Kale Market Salad Recipe
There's a pizza restaurant in my neighborhood that makes amazing salads. This one, for example, had farro, kale, avocado, carrots, fennel and a creamy green garlic dressing.
There's a small restaurant in our neighborhood known for great pizza. And yes, the pizza is on point. But, really, it's their salads I crave - substantial, always changing, made from whatever looks great at the market. I'd tell you the name of the place, but scoring a table is already enough of a wait. It's Ragazza. I ordered a ringer of a salad the other night, and have been making a version at home in the days since - kale, farro, lots of avocado, carrots and fennel tossed with a creamy green garlic dressing. It's as good as it sounds. The version I've been making is down below, or you can check out the version Sharon makes with little gem lettuce here (scroll a bit).
To prep the fennel and carrots, it's worth using a mandolin if you have one. If not, no problem, just use a knife an slice very thinly. If you do too crude a cut the salad loses a bit of its finesse. I like it made with semi-pearled farro, but when I ran out of that reached for wheatberries too. Either way is good.
It has been a bit wild around here and this sort of thing is nice to be able to throw together on somewhat of a whim. To keep most of the ingredients prepped isn't a big deal (grains/dressing/carrots/ nuts)...then, it's not much of a leap to a full meal by adding a poached egg.
Thank you to everyone who stopped by QUITOKEETO yesterday. Also(!) apologies to those of you who got there after all the items sold through. I imagined that we'd stocked plenty to carry us through a two week run, and let's just say I misjudged that. By a mile. There were a few factors going into it - some of the items are so limited (or vintage) that there was no way to stock more, we have some physical space limitations, that sort of thing. Anyway, thanks for your patience (and enthusiasm!) - the learning curve on this one is steep! xo -h
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Kale Market Salad
Lacinato kale is my variety of choice here.
Green Garlic Dressing:
2 stalks green garlic (or scallions), rinsed and chopped (~1/4 cup)
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt, plus more to taste
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup / 80 ml extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons ripe avocado
1 teaspoon honey, or to taste
fresh pepper to taste1/2 bunch kale, destemmed, torn into pieces
1 cup / 5.5 oz cooked farro or wheat berries (semi-pearled or whole)
4-5 farmers' market carrots, very thinly sliced
1 small bulb of fennel, transparently sliced
1 avocado, cut into small cubes
a big handful of almond slices, toasted
Make the dressing by using a hand blender or food processor to puree the green garlic, salt, lemon juice, olive oil, avocado, honey, and pepper until smooth. Taste, and adjust with more salt, or honey, or lemon juice.
Before you're ready to serve, combine the kale with about half of the dressing in a large bowl use your hands to work the dressing into the kale, softening up the kale a bit in the process. Add the farro, carrots, and fennel, more dressing, and a couple pinches of salt, and toss again. Taste, and add the last of the dressing if needed. This is a salad I like quite heavily dressed. Add the avocados and almonds and give one last gentle toss.
Serves 2-4.
Prep time: 10 minutes
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Comments
I crave salads constantly! I can't wait to make this one - it looks so beautiful. I love your photography!
The salad looks great, but the dressing - oh my - it's completely heavenly!! I love adding avocado to it. Any idea how long it would keep?
Thanks for this great recipe, its one that is flexible as well. I have both fennel and kales in the garden. I am going to make it with Rainbow Lacinto instead of the dark green and barley.I am going to share thsi with a my organic food buying group, THanks for another fab recipe Heidi..you rock!
This looks great - I love kale and I am always looking for new ways to use it.
You know I was late for the shop :-( Will you be getting more of ALABASTER MORTAR & PESTLE I loved that, but my hard luck Sold OUT!! B/W this salad looks really good, we too have a lovely pizza joint here that makes not only awesome pizza but absolutely great salads, I eat salad there more than pizza!
HS: Reem - that M+P was really special, and it went fast. Apologies! I have my eyes peeled for more though. Fingers crossed.
I love this! And I love the fact that you and I have secretly been on the same page all week with a Green Goddess-like dressing on our kale salads! I literally have been creaming up avocado, juicing lots of fresh lemon and tossing in all the fresh herbs I can find to dress my salads this week. It's such a delightful twist to my usual olive oil and lemon vinaigrette. Also, congrats again with all the success on your shop H! (I loved the recipe additions too!)
Hey! I think I live in your neighborhood because I just had this salad at a tiny pizza place. So good!
I am a HUGE fan of kale salads. They are so easy to prepare and taste so good. I have 2 go-to kale salads that I make almost every day. This one looks amazing as well and I love the addition of farro. I might even throw some roasted tofu in there and call it a meal!
Yum! This salad looks delish. I use kale in smoothies all the time, but I think it's time to try it salad-style. Congrats on the success of the shop... it is gorgeous! I started my online shop almost a year ago and the shipping, stock levels, etc. are still details we are constantly improving on. Much luck to you!
You have so many gorgeous kitchen items - bowls, plates cutlery. How do you store it all? I have a small kitchen, so I stop myself from buying so many pretty things because I just don't know where to store it, esp if it's all mismatchy (even though I love that look).
I just ate this last Sunday at the restaurant which must not be named. It's so delicious and was wondering how I could make it--thanks for the recipe!
I have been trying to figure this salad out for MONTHS. Thank you for posting this - I will be making it as soon as possible. (Does the market have green garlic this time of year?)
This looks perfect for lunch- a hearty, nourishing salad to keep you fueled all day.
I am so glad you posted this! I love (and depend) on your kale recipes! I love kale but I am in no way creative enough to figure out how to use it. Thanks for sharing :)
Hold the honey and I am all over this salad! Kale and farro are such perfect foods - and fabulous together. LOVE this!
I really must try to eat my veggies more - this looks delicious!
Stunning! My Aunt had a restaurant, and because it was already so crowded and hard to get a table, whenever there were reviews posted, she would ask them not to disclose the address. It became this thing in Dallas "do you know where Rose's is?" I understand why you're reluctant to share the name of the place that serves this amazing salad :) Hope QUITOKEETO is going well for y'all--don't work too hard ;)
I have lots of kale and carrots from our CSA- thanks for the idea of how to use it!
This looks like such a yummy salad. Thank you for sharing, i would love to give this a try !
Gorgeous looking salad Heidi. I *heart* carrot and fennel together and also like the modest amount of grain to vegetable. International shipping in Quitokeeto V.2 if possible. Or to be more accurate, to me in England - I could look but couldn't touch!
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