Massaged Kale Salad (Aarti Sequeira)

Submitted by Sooz Cooks

"I LOVE Aarti and this is one of the first recipes she did when she became The Next Food Network Star. I had never tried Kale before but this salad looked so good when she made it I decided to try it. I tasted the Kale on the way home from the grocery store and was worried because it tasted bitter. No need to worry! The massaging technique turns the bitter coarse kale into tender bright green ribbons. The mango, honey and lemon give this salad the PERFECT balance of flavors."

 

• Ready In: 10mins
• Ingredients: 8
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1 bunch kale, stalks removed and discarded, leaves thinly sliced (Aarti says black kale is especially good but I just used regular)
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• kosher salt (I used about 1/2 teaspoon)
• 2 teaspoons honey
• fresh ground black pepper
• 1 mango, diced small (about 1 cup)
• 2 tablespoons toasted pumpkin seeds (the recipe says, Small handful toasted pepitas but I couldn't find them so used toasted sunflower se)

directions

1. In large serving bowl, add the kale, half of lemon juice, a drizzle of oil and a little kosher salt. Massage until the kale starts to soften and wilt, 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside while you make the dressing.
2. In a small bowl, whisk remaining lemon juice with the honey and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Stream in the 1/4 cup of oil while whisking until a dressing forms, and you like how it tastes.
3. Pour the dressing over the kale, and add the mango and pepitas. Toss and serve.

Reviews

[Kim S.]

This is a fantastic salad. I did not change any ingredients, but I had read somewhere to massage it 5-6 minutes--so I did that. My kale was not young, so I was a little worried about it. Delicious!

 

[elrojo]

This is the new favorite salad at our house, and so easy to make. I was skeptical about a salad with raw kale, as I've only ever considered kale a cooked green. The combination of the lemon juice, sweel mangos, and pepitas makes for a great salad. The kale holds up well without wilting and can even be served the next day (if there's any left). We've gone from a household that never had kale and mangos on hand, to eating this salad at least twice a week.

 

[they call me Bretzel]

I made this last night and was pleasantly surprised. I typically am not attracted to fruit in my salad and wasn't sure about the honey as part of the dressing. The result was delicious! Not too sweet and different than the usual salad line-up. I did make a few adjustments: I massaged the kale with the juice of one whole lemon and added an extra half later with the dressing. I used two ripe peaches as my fruit and I added cooked quinoa to give it some more bite and variation. Give it a try!

 

[emcquaid]

This won over a dinner party of 6 people. Everyone loved it! This was super-easy (I omitted the pepitas and seeds as we didn't have them) and I will definitely make again! Thanks!

 

[Lori Mama]

Kale is one of my go to greens these days for it's healthful benefits. I use it in salads, but not as one. Massaging it does break it down and is more palatable. I think my lemon was a tad big, as I found the dressing to be a tad tart, so next time I will cut back a bit. Took it to a potluck and everyone enjoyed it. :)