Kale salad with apples and toasted almonds

I love greens. Turnip greens, mustard greens, collard greens, kale, arugula/rocket, you name it. I will eat sauteed greens until the cows come home and wonder where all their greens went. The only problem I have with leafy vegetables is that you can come home with two big, beautiful bunches thinking you'll feast for days on it. The sad reality is that your lovely, seemingly bountiful supply of kale will cook down into a puny, sad-looking lump, making your dinner companions think you want to starve them.

So, check it: you don't have to cook your kale! You can eat it raw, in this really tasty salad and, though chopping it up does decrease its volume, you still look like you have a respectable amount to serve to people without their wondering whether they can have seconds. Yes, Virginia, they sure can have seconds. And they'll want them too. This is the best kale salad I've ever had. No joke. 

Kale jokes are lame anyway.

It's blessedly simple to make. Just shake up the dressing, chop up the kale and apple, and toast the almonds. I made about 6oz of dressing, but I think this might have been a little too much. When I dressed the salad, I only used about two-thirds of it.

The kale needs to be chopped up, or else the kale will be a little tough and you'll feel like you're eating leaves from trees (and no, this is not a good thing). 

After I chopped up the kale, I tossed it with the dressing, letting it marinate for 10-15 minutes so that the lemon juice could soften up the kale a bit. While it was marinating I toasted almonds and sliced up the apple. I sliced the apple last, to avoid serving browned apple bits.  

What you get is a really fresh-tasting, nutty, sweet salad. The crispy apple and toasted almonds really complement the earthy kale and the lemon olive oil dressing prevents it from being too sweet. 

I ate mine with a baked potato for dinner and it was really excellent. Get your salad on, y'all! 

Kale salad with apples and toasted almonds

(serves 4 as a side)

For the dressing, whisk together the following ingredients:

juice of one lemon

3-4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1-2 tsp honey

2-3 tbsp finely chopped onion or shallot (who has shallots on hand though, am I right?)

1/2-3/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 salt

For the salad:

1 large bunch of kale (about 1 pound more or less), stripped of its ribs and chopped pretty finely

1 small apple (I used a Fuji), diced into small pieces

1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted (I think sunflower seeds would also be really good)

In a large bowl, toss the chopped kale with the dressing. Stir in the apple and almonds, letting the salad marinate for 15-20 minutes before eating so that the kale has time to soften up a bit.