Kale Salad

Sunday the lay associates had a potluck lunch at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit, to celebrate the birthday of our monastic advisor, Father Anthony, as well as the eldest monk of the community, Father Luke, who turned 99 today!

Fran brought one of her more recent discoveries: Kale Salad. It was quite the hit. One of the lay associates actually took the salad around to everyone, raving about how good it was and encouraging everyone to try it. More than one person took a small amount just to be polite, only to come get more as soon as they tasted it!

So, by popular request, I am turning my blog over to Fran, who will post her recipe for all to enjoy.

My friend Roxanne introduced me to Kale Salad. At first I could not imagine a salad made of Kale but then I tasted it and I was hooked. When I asked her for the recipe she said that she did not have a set recipe, but she told me what she usually put in it. I have made it several times and made several changes. Now I have settled on the following recipe that seems to taste good immediately but gets even better tasting as the days go by — if you manage to not eat it all up quickly.

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch kale
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 medium vidalia or red onion
• 2 T toasted sesame oil
• 2 T olive oil
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup raw sunflower seeds
• juice of 1 lemon (about 3 T)

Wash the kale and pull all the leaf part away from the stem. Discard the stems. Spin the leaves or pat dry. Chop the kale leaves finely. I found it worked well to stack the leaves and roll them into bundles before slicing into ribbons. Then I cut the ribbons into smaller pieces. This is the most time consuming part of the recipe. Put the chopped kale into a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle the salt over the kale and knead the kale with your hands for a minute or two. This will help the kale to absorb the flavors of the dressing liquids.

Toast the sunflower seeds either in an oven or just in a dry skillet over a medium heat. Just stir them constantly until they begin to turn golden brown and release a nutty fragrance.

Chop the onion finely and add to the mixing bowl along with the toasted sunflower seeds. Now add the liquids- red wine vinegar, olive oil, toasted sesame seed oil, and lemon juice and stir everything together. Refrigerate for a while to let flavors develop. You can eat it immediately; although over a period of 3 or 4 days, each day it tastes even better.

I really like the recipe as given above but here are some optional ingredients you might try adding to your salad : parsley or cilantro chopped finely,  sesame seeds, or sliced almonds instead of the sunflower seeds, and other types of vinegars or oils. Have fun and ENJOY!

— Fran McColman

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