Lemon Kale Salad
This Lemon Kale Salad has a simple, tangy dressing that pairs perfectly with creamy avocado and salty pine nuts!
I got the inspiration for this salad from Ellwood Thompson’s, a local grocery store here in Richmond. Their kale salad recipe is light and delicious with pine nuts that give it a perfect crunch. I added avocado to make this salad for miffing and to finish it off, I added in some cheese for a salty, umami flavor. Then I whipped up a super simple dressing to finish it off!
Tips for Preparing Kale
- Remove the kale stems. The stems are extremely bitter and very hard to chew. Do yourself a favor and de-stem the kale. You can either fold the leaves in half and slice the stem off or you can just tear the leaves right off the stem.
- Kale is a tough green and it needs massaging to make it tender. After you’ve washed your kale, you want to literally massage it with your hands.
- Use the right dressing. Kale is a very bitter green and it needs something to help soften it a bit. An acidic dressing will help break down the fiber in the kale which will make it easier to chew.
How to Massage Kale
Kale is a tough green and it needs to be massaged in order to soften the leaves. You can massage the kale before or after you add the dressing. Massaging the leaves without the dressing is a bit less messy but I prefer to massage the dressing into the kale to distribute it more evenly. Either way works just fine though! The important thing is to remove the stems and give the leaves a good squeeze to soften them.
Substitution Ideas
- To make this vegan, skip the parmesan cheese and add a sprinkle of nutritional yeast and a pinch of salt!
- You can make this salad with curly kale or flat-leaf, lacinato kale.
- If you don’t have pine nuts, try it with sliced almonds instead.
What to Serve with This Kale Salad
Looking for the perfect dish to serve with this kale salad? Try pairing it with this easy Parmesan Orzo Pasta! Or pair this salad with Pasta Alla Norma, a dish with pasta and eggplant!
PrintLemon Kale Salad
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: Salad
Description
This lemon kale salad has a simple, tangy dressing that pairs perfectly with creamy avocado and salty pine nuts!
Ingredients
- 6 cups raw kale (about 8 oz)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Juice from 1/2 lemon
- 1 small avocado, peeled, pitted, and sliced
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts
- 1/4 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Wash the kale and remove the stems. Discard the stems and place the remaining leaves in a large bowl.
- Drizzle the olive oil and lemon juice over the kale leaves and massage the oil into the leaves with your hands.
- Top with the avocado, pine nuts, and Parmesan cheese. Add salt to taste, if needed.
Craving more kale salads? Try one of these recipes!
Do you like kale or do you prefer a different leafy green?
This post was originally published in March 2013. Updated July 2021.
Fantastic salad Liz! I’m with you – I HEART kale! This dressing sounds wicked too – pinned!
Ok, I know I’ve said it before, but I REALLY need to try kale. The thing that has been holding me back for all of these years is my memory of working with it at Edible Arrangements. It’s used to cover the openings of the containers and after working 15 hour shifts looking at kale, I have a strange aversion to it. But anyway, that salad looks gorgeous and is definitely inspiring me to give it a try! 🙂
So that dressing that has too much garlic sounds right up my alley. Like really. I need to go find it. ASAP.
And Im a big fan of Kale salads too, but Ive got to wait till summer. My body isnt ready for salads yet!!
The salad looks great! I use kale alot, but mostly for juice. I need to eat more salads with it!
I used to only eat spinach but I am opening up to kale more and more these days. I love recipes like this because then I dont have to THINK about what to pair it with 🙂 I also love roasted pine nuts, especially on salads! Ill have to keep this in mind!
YES! i am so glad you posted this recipe! One of my favorite restaurants, True Food Kitchens makes a VERY similar salad (I think) but I excited to give this one a spin!
Let me know if it comes out like the restaurant kind! 🙂
oooo, exited to hear about the new friend in your life 🙂
I’m embarassed to admit that I have yet to try kale, this recipe has inspired me to at least try it though!
i have been sneaking kale into soups , lasagna and stir fries. I go through phases between spinach and kale. I have yet to try it as a salad though and tahini is always such a delight 🙂
I love spinach in my smoothies and on pizza, but I’m not a huge fan of spinach salads for some reason. Kale is my go-to salad green!
You KNOW that tahini dressing is my jam. [Could we turn it into actual jam?] But heck yes, it definitely requires a mint or some gum afterwards. When I have made it for myself, the only way I can really handle it is to use roasted garlic…as raw garlic is WAY too potent in the proportions I have been trying. That being said, you are totally on my wavelength, because I did try to turn the tahini garlicky yumminess into an avocado based dressing at one point. Maybe I’ll have to go back and reexamine that idea…
Wait–some people complain about things being too garlicky? Haha, pretty sure I wouldn’t hesitate to chow down on a garlic clove wrapped in a kale leaf. In fact…that sounds kinda good. I do love my kale–and yet I’ve somehow never massaged it! I feel like I’m missing out on an important and intimate experience with kale 😉