Do you guys know what next week is??? It’s 4th of July!!! (!!!!) Kind of my favorite day ever. Well after Halloween. And ROT Rally. But it’s up there! If you have been a longtime reader (and if you are, you are probably related to me) you may recall our annual trek to Michigan for a long weekend of themes, booze, and Edward 40 Hands. It’s a time! This year, I’ll make sure to take a few blog appropriate photos too. Since most of the weekend is spent in patriotic bikinis and speedos, I’m trying to cut back on the rugelach and day glo challah and eat more salads instead! Like this Kale Salad with Avocado, Goat Cheese and Tahini Dressing. Is anyone else unhealthily obsessed with Kale? Bueller? Well I am. And even though some kale purists say you shouldn’t eat it raw, I like it. And whateva, I so what I want! So let’s make a gosh darn salad. Here is all Jew need:
First up, prep your kale by washing it well and cutting it off of the stem. Like so:
The massage the kale leaves in a large bowl with a drizzle of olive oil, half of the lemon juice and a pinch of kosher salt. This is the secret to tasty raw kale! The prep the red onions and red pepper. Would y’all like to see some videos on prepping veggies?
Meanwhile, make the dressing! Whisk together tahini, extra virgin olive oil, water, vinegar, lemon juice, smoked paprika, and salt and pepper to taste.
Now add the red onions and red peppers to the kale and dress with the tahini dressing and sesame seeds.
Toss and garnish with avocado, goat cheese and sunflower seeds.
Plate and EAT!!!
Kale Salad with Avocado, Goat Cheese and Tahini Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 large bunch kale about 10 cups
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil plus more to drizzle on kale
- 1 lemon juiced
- Kosher salt
- 1/2 small red onion sliced thin
- 1 medium red pepper sliced thin
- 1/4 cup tahini paste
- 1 Tablespoon white vinegar
- 1-2 Tablespoons water to reach desired consistency
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- Black pepper
- 1 large avocado diced
- 1/4 cup crumpled goat cheese
- 1/4 cup salted and roasted sunflower seeds
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
Instructions
- First up, prep your kale by washing it well and cutting it off of the stem.
- Then massage the kale leaves in a large bowl with the red onion slices and a drizzle of olive oil, half of the lemon juice and a pinch of kosher salt. This is the secret to tasty raw kale!
- Meanwhile, make the dressing! Whisk together tahini, ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, water, lemon juice, smoked paprika, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Now add the red peppers to the kale and dress with the tahini dressing.
- Toss and garnish with avocado, goat cheese and sunflower seeds.
All of my favorite things in one salad!
That was my thinking as well, Jen!
We use a very similar tahini dressing on veggies and salads – it’s fantastic. This is pretty much my lunch every day, kale and something. Love it.
Great minds think alike! Can’t go wrong with kale in my opinion!
I know – I love it. I do mess up kale chips, though, for some reason. Mine get super-thin and just disintegrate when you pick them up. My daughter really wants to make some again – any suggestions?
I like kale better raw or sautéed than in chip form, but I think you may be cooking them too long. What time and temp do you do?
Wish I could remember – it’s been so long since we attempted them that I don’t have a clue what instructions we used. That makes sense, though – if they were way dried out, they’d crumble.
I do low and slow- 250 degrees for 20 minutes or so. They aren’t as crumbly that way. I’d love to try a dehydrator!
OK, we’ll give it a try – just got some kale from our CSA box delivery, so now’s as good a time as any! Thanks for the suggestions!
Let me know how it goes!
Well, we tried less oil and low and slow like you said – they definitely turned out much better than before – didn’t completely disintegrate when we picked them up. They were fine enough, but honestly I think I just prefer my kale the old fashioned way, not so much as chips. 🙂
Same!
Same here!
This looks awesome! I am in love with all things avocado! I am trying to eat more salads these days!
Thanks, Melissa! I eat avocados daily- I’m addicted!
Making this right now. Mouth is watering! But just not sure how much water to put for the dressing. Let me know — don’t want to ruin a fantastic recipe. 😉 TIA
Hooray! Sorry about that- I just added 1-2 tablespoons to thin out the dressing.
I just made this and it was awesome! I substituted the goat cheese with mozzarella because it’s what I had on hand.
Awesome! Glad you liked it. The mozzarella sounds great!