In this Kale Crunch Salad recipe, we are mixing crunchy kale with crunchy maple candied pecans (THE BEST) and a big handful of freshly grated Parmesan.
You all loved my Simple Kale Salad that has apple slices in it so I deduct from that you’re as obsessed with kale as I am. Funnily enough, I had never tasted Kale before moving to Canada and the first time I tried it I thought *ugh*, that’s a bitter green, who could possibly like it? Over time I not only got used to the taste, I absolutely LOVE it now and I have a few tips to share on how to make Kale less bitter.
Ingredients & Substitutions
Kale – I always recommend curly kale in salads. Dinosaur kale tastes amazing, too but it’s better sautéed I find. The curly kale tastes great raw.
Nuts – Absolutely any nut works in this kale crunch salad. They are the “crunch” in the salad. Maple-candied nuts are even crunchier and make the salad even better than it already is with simply the dressing.
Parmesan – Parmesan cheese is my favorite in combination with Kale but you could also use an aged Manchego. Any very hard and dry cheese essentially.
Dressing – I consider myself the Queen of Salad Dressings *putting on crown*. And any of my dressings will be great in this salad but an olive oil, lemon, garlic, mustard, and maple syrup mix like I’m using here is simply unbeatable for Kale.
Extras – Keep it simple. Let the kale, the Parmesan, and the maple-candied nuts shine. By adding more stuff you distract from the main ingredients. Don’t do it, lol.
How to Make Kale Less Bitter
Tip #1: Remove the stems completely. Pull on the leave with one hand, and on the stem with the other, and pull out the stem. If the tip remains stuck, use a knife to cut it out. The stems are not only hard to chew but also very bitter.
Tip #2: Add a little bit of sweetener to your salad dressing. Maple syrup or honey are the best in my opinion but you could even use a little sugar. No, your salad won’t taste sweet if adding just a tablespoon. Don’t worry. The little sweetness simply counters the bitterness and makes the taste well-rounded.
Tip #3 and most important: Massage the dressing into the finely chopped kale. These are essentially two tips in one. Chopping or slicing finely and not leaving the kale in big chunks and the massaging tip. You have to use your hands and rub and squeeze the kale in between your fingers to make it soft and break it down, as well as make sure each piece of kale is well coated in dressing. No amount of tossing with spoons will give you the same result. Watch the video to see how I massage the kale. Also, don’t worry, even after 5 minutes of massaging your kale is still crunchy. You’ll still end up with a Kale CRUNCH Salad.
How to make maple-candied nuts
It’s the easiest you have ever done. Simply chop your nuts coarsely. Preheat a pan over medium-high heat and once hot add the nuts to the dry pan (no oil), and then drizzle a little maple syrup over the nuts. About 1 tablespoon per 1/3 cup of nuts. Be prepared with a rubber spatula to immediately stir so the maple syrup doesn’t burn to the bottom but instead coats the chopped nuts evenly.
It takes only about a minute for the nuts to toast nicely. Then remove it from the heat and just let it cool. During the cooling process, the maple syrup will harden and kind of caramelize around the nuts.
Kale Crunch Salad
Ingredients
- 1 bunch curly kale
- 1/3 cup pecans - or any other nut
- 2 oz Parmesan cheese
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 small clove garlic
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash and thoroughly dry kale. The more water left on the leaves the more you will water down your dressing so dry well.
- Remove stems of kale and discard. Finely slice leaves and add to a large salad bowl.
- Prepare dressing my adding olive oil, lemon juice, crushed garlic, Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, and sea salt and pepper to taste to a sealable jar and shake to combine.
- Add dressing to kale and massage kale with both hands mixing the dressing into each leaf. Take your time. At least 2 full minutes of massaging and pressing and squeezing.
- Preheat a pan over medium-high heat.
- Coarsely chop nuts and add to the dry preheated pan. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of maple syrup over the nuts and immediately stir to coat and toast them. It takes only about 1 minute to toast the nuts. Stir constantly. Then remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
- Grate Parmesan directly into the salad bowl with the kale and toss lightly to mix in. Then sprinkle maple-candied nuts over everything and serve.
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iFrame Games says
I love how the recipe includes tips on making kale less bitter, especially the technique of massaging the dressing into the leaves. Have you found that using ‘maple-candied nuts’ in other salads also enhances the crunch and flavor?
Merge images says
I love that you explain exactly how to make kale less bitter—especially massaging the finely chopped leaves with the dressing. The candied nuts plus freshly grated Parmesan sounds like the perfect crunchy combo for this salad.
Nuzlocke Tracker says
I’m definitely trying this Kale Crunch Salad soon! Those maple candied pecans sound like the perfect addition. It’s funny you mentioned hating kale at first because I had the exact same experience. I’ll definitely take your advice and stick to curly kale for my raw salads!
Sprunki says
I never really thought of massaging kale before, but it makes so much sense when you explain why! Removing the stems and adding sweetener to the dressing were tips I already used, but the massaging technique is new to me. I’ll definitely be trying that with my next kale salad to see if it makes a difference in texture and bitterness.
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