Today I’m going to show you a fantastic salad recipe with kale! Because this fine winter kale looks great in my kale salad with apple dressing and pecans!
Kale? I’m pretty sure I haven’t cooked a single dish with this veteran winter vegetable. In the more northern regions of our country there is the great classic called “kale with pee” (where pee is a special sausage).
Here in the Palatinate, however, kale leads a very neglected existence. I too have left it behind at the weekly market so far. Until it lay in front of me at our favorite vegetable stand in bright green and purple (yes, that’s a special form of kale) and looked so fresh that I just packed it up.
And what was absolutely certain: I don’t cook it, I make a salad!
Even though I don’t have any experience with kale, it was clear to me that the kale, which has quite firm leaves (even if they curl elegantly), needed a little treatment to really taste good.
So I lovingly kneaded it, similar to red, white or pointed cabbage. Yes, exactly, kneaded! Because this way its leaves become softer, easier to digest and edible :-)!
Since kale is not such a delicate plant, it also tolerates aromatic and strong companions! That’s why I came up with a dressing with green apples and crunchy, caramelized pecans. A really tasty combination that you should definitely try.
Even with the first bite I was surprised at how well everything harmonized. This kale salad is a fine mix of sweetness, acidity, but also creaminess from the pureed dressing. And even if I definitely don’t want to wave the “healthy flag”: With this dish you are really treating yourself to a whole bunch of vitamins and natural nutrients that your body is guaranteed to need. But really tasty.
Because I will definitely never belong to the kale smoothie group ;-)…
So here is my delicious recipe to make!
Kale salad with apple dressing and pecans
Ingredients for a large bowl:
3 large handfuls of fresh kale
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
For the dressing:
1 green apple (e.g. Granny Smith variety)
100 ml olive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
Salt
Pepper from the mill
1 tbsp lemon juice
additionally:
1/2 green apple
a few splashes of lemon juice
2 tbsp sugar
1 handful of pecan nuts
Preparation:
First, wash the kale leaves thoroughly and (if you haven’t already done so) tear them off the large stem. Place the leaves in a large bowl and sprinkle with salt and sugar. Now knead thoroughly with both hands for a few minutes. Let the kale stand/steep like this.
Meanwhile prepare the dressing. To do this, wash the apple, core it and cut it into rough pieces. Puree completely until smooth using a powerful hand blender or in a small blender with vinegar, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Now add the olive oil to this mixture and mix thoroughly. Pour the apple dressing over the kale leaves and mix thoroughly.
Cut half the apple into sizeable wedges or cubes and sprinkle with a little lemon juice so that the cut surfaces do not oxidize.
Put the sugar in a pan and melt it slowly. Add the pecans once the sugar has melted and caramelized. Stir the whole thing briefly so that the nut kernels are coated with the sugar. Then immediately remove from the heat and carefully place everything on a piece of baking paper so that everything can cool down. Do not touch the caramelized pecans as the caramel is extremely hot. As soon as the seeds have cooled, chop everything roughly.
Add the apple slices and chopped pecans over the prepared salad.
Serve the kale salad immediately. Bon appetit!
