Kale Salad done Two Ways

After reading so much about the benefits of Kale all over the Internet, I finally found a place that stores these leaves in Bombay. 

I assumed I would use it as I do any other salad leaf, wash, pat dry, dress, and eat. It is fortunate I looked up recipes for kale salad hoping for a new salad combo I could try. It turns out kale is not to be used like any other salad leaf...it is a much tougher variety. So, the first step is to get the kale ready.

For the Kale:

1 bunch of Kale
2 tbsp walnut or olive oil
1 tbsp cider vinegar or white vinegar or lemon juice

Wash the kale leaves thoroughly. I soak it in salt water for 5 minutes then rinse it our with fresh water. Remove the stalk completely - it is too tough to be eaten. Roughly chop the leaves and put it in a large bowl. 

Add the oil and vinegar, then with your fingers, gently massage the oil into the leaves for a minute or two. Leave this to marinate for 15 minutes at least to 24 hours at the most. It won't wilt like regular leaves.

I used half of the leaves for a dinner salad (top picture), and the other half for lunch (bottom picture) the next day. It still retained some crunch and felt fresh.

Salad 1:

A bowl of the prepared kale leaves

1 chopped red onion

1 chopped tomato (or a few cherry tomatoes)

4-5 walnuts

2 chopped figs

1 chopped carrot

2 tbsp Ranch dressing

1 bunch of other salad leaves (I used rocket and celery leaves)

Mix it all together. I like something crunchy and a hint of sweetness in my salad. Here, onion, walnuts and fig do that, but you can substitute (with something like apples or oranges) or remove any of the ingredients.

Salad 2:
A bowl of the prepared kale leaves

1 chopped tomato

3-4 orange segments (peeled and seeded)

4-5 walnuts

This is a much simpler salad. It can be used as a side but it was a filling lunch for me.