January 29, 2018

Creamy Garlic and Maple Kale Salad with Green Apple

Read on to make this creamy garlic and maple dressed kale salad with crunchy green apple sticks and fresh cracked black pepper. It’s so good!

If you know me, you know I’m not a huge salad fan. Unless it’s full of cheese or doused in dressing, voiding it if it’s healthy properties, I’m not that into it.

However, a couple weeks ago at the Novella Royale office party, our lovely hostess/boss Mary Myers made a delicious kale salad that I actually liked. So much so, that I even had seconds. I noticed the key to this salad was that the kale was cut in really thin pieces which got rid of the endless chewing I usually encounter with kale and she had a creamy vegan ranch on it to help with the bitterness of the leaf

Taking inspiration from her tasty salad, I decided to try my hand and making some greens that I would really enjoy.

I used curly leaf kale, chopped it up really small, used a green apple for added flavor and texture and decided to make a creamy lemon dressing. I took to the pantry to see what I had and came up with a really delicious dressing full of random fridge and pantry finds.

What you need for the salad:

⁃ 1 large bunch of curly kale

⁃ 1 Granny Smith Apple

What you need for the dressing:

⁃ Fresh lemon juice … 1/2 large or 1 small

⁃ Mayonnaise … 3 tablespoons

⁃ Dijon mustard … 1 tablespoon

⁃ Fresh garlic … 1 clove minced

⁃ Granulated garlic … 1 tsp

⁃ 100% Maple Syrup … 1 tablespoon

⁃ Salt and Pepper

Reading those ingredients sounds a little gross, and I felt like Buddy the Elf pouring maple syrup into a salad, but I didn’t have honey so that’s what I used. Plus it gave it such a good flavor while adding a little needed sweetness and I’ve now made this dressing a handful of times because it is just that good.

To make it:

1. Start by cleaning and de stemming your kale. Taking out the hard middle stem makes the salad much tastier and easy to eat.

2. In small sections, roll the kale leaves together and use a sharp knife to cut the leaves lengthwise and then across till you get small shreds of kale.

3. Do this until all of the kale is chopped and place in a large salad bowl.

4. Cut up the Apple into matchstick pieces and set them aside for garnishing.

5. Add a generous amount of fresh ground black pepper all over the leaves and some salt and let them sit while you make the dressing.

6. In a bowl squeeze half of a large lemon and be careful not to get any seeds. This is the acidic base of the dressing and mayo will be the creamy part (kind of like vinegar and oil). Aim for about 1/4 cup of juice.

7. Add garlic powder, minced garlic, maple syrup and mustard and mix well.

8. Begin adding mayonnaise until it thickens a bit but is still runny enough to pour.

9. Add salt and pepper to taste and adjust accordingly. Add more mayo for a creamier and thicker dressing, more lemon juice for tart flavor, and more maple syrup for sweetness depending on what you like.

10. Pour dressing over seasoned kale and toss well.

11. Place cut apples on top of salad and add more fresh pepper. Enjoy!!