Skip to main content

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!"





Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Curry Fried Rice

Excited for these leftovers. One of the things I wanted to try with my  new jar of curry powder  was fried rice. Years ago, Miles got fried rice at  Korea House  and it was the best fried rice I'd ever had. I suspected there was curry powder in it, but at that time I had never really cooked with curry powder, so I tucked that knowledge away for a later date. After reading a few recipes, I went rogue on this one. I couldn't even begin to effectively guess at what proportions I ended up with, so the recipe below is more of a rough guideline of ingredients. The "Recipe" (sorry no quantities; follow your heart): leftover jasmine rice tofu, cubed and crisped in the oven with avocado oil and salt vegetables: garlic, onion, cabbage, red bell pepper salt curry powder (I used a Vietnamese one) soy sauce sugar sesame oil future topping ideas: runny egg, sesame seeds, green onion Saute the vegetables in avocado oil until softened, and salt them to taste Add the tofu and toss to...
Post a Comment
Read more

Samosa Burritos

Imagine a pile of plain yogurt and some Indian pickle for dipping I saw a Pinterest recipe for samosa-filled quesadillas, which led me to  this recipe  from Nadia's Healthy Kitchen for baked samosas using tortillas, which led me to just use the giant tortillas I had in the fridge and make them into full-sized burritos. They were a hit! I largely followed the recipe from Nadia's Healthy Kitchen, but I added some potato, omitted the chana masala powder and just added a bunch of cumin instead, added bell pepper and fresh chilies, didn't bother with the "sealing paste," and basted them in a little bit of melted butter (omit for vegan version). Everyone except the 5-year-old liked them! The Recipe (adapted from  Nadia's Healthy Kitchen ) 2 cans (30 oz total) cooked garbanzo beans, rinsed (I eyeballed the equivalent from dry beans) 1 small onion, chopped 4 garlic cloves, minced 1 thai chili, minced 1 bell pepper, chopped 1 potato, baked until soft (or microwaved for...
Post a Comment
Read more

Kitchen renovation!

BEFORE: AFTER: Still to come: a beautiful new induction range and some wood shelving on the left side, above the backsplash. And maybe the shelving unit on the wall facing the cabinets should be green, but we're going to live with a while before making that decision.
2 comments
Read more