Well, it has been a bit of a whirlwind around here lately! After a superb end to the week with the Rock my Wedding post, I then also found out that I was going to start a new job - two days later! Yay! Queue a rather frantic looking Emelia scrambling around trying to tie up lots of loose ends, get myself ready for the new job, cram in some wedding planning and host my brother and his friends at our house for the weekend!
In the midst of all that I managed to find some chill out time in the kitchen to make this lovely kale salad for a BBQ we had on Sunday night. T and I are a little bit mad for kale salads at the moment, this one from 101 cookbooks, italian inspired, with lots of parmesan and crispy croutons, is one of our favourites. This time around I wanted to try something a little bit different, something with more of an asian flavour - peanut butter and tahini are some of my faves so that seemed like a good place to start. They make the dressing super thick, creamy and, dare I say it, (almost) indulgent. A bit of sugar and rice wine vinegar balance everything out, including any slight bitterness you might normally get from raw kale.
You might think that kale is a little bit strange in a salad, I certainly did before I tried it, but you'd be really surprised what dressings can do to this superfood veg. Whereas a normal lettuce salad will wilt and go soggy from your dressing, with kale the leaves are totally transformed, the longer you leave it, the softer and more delicious the leaves get. As if the taste wasnt enough, anything you can make in advance always gets my vote.
If you haven't tried a raw kale salad yet you really should - T it litterally so addicted to this I can turn my back for one moment and half the bowl has gone! It might sound a little bit knit your own knickers but believe me one taste and you won't be going back to boring old lettuce again!
Tahini Peanut Kale Salad
Serves 4 as a side salad
Ingredients
250g tuscan kale, washed, organic if possible
1/2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
Small handful of sprouted beans/seeds - optional
Dressing
1 tbsp tahini paste
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp + 1 tsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp lime juice
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
Method
Tear the stems from the kale, then chop into roughly 1 inch pieces. Dry the kale in a salad spinner or blot with kitchen roll.
Whisk all the dressing ingredients together, it will be very thick, don't worry!
In a large bowl mix the dressing and kale together with your hands, massaging the dressing into the leaves until evenly coated.
Sprinkle the salad with the toasted sesame seeds and sprouts if using. Ideally leave to sit for around half an hour before eating.
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