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!
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!
Made this today for a Thanksgiving/Birthday party – and it all went! Being vegan in Germany is hard, so I was thrilled to bring something that I (and everyone else) really enjoyed. Thanks for the great recipe.
I just had this with some vegan mushroom risotto for dinner and it was delicious! Loved using a mini food processor for the dressing. I’m going to start doing that with all of my salad dressing :)
Made this on turkey day and was such a hit! It was everyone’s favourite! I made it again yesterday (alongside your roasted tomato basil pesto over brown rice spinach noodles…which turned out so AWESOMEEE!) for friends for dinner but this time I used the rest of the dino kale and added in red curly kale and it was just as awesome! I’ve been loving your blog, you’ve sparked up some creative energy inside of me to really get into cooking.I’ve made the lentil,walnut & mushroom balls too which were to die for!…thanks for the inspiration! I LOVE OH SHE GLOWS! :D
I’m so happy to hear this Sara!!! Thanks so much :)
I made this salad for Thanksgiving and everyone had some on their plate, even my 15-year-old nephew, and all declared it “Delicious!!” It will be making an encore appearance this week at my holiday party. And may I add that all your recipes are yummy, and I can’t wait until Amazon delivers your cookbook (or should I say coffee table book due to the beautiful photography?) Keep the yummmm coming!
Wow now that is a compliment! Thanks so much :)
Pecan parmesan??!! Can’t wait to try it. Yum!
I can’t WAIT to make this salad!!!
Beautiful!!! looks very tasty cant wait to make it as a side dish for christmas dinner! thank you for this recipe! always looking for new ways to eat kale
I made this salad yesterday to have for lunches this week… when i was making it i read the part about “enjoy the same day”. whoops! so i just shredded the salad and stored each component separately. i have no idea how this will taste on friday but today it’s AMAZING. there really wasn’t that much dressing and i was worried since kale can have such a bitter taste but it was perfect. the flavors of the dressing mixed with the sweetness of the cranberries and the amazing pecan parm is just perfect. i did blend my pecan parm a little too long so it’s more of a paste but i broke it up and crumbled it on the salad and it works just fine. Shredded kale is def one of my new favorite things! OH! and i used curly kale instead of dino… missed that part of the instructions too, but it worked out just fine.
I made this for Thanksgiving and it was a HUGE hit!! I will make this again…
Thank you,
I love True Food Kitchen! With very few vegan restaurants available to me in the greater Phoenix area, this is a popular go-to for us (especially when looking for a great place to go with non-vegans!). I am obsessed with the autumn ingredient salad (and love the horseradish dressing which I thought totally “made” the salad!) and I always really enjoyed their kale salad too (just without the parmesan), so I’m so excited to see that you posted a yummy looking vegan version :). Next time you’re in Phoenix, if you haven’t already tried them, you should also hit Pita Jungle (lots of vegan friendly dishes) and Green/Nami (all vegan restaurant and soft serve dessert place) – two other favorites of mine!
I’m lucky enough to live in Phoenix and enjoy True Foods! Making this salad for Thanksgiving was a treat!! I stayed true to everything… except adding spinach and romaine for my NON vegan-plant-based-traditional-food eating family! It was perfect, except I should have tossed the dressing right before dinner not an hour before. Stores were out of Lacinato Kale which is sturdier, so I sliced up baby kale with the other greens. It would have been great tossed right before, but the hour it sat it wilted the softer lettuce. It didn’t seem to matter, everyone LOVED it and my grandpa even ate it not knowing it contained kale! I made several of your recipes as did my other foodie friends and we can’t stop sharing OHSHEGLOWS with everyone we know! Thank you for making this your calling!
I can’t wait to try this! Looks amazing!!
OH MY WORD! I made this for Thanksgiving as our green salad of the meal. To be honest, I was apprehensive and a little worried if we would like it. But I was worried for nothing! This was the BOMB! Lol! Thank you! This will be made again, and again, and again. :D
God bless you and your family! Thanks for all the wonderful recipes.
Hi Angela,
Where the heck can I find lacinato kale in Toronto? I can only every find curly and it’s driving me crazy!
With a winter storm headed our way, I just went out and harvested the last of our dino kale and made this salad for lunch today. Seriously?! Kale has never tasted so good. My green smoothies are going to have to fight for my kale from now on! PS- I have loved everything I’ve tried from your site. Thanks for all the phenomenal, healthy recipes!
I love Kale. This salad looks delicious! I will have to try it.
never knew what to do with kale so I decided to try this salad it is our favorite go to salad thanks for all your wonderful recipes
I absolutely love this salad! I brought it to our family Thanksgiving celebration, and it was a hit! My husband and I loved it so much we made it again a few days later.
Thank you for sharing such delicious yet healthy recipes. I look forward to each new post!
Kale is becoming such a popular food. I can’t wait to try this recipe. with the green adn the red it would go well for a holiday dish. :) I love making taste vegan foods and surprising the non-vegans with them. :) Thanks for all your hard work. I don’t think I’ve disliked any recipe I’ve tried from here. :)
I didn’t have any lemon juice so I substituted balsamic vinegar (and left out the salt) with excellent results. Thanks for sharing this recipe – it’s definitely going into rotation!