Most people don’t think of fall or winter as salad time. But cold weather salads are some of my favorites. Hearty and crunchy greens paired with fruit and nuts are usually what I’m craving for lunch.
One of my favorite winter greens is cavolo nero, or Tuscan Kale. I came home from the Farmer’s Market with a huge bunch of it on Sunday. While most of the leaves were big and suitable only for cooking down with a lot of olive oil and garlic, I saved the inner, most tender leaves, for a quick salad.
First I stripped the leaves from the thick stems, then sliced them into thin ribbons of dark green. Tossing them with a couple of tart early clementines and a hand full of toasted almonds took about 2 minutes. The dressing? A pour of extra virgin olive oil and a swirl of good quality balsamic. Salt and pepper, and that was that.
Pretty, for sure, but also healthy and definitely delicious.
kale + clementine + almond {salad}
Prep
Total
Yield 2
Ingredients
- 6-8 leaves of cavolo nero (Tuscan kale)
- 2 clementines
- 1/4 cup roasted almonds
- extra virgin olive oil
- balsamic vinegar
- salt, pepper
Instructions
- Holding one end of the stem of the leaf of kale, use your hand to strip off the leaves.
- Rinse and dry the leaves then cut into 1/4 inch strips and put in serving bowl.
- Peel the clementine and cut each segment in half. Add to greens.
- Roughly chop the almonds and add to salad.
- Dress with oil and vinegar and season with salt and pepper.
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after it has been cut into ribbons, the kale breaks down beautifully with either a bit of salt of a few drops of vinegar and then some gentle massaging, this allows it to become more tender before dressing it. (letting it sit like this in the frig for about 20 minutes makes a nice shift in texture, more tender and color, an even brighter green. ) Just an added thought for an already lovely recipe.
Thanks Karen, a few people have suggested that, so I’ll be trying it next time. Unless I’m too hungry, which is the usual case.