Kale Salad!

Hitting up the Farmer's Market these last few weeks I really hit it big!  The Clemson Farmer's Market is SOOOO much better than it has been.  True, many farms come for one year and then head the Greenville, but it is a lot better then the craft heavy market then it started out.  The last official date of the market was a week and a half ago and I cleaned up the last couple of weeks.  My new favorite farm, 3 Oaks Farm, had green beans for $1 a pound.  And cause I have a JOB, I can't get there until after 5 so they always give me some sort of a discount.  This farm also had the most beautiful kale for $2.50 a pound.  A pound is a lot of kale, but with this kale, that's ok!!  The first week I bought some, I made a shredded kale salad, some kale chips, then washed the rest and well, see, I got this new fridge and sometimes it freezes my food.  Including my kale, which is a major bummer, but luckily there one more week left to the season.  Just went back and bought more of everything.  I made more kale chips, and the same shredded salad.  And you have to try this salad!  It is from Oh She Glows.  By chopping the kale into ribbons, I think that helps to keep the kale salad from being too tough.  Plus you add Craisens and what, what, what?  A Vegan Parm Cheese?  And it actually kind of taste like Parm Cheese.  LOVED IT.  Put it on everything for about a week.

The Best Shredded Kale Salad with Pecan Parmesan and Cranberries

Vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, soy-free

By Angela Liddon

5 from 8 reviews

Inspired by a kale salad my mom enjoyed at True Food Kitchen, I knew I had to make my own vegan version as soon as I was back in my kitchen. The key to this salad is finely chopping (or shredding) the kale. The lemon garlic dressing will coat each and every tiny piece of kale, working its magical softening powers and infusing it with so much flavour. Instead of cheese, I topped the salad with my homemade toasted pecan "Parmesan" topping and a handful of dried sweetened cranberries. The result is one of the BEST ever kale salads I've tried to date. No joke. Two bunches of dinosaur kale might seem like a lot, but once it's shredded, it only makes about 8 cups and then it further reduces in volume as it marinates by almost half. If you are making this salad for more than 4 people, I suggest doubling it. I felt like I could've had half of the lot just on my own...

YIELD
4 SMALL BOWLS

SOAK TIME
1 HOUR

PREP TIME
30 MINUTES

COOK TIME
10 MINUTES

Ingredients:

FOR THE SALAD & DRESSING:

• 2 medium bunches destemmed Lacinato/dinosaur kale, finely chopped (8 cups chopped)
• 2 large garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
• 3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (just eyeball it)
• 1-2 handfuls dried sweetened cranberries, for garnish

FOR THE PECAN PARMESAN:

• 1 cup pecan halves, toasted
• 1.5 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 2 pinches fine grain sea salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 300F. Spread the pecans onto a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 8-10 minutes until fragrant and lightly golden.
2. Remove the stems from the kale and discard (you can save for smoothies if you are hard core!). Finely chop the kale leaves (the smaller, the better!).
3. Wash the kale and spin dry. Place dried kale into a large bowl.
4. For the dressing: In a mini food processor, process the garlic until minced. Now add the lemon, oil, salt, and pepper and process until combined. Adjust to taste, if desired. Pour the dressing onto the kale and mix it into the kale with your hands or toss with spoons. Keep mixing for about 1 minute to ensure everything is coated perfectly.
5. For the pecan parm: Rinse out the mini processor and pat dry. Add the pecans into the processor and process until the pecans are the size of peas or a bit larger. Now add in the nutritional yeast, oil, and salt and process again until it's a coarse crumb. Be sure not to over-process - we still want a nice crunchy texture here, not powder.
6. Sprinkle the pecan Parmesan all over the salad. Toss on a handful or two of dried cranberries. Wrap and place in the fridge for 30-60 minutes to soften. I tried letting this salad sit overnight in the fridge and I greatly preferred the flavour of the salad served the day of, so I don't recommend making this salad the day before and letting it sit in the fridge overnight.

Note: 1) Instead of a mini processor, you can chop/whisk the dressing and pecan "parmesan" by hand. 2) For a nut-free version, try using breadcrumbs instead of pecans.

Read more: http://ohsheglows.com/2013/11/25/the-best-shredded-kale-salad/#ixzz3HOfavdcI