The Garden Café’s Winter Kale Salad
Ingredients:
1 bunch of kale, thick center ribs removed, thinly sliced about 1/4-1/2 inch wide. You’ll have about 8 cups.
1 large red bell pepper, cored, ribs and seeds removed and cut into small dice
1 large carrot, cut into matchsticks or grated on the large holes of a box grater.
4 Tablespoons brown rice vinegar
3 Tablespoons roasted dark sesame oil
2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 Tablespoon grated fresh ginger
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt or to taste
toasted sesame seeds
Make the salad:
Add all of the vegetables to a medium size bowl. In a small bowl, combine the vinegar, sesame oil, maple syrup, ginger and salt. Combine well and pour over the vegetables. With tongs or a large spoon, toss to coat.
Let sit at room temperature and toss every once in awhile for a few hours. Chill in a covered container. Serve with toasted sesame seeds sprinkled on top. Will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days.
To make toasted sesame seeds:
Rinse ¼ to ½ cup of unhulled sesame seeds and add to a dry medium sized saute pan. Over medium heat stir constantly until they start to pop and become fragrant. You can rub a few seeds between you thumb and pinky finger. If they break up, they’re done. Immediately remove from the hot pan to a bowl, so they don’t burn.
Makes 3-4 servings.
YUM!
LESSONS Learned:
1.
You can easily stem the kale, by grabbing the bottom of the stem and with the other hand, pull the leafy part away from the thick stem.
2.
The longer this sits, the better it will taste.
3.
Be grateful for what you’ve got. (
listen to the podcast for the rest of the story)
