Whenever I’m in the Phoenix area, I make a point to dine at True Food Kitchen. For those who aren’t familiar with True Food, the famous Dr. Andrew Weil (along with restaurateur Sam Fox) opened this restaurant in 2008. There are now several locations. The entire menu is based around Dr. Weil’s Anti-Inflammatory Diet and food pyramid with an emphasis on local and organic food whenever possible. And I can tell you, every time I’ve been the restaurant is absolutely packed (and it’s a huge restaurant!).
[image source: True Food Kitchen]
Everything I’ve had at this restaurant has been ah-mazing. Even though it’s not a vegan or vegetarian restaurant, I always find a few great options on the menu. My last visit was no different. I ordered The Autumn Ingredient salad and I was blown away. It’s bursting with roasted squash, brussels sprouts, pomegranate, cauliflower, mulberries, and white beans. It was the first time I’ve had roasted pomegranate seeds and I can tell you I’ll be doing this real soon. The only thing that I didn’t care for was the Horseradish Vinaigrette that came with it (but I’m not a horseradish person, so what do I know).
Also intriguing, was my mom’s Tuscan Kale Salad – I love the idea of shredded kale (it just seems so much easier to chew!). The shredded kale was tossed in a simple lemon garlic dressing with a few handfuls of breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese thrown in. I decided I had to make a vegan version of this salad as soon as possible. I knew it would make the perfect salad starter for any holiday menu!
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The Best Shredded Kale Salad
Yield
4 small bowls
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Inspired by a kale salad my mom enjoyed at a restaurant called True Food Kitchen, I knew I had to make my own dairy-free version as soon as I was back in my kitchen. The key to this salad is finely chopping (or shredding) the kale. The lemon-garlic dressing will coat each and every tiny piece of kale, working its magical softening powers and infusing the shredded kale with so much flavour. I prefer to use Lacinato (or dinosaur) kale in this salad because it's much more delicate than traditional curly kale and it has a milder flavour. Instead of cheese, I topped the salad with a toasted pecan "Parmesan" topping and a handful of dried sweetened cranberries. The result is one of the best kale salads I've tried to date and you'll find yourself wanting to inhale the entire bowl. Two bunches of dinosaur kale might seem like a lot, but once it's shredded, it only makes about 8 cups and then it further reduces in volume by almost half as it marinates. If you are making this salad for more than 4 people, I suggest doubling it.
Ingredients
For the salad and dressing:
- 2 medium bunches destemmed lacinato/dinosaur kale, finely chopped (8 to 9 cups/300 to 340 g chopped)
- 2 large garlic cloves
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) fresh lemon juice
- 3 to 4 tablespoons (45 to 60 mL) extra-virgin olive oil, to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (just eyeball it)
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup (35 to 70 g) dried sweetened cranberries, for garnish
For the pecan Parmesan:
- 1 cup (120 g) pecan halves, toasted
- 1 1/2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 pinches fine sea salt
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Spread the pecans onto a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes until fragrant and lightly golden.
- Remove the stems from the kale and discard. (You can save them for smoothies if you are hardcore!) Finely chop the kale leaves (the smaller, the better).
- Wash the kale and spin dry. Place dried kale into a large bowl.
- For the dressing: In a mini food processor, process the garlic until minced. Now add the lemon, oil, salt, and pepper and process until combined. Adjust to taste, if desired. Pour the dressing onto the kale and mix it into the kale with your hands or toss with spoons. Keep mixing for about 1 minute to ensure everything is coated perfectly.
- For the Pecan Parmesan: Rinse out the mini processor and pat dry. Add the pecans into the processor and process until the pecans are the size of peas or a bit larger. Now add in the nutritional yeast, oil, and salt and process again until it has a coarse crumb texture. Be sure not to overprocess—we still want a nice crunchy texture here, not powder.
- Sprinkle the Pecan Parmesan all over the salad. Toss on a handful or two of dried cranberries. Wrap and place in the fridge for 30 to 60 minutes to soften, or you can simply enjoy it right away. In the past, I've tried letting this salad sit overnight in the fridge and I greatly prefer the flavour of the salad served the day of, so I don't recommend making this salad the day before and letting it sit in the fridge overnight.
Tip:
- Instead of a mini processor, you can chop/whisk the dressing and pecan "Parmesan" by hand.
- For a nut-free version, try using breadcrumbs instead of pecans.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
Like I said, I felt like I could’ve polished off the entire salad on my own. It’s that good. I hope it’ll convince you to give kale a shot if it’s not already on your regular rotation!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was a HUGE HIT! Absolutely fantastic. I thought my family would leave me some leftovers for tomorrow but when I found the bowl during dishes, alas it was emptied by my hubby and 4-year-old son!! Well done, these guys are hard to please :) Thanks for sharing!
This is an amazing salad! I’ve made it a number of times and even served it to guests. Always to rave reviews. The pecan Parmesan is the secret sauce!
Me (and my friends) are so happy that I found this recipe. This is the best kale salad EVER. I thought I lost the recipe, then (thank my lucky stars) I found it again! Thank you so much Angela for this very tasty and good for you salad. In fact I am going to the farmers Mkt. tomorrow to get me some more kale ($1.50 a bunch on Kauai).
Mucho Mahalo’s… Mindy
I don’t really like kale but I tried this salad and really liked it so I will be making it again!
I tried this at a potluck last weekend and it was divine! But I normally don’t eat oil. Do you have any suggestions for how to make this without oil?
I have loved your blog since 2010 and purchased your book recently. I have finally gotten around to making this salad… and WHOA!!!! BEST SALAD EVAARR!! I am bringing this to my family’s Thanksgiving dinner! Thank you so much for this GLOrious recipe! :) I pretty much love you :)
So happy you enjoyed it! Thank you :)
Thanks for this recipe! Do you think ground flax seed would work in place of the yeast?
I made this shredded kale salad for thanksgiving this year. It’s so simple and delicious, it was a hit. Its going into our weekly rotation for sure.
This truly is The Best Shredded Kale Salad. My boyfriend’s mother made all the side dishes vegan for thanksgiving…this was one of them. It was SO delicious! So much so that we made it again Saturday…and I’m planning on making it today. Simple but so perfect. Thank you for posting!
Made this last week when I was craving raw veggies. Major yum! My boyfriend wanted to lick the dressing off the plate! Such an easy recipe to throw together too. I know this is going to be showing up again on my weekly menu. Thank you for posting!
I have made this kale salad over and over again since I copied the recipe earlier this year. It is by far one of my favorite recipes. I cheat a little bit and put more “goobers” than kale since I LOVE nuts and cranberries. Anyway, my husband LOVES it as much as I do.
I didn’t like kale until I made this recipe!
This salad is amazing!! I have made it for several holiday events and each time I have people asking me for the recipe. It is so simple, but yet so delicious!! Thanks!!!
I ended up with 8 bunches of kale from the CSA that I host, and was getting desperate for something new to try when I came across this recipe. I took it to a thanksgiving dinner of 23 people (only 2 vegans!) and everyone raved about it! Thank you so much!
so glad it was a hit!!
I’ve been trying my best to like kale salad for a long time…this recipe finally clenched it! The dressing really softens the kale, making it a little less harsh for newbies. I love it! Thanks so much! Didn’t have bread crumbs to sub for ‘parmesan’, so used pepitas. So good!
Wow! I can’t believe you got my kids to eat kale with this recipe….AND I had to fight them off for the leftovers(actually I gave in and shared)!!!
I made this salad last night and it was wonderful! I highly recommend you give this one a try.
Yum! Sounds much more complex and delicious that the one I had yesterday! Will definitely try as the farmers markets are abundant in kale now.
This is the first time I’ve made kale salad. To my shock, my 10 and 12 year old asked for more. And my husband asked me to add it to our rotation. I added a ton of cranberries since it needs a little more sweetness. I think I’ll cut up gala apples and add next time.
Thanks so much for a tasty and healthy recipe!!!
I really love this salad and have made it several times…except….it needs just a touch of pure maple syrup in the dressing to cut the acid of the lemon juice. Makes all the difference in the world. I also like to chop my cranberries so they are more likely to stay distributed through the salad rather than falling through to the bottom.
SO HAPPY I found this blog. She is not kidding when she says it is the best kale salad. I’ve been trying kale for a while but could not make it a part of my diet as the bitter taste was too overwhelming. Well, I’m happy to say I will be eating A LOT more kale. This salad rocks! I served it for a birthday luncheon and every single person asked for the recipe…it’s that good! I don’t know if it was the nutritional yeast (so good) or what but this salad disappeared before anything else!