I feel like kale is one of those things that you absolutely adore, or you hate, or so you think you do. Before I was vegan and kale was first coming into the spotlight, I was not a fan. I tried everything: juicing, smoothies, salads – or at least what I thought was a kale salad. It was only until after I went vegan that I learned how to make a proper kale salad recipe like this winter kale salad recipe. I have made some absolutely delicious kale salads, and I have made some well, not so delicious kale salads. The good news is: that the only salads that make it to theallnaturalvegan.com are the best of the best! Here are some of my favorites:
There are plenty more healthy plant based salad recipes on my blog; if you want to see more simply head to the salad section of my website!
How to make kale taste amazing:
Okay, let’s not lie here: raw kale is just not that good. There, I said it! You may be wondering: how do you make raw kale salad recipes taste good without cooking it? It’s a simple one step that many people forget/don’t know to do: MASSAGE THAT ISH! That’s right, it’s called massaging. All you have to do is take a tiny bit of oil (you can also use water, or fatty ingredients like mashed avocado if you eat oil-free) and basically just show the kale some love lol. It gets a little messy, but I promise it is key to recipes like this winter kale salad.
Another trick is to make sure that the kale is cut into small pieces. Since kale is a chewy green, it’s important that the pieces aren’t too big. Nobody wants to be chewing for 5 minutes. I just use scissors for this, but I’ve seen tools online like this lettuce chopper that would be super helpful.
Dressing for this Winter Kale Salad:
It’s important to make sure that you are creating a flavorful dressing for this winter kale salad. Dressings stick to kale extremely well, so take advantage of this! I love making creamy dressings for my kale salads, because you really get to enjoy the the flavor of the dressing. I RARELY use oil in my recipes, but when I do it’s with a kale salad like this one. I only use oil for recipes like this, because the vinegar has a strong taste, and would probably give you an asthma attack if you ate it plain. With that said the only oils I use are high quality cold pressed oils, and I never cook with oil.
Ingredients for this Winter Kale Salad
- Kale
- Green pears
- Pomegranate
- Flaxseed or any cold pressed oil
- Dijon mustard
- Balsamic vinegar
- Date syrup
- Pecans
Winter Kale Salad
Ingredients
- 1 bunch kale
- 3 green pears
- 1 pomegranate
- 1/2 cup pecans
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 3 tbsp cold pressed oil flax or hemp
- 1 tbsp date syrup
Instructions
- Begin by thoroughly washing your kale. Once washed, add to a large bowl and massage with 1 tbsp of oil.
- Roughly chop the pears and pecans and add to the bowl of kale. Add pomegranate seeds.
- In a small bowl whisk together remaining ingredients. Toss salad in dressing, serve and enjoy!
