Kale salad
We never jumped on the kale-as-superfood bandwagon but TBH we don’t jump on too many bandwagons, food or otherwise. We’re just not bandwagon jumpers. (Kale chips? Remember them? Pffft). Kale was always just another cruciferous vegetable to us, and one that got annoyingly stuck in our teeth whenever we ate it.
We never considered kale to be an appealing proposition eaten raw, until we did. A visit to chichi Gjelina in LA turned us into raw kale True Believers; they make killer pizzas at this Venice Beach restaurant, plus salads and vegetable dishes that are really well thought-out. But we were super-impressed by what they could do with kale and once back home, had a go at recreating their amazing raw kale salad. After tinkering and testing we came to understand the secret to raw kale is massaging it. Like, really getting in there with bare hands to totally work it up. This softens the fibres, making the kale not just easier to eat, but downright fabulous to eat, although we’re still working on the teeth-clogging part.
Lashings of crunchy, oily sourdough crumbs, finely shaved fennel and radish, lashings of EVOO and plenty of parmesan don’t hurt the cause of this salad either. It really is an inspired combo and we make it all the time. The original salad used ricotta salata, which is pressed, aged ricotta, but we prefer parmesan and that's easier to get too. We also add dried black olives to ours but they’re not 100% necessary so don’t bother if you don’t want to. You can also toss in a can of drained, flaked, oil-packed tuna if you want more of a protein hit. It works really well.
SERVES 4
60g (1 cup, lightly packed) fresh sourdough bread crumbs
extra virgin olive oil
1 bunch kale, stalks removed
60ml (¼ cup) lemon juice, or to taste
4-6 radishes, trimmed and very thinly sliced
1 small bulb fennel, trimmed and very thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
90g parmesan or pecorino, finely shaved
60g (½ cup) dried black olives, optional
Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Spread the breadcrumbs on a small oven tray and drizzle with about 1½ tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until deep golden and crisp, then set aside to cool.
Place the kale in a large bowl and tear it into small pieces. Add 1 tsp sea salt flakes and 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, then using your hands, massage the kale REALLY vigorously until it softens and deepens in colour. Add the radish, fennel, garlic and lemon juice, then drizzle with plenty of extra virgin olive oil, to taste. Toss to combine. Place half the mixture in a large bowl or on a platter, then scatter over half the cheese, crumbs and olives, if you’re using them. Repeat with the remaining salad, crumbs, cheese and olives, then season with freshly ground black pepper and serve.
