BY APRIL AMIEL, RDN
This salad offers an extremely delicious way to get your greens down! Lacinato kale is an heirloom variety of kale with an impressive nutritional profile, and we all need more of it in our lives. But if we’re being honest, the kale is really a vehicle for the dressing in this recipe . . . you might want to eat it with a spoon. And one recipe is more than enough for one bunch of kale, so feel free to use it as a dip, a sandwich spread/drizzle or dress any other salad veggies of your choice.
Salad:
1 large bunch of dino (lacinato) kale, stemmed and cut into bite-sized pieces (washed and dried well)
5 oz baguette, cut into cubes (or use store-bought croutons)
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp salt
Dressing:
6 tbsp mayo (sub vegan mayo if plant-based, which works great)
1.5 tbsp nutritional yeast
1.5 tbsp lemon juice
1.5 tbsp capers, rinsed
2 tsp white wine vinegar
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce (sub vegan version if plant-based)
1 garlic clove, minced
3/4 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
Directions:
1. Adjust oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees (or skip this step 1 if using store-bought croutons). Toss bread cubes with the olive oil, pepper and salt in a bowl. Spread the cubes out in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until crisp and golden (15-20 minutes).
2. To make the dressing, place all the ingredients except for the olive oil into a blender and process until smooth. With the blender running, slowly add the olive oil until emulsified. Toss the kale with the dressing in a large bowl and place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or up to 6 hours (you can skip this step, but it marinates the kale a bit which tenderizes the leaves and allows the flavors to meld).
3. Toss salad with the delicious crunchy croutons and serve. Sprinkle with fresh parm or nutritional yeast if desired!