Easy Garden Kale Salad with Lemon Dressing
A garden Kale Salad is one of my favorite salad recipes. Kale, crunchy apples, shaved carrots mixed with a delicious lemon dressing.
This is my easy, delicious healthy salad I enjoy making for lunch at least once or twice a week. It is full of healthy goodness and cranberries. The best thing about this salad is that you can make it ahead. Make more than one serving and enjoy healthy light lunches.
I love to serve leafy vegetables with dinner or for lunch. Leafy green vegetables are an important part of our daily diet. Kale is a nutrient-dense vegetable that is not only healthy but makes delicious smoothies.
It is not uncommon to find a vegetable dish every day at dinner time on a Caribbean dinner table. We eat a lot of vegetables. Steam, boiled, fried, baked, and in stews are the common methods for consuming leafy greens and root vegetables.
How to prepare garden kale salad
It is always prudent to wash store-bought unpacked or packaged leafy vegetables. Unpacked leafy vegetables must be washed because they contain dirt from the farm they were harvested.
The best way to clean kale and other leafy greens is by soaking them in a water and vinegar solution. After a quick wash, the best way to remove the excess water is with a salad spinner. You can certainly let the leaves rest for a few minutes to let the water drip and then pat dry with paper towels.
After a quick wash and a shake to remove any excess water, your leafy is ready for your favorite recipe. Some of my favorite salads topping are cranberry and feta cheese. Adding cranberries to my salad. Cranberries are sweet and sour at the same time, the perfect dried fruit topping for feta cheese. Who doesn’t like cranberries with their salad?
How to make my Garden Kale Apple Salad
Chop all the ingredients, add them into a large bowl, and mix. Toss with the lemon salad dressing, and then garnish or topped with cheese, croutons, or roasted butternut squash -This is a super dose of healthy ingredient.
Tips for making the perfect kale salad
- For this recipe, you can baby kale, curly kale, and dinosaur kale.
- If you’re using curly kale or dinosaur kale, use a knife or kitchen scissors to chop the kale into small pieces. This way, it is easier to eat and more presentable.
- Chop all your ingredients before mixing them.
- Prepare the dressing in advance.
- Always keep refrigerated for freshness.
- Add fresh herbs such as parsley, green onions, basil, and other vegetables such as spinach for more flavor and options.
Can I make substitutions?
Of course, you can. Here are some ideas for substitutions.
- Instead of apples, use jicama, pear, or mango.
- Instead of dried cranberries: use dried raisins,
- Cheese or no cheese? That is up to you. You can use cheddar, Havarti, provolone, blue cheese.
How to keep the shaved carrot and apple slices from turning brown while preparing all the other ingredients.
This method is simple. Give the shaved carrot and apple slices a quick soak in water and vinegar-based solution. Pat dry and mix with the kale when ready. (this method works well when you are not ready to add in the lemon dressing.)
How to make the lemon dressing for the kale salad recipe
I love using lemon dressing for my favorite kale apple salad recipe. The dressing is effortless to make. I use Noubess Sorrento Lemon Infused Extra-Virgin Olive Oil as my go-to olive oil. It has a tangy taste a nice aroma that elevates the other ingredients.
I either use Noubess Garlic and Herb Seasoning or Noubess Steak Seasoning. These two seasonings are not only perfect for kale salad ideas, and they always make me want to have a second plate of my favorite salad. 🙂
You will need the following ingredients:
- fresh lemon juice
- Noubess Sorrento Lemon extra-virgin olive oil
- Noubess Steak Seasoning, no salt or Noubess Garlic and Herb Seasoning
- Kosher salt, optional
- Freshly ground black pepper, optional
You can either whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, and Noubess seasoning of choice in a bowl or shake all the ingredients vigorously in a mason jar.
This recipe is a great kale salad idea. You can also add other leafy vegetables, as mentioned earlier, and even roasted sweet potatoes or roasted squash.
Enjoy!
Garden Kale and Apple Salad
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons Noubess Sorrento Lemon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp Noubess Steak Seasoning no salt, or Noubess Garlic and Herb Seasoning
- Kosher salt optional
- 1 bunch kale ribs removed, leaves very thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1 apple Gala, Fuji, or Honeycrisp
- 1 carrot shaved
- 1- ounce Feta Cheese
- Freshly ground black pepper optional
Instructions
- Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, and Noubess seasoning of choice in a bowl or shake all the ingredients vigorously in a jar
- In a large bowl, add the kale, shaved carrots, apples, and cranberries. Toss the ingredients with the salad dressing and top with Feta Cheese.
- Serve or store in the refrigerator for lunch or dinner.
Nutrition
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.
Nutrition info is automatically generated and provided as a courtesy and as an estimate only.
