This kale salad with apples and tahini dressing is a hearty, fresh salad that makes a great side dish or an easy vegetarian main course.
This is a guest post by Ashley from the healthy food blog Bright Roots Kitchen. For more recipes like this, head to her blog.
Some nights it's really hard to find an easy dinner idea right?
When I came up with the recipe for this kale salad it was a moment of pure desperation. I scoured through the fridge for ingredients that could create a healthy, easy dinner.
And there it was, in the back of the fridge...KALE! I forgot it was there but it really came in handy.
How to work with kale
Kale is very hearty and filling, making it ideal for quick meals. If you don't use kale very often, there are a few things you need to know to make this kale salad:
- Be sure to remove the thick stem in the middle of each kale leaf (see pic below)
- massage the kale with dressing
- let the dressed kale salad sit for a bit so that the dressing can soak in
Making a healthy, creamy dressing
Often times salad is viewed as a very healthy meal option. And while at its core it really should be, the nutritional value of any salad is dependent on the dressing and the toppings.
More Homemade Salad Dressings
Dressing for Kale Salad
For this kale and apple salad, the dressing is rich and creamy yet uses no actual cream. Instead of things like buttermilk or sour cream, this dressing gets its creamy factor from tahini sauce.
Tahini is a sesame seed paste traditionally used in Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Northern African dishes.
Is this Kale Salad with Apple Keto?
The apples add a few too many carbs for a keto diet but you can simply leave those out or substitute some jicama for additional crunch.
Is this salad a side dish or entree?
This apple and kale salad can fall into either camp really. Because both kale and apples are very filling, you can certainly just eat the salad as is.
Additional Add-Ons for Kale Salad:
- Grilled or baked chicken
- Roasted vegetables (squash or cauliflower work great)
- Grilled or baked tofu
- Baked shrimp or salmon
Ingredients
- 3 cups kale, roughly chopped
- ½-1 cup apple, seeded and sliced into matchsticks
- ½ jalapeño, chopped and seeds removed
Tahini Dressing
- 2 tbs tahini (sesame seed paste)
- 1 lemon juice only
- 1 tbs fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon sunflower oil Or another light oil like avocado oil
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- 6 tbs water
Instructions
- Remove stem from kale leaves and roughly chop. Add the chopped kale, sliced apples and jalapeño to a large bowl.
- Add all of the tahini dressing ingredients to a separate bowl. Whisk until all ingredients are evenly combined into a dressing consistency.
- Pour dressing all over kale and apples. Toss until with your hands or tongs until the kale is evenly coated in dressing. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
This is a guest post by Ashley from the healthy food blog Bright Roots Kitchen. For more recipes like this, head to her blog.
Jennifer Farley says
This salad with that dressing is DELISH!
Alyssa says
We just love the tahini dressing with kale and apple. Glad I gave this a try!