Kale Slaw with Lemon Sesame Dressing

Recipe by The View From the Great Island

Kale Slaw is a healthy, delicious, sturdy salad that just gets better as it sits in the refrigerator. In the dog days of summer we often resort to visiting the salad counter at our favorite grocery store… we pick out an assortment and call it dinner.  It’s a great dinner, one of our favorites, as a matter of fact.  And one of our staples is Kale Slaw.  It’s the salad that won me over to kale, a vegetable that I’ve systematically avoided for years.  I think the key is that the kale is finely shredded, so it’s tender.  The Asian inspired lemon/sesame dressing has something to do with it, too.  It’s  slightly sweet which counters the bitterness in the greens. And then there’s the perfect chewy/crunchy accent of the sunflower seeds.  The whole thing is minimal, but strikes the perfect Zen balance.  I rarely make anything twice, much to the disappointment of my family, but I’ve been tossing this together once a week all summer. Kale is incredibly healthy, so I’m so happy to finally have a reason to buy it.  It’s not a lettuce, but a vegetable in the super nutritious  broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussel’s sprout family.   Up until …

Ingredients

• 1 bunch kale
• 1 carrot,
• ½ small head of radicchio (substitute red cabbage)
• ⅓ cup sunflower seeds
• feta or goat cheese for garnish (optional)
• dressing
• ⅛ cup sesame oil
• juice of 2 small lemons
• 1 tbsp honey
• ½ tsp dijon mustard
• salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Method

1. Rinse the kale and then remove any large center ribs. Stack the leaves and, with a sharp knife, cut them into fine shreds. Peel the carrot and shred it. Remove the outer leaves from the radicchio and then finely shred that as well. Put all in a bowl.
2. Make the dressing by mixing all the ingredients together in a mason jar or small bowl Shake or whisk well to combine. Taste to adjust any of the ingredients.
3. Pour the dressing over the salad. Use enough to moisten everything, but not soak it Let the salad sit for an hour or two in the fridge if you like, before serving. Toss with the sunflower seeds just before eating, and top with the cheese, if using.

View the recipe instructions at The View From the Great Island