Kale Caesar Salad

As you know, I...love...kale.  So imagine my delight at opening my first Winter CSA box to find it blanketed in kale. Literally, the whole top of the box was kale-covered.  After a chard-heavy summer share, I quite literally squealed in delight, "ooooohhhhhhhhhhhheeeeee!"

Since then, I've enjoyed poached eggs over sauteed kale, kale chips, and the simple recipe below:  Kale "Caesar Salad."  What I love about this preparation is that you don't have to actually cook the kale.  And as a farm share loving neighbor** pointed out when I had him taste this the other night, this actually ups the nutritional value as you do not lose any nutrients to the cooking process. 

**Yes, during a rocking holiday party I pulled a fellow CSA lover from the living room into the kitchen to talk CSA, vegetable storage, and to taste this kale salad -- it was a nerdy vegetable convention in my kitchen and I loved it!

Kale Caesar Salad

Ingredients

• 3 cups of washed, de-stemmed kale cut into bite-size ribbons
• One lemon
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 5-8 tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tablespoon of kosher salt
• Pepper
• Olive oil

Directions

• Mash the garlic with the kosher salt, add to the bottom of your serving bowl
• Juice the lemon on top of the garlic paste, removing any seeds
• Add a couple of cracks of freshly ground pepper
• Add 1/3 cup of olive oil and 5 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese, mixing until until the ingrediants form a dressing 
• Toss in the kale to coat.  Sample your salad, and add more olive oil or Parmesan cheese to taste (i always end up with more of both!)
• Let stand 15 minutes before serving

Dressing

Kale Caesar Salad