Apologies, both for the dreadful pun and my continuing absence from this blog. No real excuses, just life and general busyness. This revelation of a salad, however, is a pretty good reason for hauling my lazy arse back into the blogosphere.
I realise that kale as a Caesar salad ingredient is not a new phenomenon, and I cannot believe its taken me this long to try it.
This recipe is from my longstanding favourite blog The Art of Doing Stuff. The odd thing has been changed and I’ve seriously pimped it to main course status though. Cheesy, salty and smokey with a good kick of garlic, and you get to eat your greens. This baby ticks all the boxes. Seriously, we have had it every week, sometimes twice, since I first made it. To prove to you how good it is, here’s a text conversation between me and Mr.B yesterday.
So, without further ado, I present to you to my take on the Kale Caesar Salad! (trumpet fanfare).
Ingredients
- 1 large bunch curly kale
- Parmesan cheese, finely grated, to taste
- 1 x 400g can of chickpeas
- Olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- Salt
- 75g smoked almonds
- 1 avocado
- 4 eggs, soft boiled and peeled just before serving.
- 1/2 cup olive oil (I use regular rather than extra virgin)
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (approx 1/2 lemon)
- 3 garlic cloves, finely minced and then mashed
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 200C.
- Prepare the kale by cutting the leafy parts away from the central stem and tearing into bite sized pieces. Wash and dry thoroughly.
- Whisk together the dressing ingredients.
- Combine the prepped kale and the dressing in a large bowl.
- Give the kale leaves a good massage with the dressing. This helps break down the fibre and make the kale more tender.
- Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas and pat dry with paper towel.
- In a bowl, add enough olive oil to the chickpeas to coat, and sprinkle with cumin and salt to taste. Toss them about to evenly coat.
- Spread chickpeas out on a metal tray lined with baking parchment and pop into the oven for around 20 minutes, or until golden and crispy. Allow to cool.
- When ready to serve, add parmesan to taste, smoked almonds, crispy chickpeas, sliced avocado and top with a runny egg.
Notes
Gluten free, Vegetarian
This salad is super versatile and tasty. We often have it like this, with a runny egg, as a main course, or with a piece of grilled salmon as a side dish. I’ve even used it as a sandwich filling with tinned tuna and mayonnaise. Apart from being unbelievable tasty, another fantastic thing about this salad is that the dressed kale leaves keep in the fridge for two or three days, without going limp, ready to toss into anything at the drop of a hat.
You can thank me later!
Fabulous combo! I like throwing kale with some edamame beans or puy lentils, avocado, broccolini, toasted sesame seeds. And yep, add an egg or some flaked hot smoked salmon and you have a delicious meal. Love the pics, Therese!
Oh I’m going to give your spin a try! Yum!
Looks SO good! And the pun cracked me up!
Thanks Meryl. Glad someone liked the pun :)
don’t know what impresses me more – gorgeous salad & pics or Lord & masters excitement over kale. I might just give this a go – cheap enough not to stress about if the only taker is me & the tortoise.
Who knew Kale could be so exciting! It really is a tasty salad. Be generous with the Parmesan!