Asian Kale Salad with Salmon

One of the few salads I get really excited about.

I used to be kind of neutral about kale, and I certainly wouldn't eat it raw. Then I read about a massaged kale salad and it looked like fun so I tried it. Now I like kale.

With a little bit of salad dressing and clean hands, you literally just massage the kale until it wilts into a cooked-type texture. It's immensely satisfying.

Tip: Massage your kale in a LARGE bowl to avoid flinging it all over the counter.

As far as the salmon goes, sometimes I marinate it in the dressing and then pan-fry it. But the easiest and least messy way, I think, is to bake it in a foil packet with some dressing and then just flake it onto the salad. This also eliminates any need to buy or cut filets in any particular size for each person. I just get one big piece, cook it, and distribute the flaked salmon when serving.

Foil packet, pre-sealing.

I use this recipe. The flavors in the dressing are perfect. My only change, besides the salmon cooking method, was to increase the amount of ginger. Because that's something I do.

The Recipe:

1/2 lb salmon filet

1 bunch kale

1 green onion, chopped

1 cucumber, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1/2 orange, segmented

2 tb almonds, chopped

3 tb rice wine vinegar

1/2 orange, juiced

1 tb lime juice

1 tb soy sauce

2 tb honey

1 tb ginger, grated

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1 clove garlic

salt and pepper

To make the dressing, blend the vinegar, orange juice, lime juice, soy sauce, honey, ginger, sesame oil, garlic, and salt and pepper (to taste).
Wrap the salmon in foil with 1 tb of the dressing. Place the foil packet in a baking dish and bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.
Remove the toughest parts of the kale and slice the leaves into thin shreds.
Place the kale in a large bowl with 1 tb of the dressing and massage the dressed kale for about a minute until the leaves break down and soften into a cooked consistency.
Assemble the vegetables and almonds on the kale and drizzle on more dressing as desired.
Flake the cooked salmon on top of the salad and serve.

The Verdict:

Overall grade: A

Overall reason: Well-balanced flavors, and super healthy

Time to prepare: 35 minutes

Husband quote: "I like the crunchy nuts!"

Comments

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