Kale Crunch Salad

We all need a go-to kale crunch salad in our life! This one has the perfect amount of bite from pepitas and apples, plus a chili vinaigrette that pulls everything together.

I can’t believe I don’t already have a kale salad recipe on this site! It’s as much of a staple in my house as the perfect smoothie or my favorite baked oatmeal (both of which I can practically make in my sleep).

A simple kale salad always seems to be just the thing you need at the end of the week when the fridge is basically bare. There’s the kale, just hanging out and waiting for you to transform it into something special. Even if it’s wilted, a punchy side dish is within reach. Here’s how:

Ingredients

• curly kale (I think it works better in salad than the dino variety)
• apple, like honeycrisp or these fun “Lucy Rose” apples with the red center
• pepitas aka shelled pumpkin seeds
• chili vinaigrette ingredients including extra virgin olive oil, lemon, maple syrup, red pepper flakes and a bit of salt to season

This salad is actually inspired by something I had at a Denver restaurant, Acorn (which is sadly no longer open). Their kale salad was so simple but I still think about it years later. Their version used a Japanese spice blend which can be a little harder to find, so here we used red pepper flakes to bring some heat. The original also had parmesan cheese but I wanted to keep this one vegan (feel free to add some!).

How to Massage Kale for Salad

All right so you may have heard the term “massaged kale” and wondered what the heck this means. Basically kale is one vegetable that has great potential, but can be a little… well, “blah” if you serve it raw.

To really make kale shine, you’ll want to use your hands to work some acid into the leaves. This causes it to break down and tenderize so it’s a lot more pleasing to eat. As a bonus, the dressing is evenly distributed and the whole thing just works so much better.

Pro tip: never serve a bowl of raw kale with dressing on the side. Just don’t.

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Once the kale is bright green and softened, add the rest of your mix-ins. The cool thing about this type of salad? It keeps for days in the fridge! Unlike other greens that get mega soggy after a few hours, dressed kale keeps getting more tender and is great as leftovers.

How to Julienne Apples

Next up, prep those apples! Julienned fruits and vegetables work great in salads because you aren’t biting into any huge chunks. The apple is subtle but adds a nice pop of sweetness. Slicing it this way is a simple three-step process:

1. Cut the apple in half, through the stem.
2. Slice each half thinly into half-moons with a very sharp knife or a mandoline.
3. Stack a few of these half-moons on top of each other and cut into matchsticks. Remove the pieces with the core.

Once you get everything prepped, all you have to do is toss it together and hello beautiful kale crunch salad. The flavors aren’t overpowering, so you can really serve this with almost any main dish you like.

I love the idea of adding this to holiday menus too. Since this is a no-cook dish, you don’t have to worry about it taking up oven space which is perfect if you’re contributing to a big spread.

Kale Salad FAQs

However you serve this, you’ll love having such a simple no-fuss salad in your repertoire!

More great vegetable sides:

• Broccoli Crunch Salad
• Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad
• Purple Cabbage Slaw

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