Everyday Kale Salad

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This easy kale salad recipe only takes 5 minutes to make with 5 ingredients and goes well with just about anything!

And finally, for the last recipe in our everyday side salad collection this week, we come to an old favorite of mine.

My classic, go-to, made-it-a-million-times Everyday Kale Salad. ♡

This salad is made with five simple ingredients — massaged fresh kale (see tips below), freshly-squeezed lemon juice, lotsa Parm, a drizzle of olive oil, and a sprinkling of your favorite nuts. And I’m telling you, it is delicious.

I’ve been making some version of this kale salad for about a decade now, and even the most reluctant kale eaters in my life have always loved this one. It’s easy to whip up in a few minutes. It’s easy to gussy up with any other favorite salad add-ins you might have in mind. (<– Just sayin’, a sliced avocado in there is never a bad idea.)  And best of all, this kale salad recipe really does go with just about everything!

So if you’re looking for a super-simple and healthy side salad to go with dinner tonight, pick up some fresh kale and give it a try!

Everyday Kale Salad Ingredients

To make this easy kale salad recipe, you will need the following ingredients:

• Fresh kale: Either curly kale or lacinato kale (a.k.a. “dinosaur” kale or Tuscan kale) will be delicious in this salad.
• Parmesan: Freshly-grated, of course, for the best flavor.
• Lemon juice: If you don’t have an awesome juicer, I’m obsessed with this one.
• Olive oil: Good-quality extra virgin.
• Nuts: I like adding some toasted sliced or slivered almonds to this salad for a bit of extra crunch and protein. But feel free to add in whatever other nuts or seeds you love best, or skip them entirely.
• Salt and Pepper: A good sprinkling of each to season and finish this salad.

How To Massage Kale

You know the drill! To make those tough kale leaves nice and soft, they need a quick massage before we add the other ingredients. So once you have removed and discarded those tough kale stems (you can either slice them off with a knife, or remove them by running your fingers down the stems), go ahead and roughly chop the kale as finely as you would like. Then add it to a large mixing bowl, drizzle with a few glugs of olive oil, and then get your hands in there and massage the kale just like you would knead dough. I typically massage my kale for 1-2 minutes, so that it doesn’t get overly mushy. But just keep massaging until the kale reaches your desired level of crispiness.

How To Make Kale Salad

To make this kale salad recipe, simply…

1. Massage the kale. With olive oil, as directed above, in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add the remaining ingredients. Lemon juice, Parmesan and nuts. Toss until evenly combined.
3. Season. Give the salad a taste and season with sea salt and freshly-cracked pepper, to taste. (I recommend lots of black pepper, especially.)
4. Serve. Then serve it up right away while it’s nice and fresh!

Possible Variations

While this base kale salad recipe is super simple, there are all sorts of delicious ingredients that you can add or sub in as well. For example, feel free to…

• Add a protein: Cooked chicken, steak, pork, shrimp, salmon, or tofu would all be delicious additions to this salad.
• Add fresh veggies: Such as avocado, cucumber, carrots, bell peppers, radishes, and/or red onion.
• Add fresh or dried fruit: Such as fresh apples, berries, grapefruit, grapes. Or dried cranberries or apricots.
• Add jarred veggies: Such as sun-dried tomato, roasted red peppers, or artichoke hearts.
• Add beans: Such as chickpeas or white beans.
• Add croutons: Homemade or store-bought.
• Use a different cheese: In lieu of Parmesan, feel free to add crumbled blue cheese, feta cheese or goat cheese.
• Use different nuts/seeds: Such as pepitas, pine nuts, walnuts, pecans or sunflower seeds.

Everyday Kale Salad

★★★★★ 5 from 5 reviews

• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Total Time: 5 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings 1x

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Description

This easy kale salad recipe only takes 5 minutes to make with 5 easy ingredients, and tastes great with just about everything! Feel free to adjust the proportions of any of the ingredients below to taste.

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Ingredients

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• 5 ounces kale, roughly chopped with thick stems removed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted
• fine sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

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Instructions

1. Massage kale. Combine the kale, olive oil and lemon juice in a large mixing bowl. Use your fingers to massage the oil and lemon juice into the kale for about 1-2 minutes, or until the kale has softened.
2. Add remaining ingredients. Add the Parmesan, sliced almonds, a pinch of salt and a few twists of black pepper and toss until evenly combined. Taste and add extra salt, pepper or lemon juice, if needed.
3. Serve. Serve immediately and enjoy!

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