves. Enjoy!

-E