Festive Kale Salad
Apple, lemon, dates & pomegranate, oh my!
This salad has wonderful pops of flavor and texture. When pomegranate isn’t in season, it is delicious with just the apple. Though it would probably be lovely with berries or red grapes for a seasonal flair.
Festive Kale Salad
recipe from Lisa Rice's Kitchen Plantastic
Ingredients
3 – 4 T fresh lemon juice (about 2 – 3 lemons, juiced) or more
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 bunch kale, washed and de-stemmed (I like to use curly) and sliced, or 1 bag of pre-washed and sliced kale
1 large apple (fuji or honey crisp) cut into matchsticks
1/2 cup pitted dates, sliced (I prefer sliced deglet noor in this recipe because of their firm texture, but any dates will do)
1/3 cup sliced or slivered unsalted roasted almonds
Seeds from one pomegranate
salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
(optional) 1 small avocado, chopped small or 1 T EVOO
(optional, but recommended!) Vegan feta
Vegan Feta ingredients (recipe from Claudia Lucero’s “One-hour Dairy-Free Cheese” book):
1 cup blanched almond flour
1 cup unsweetened plant-based yogurt (I like Forager or Kite Hill)
1 T sauerkraut
1 T nutritional yeast
1 T lemon juice
2 Tsp tapioca starch
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1 3/4 fine seas salt
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp dry oregano
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
1 T agar powder + 1/3 cup water
1 tsp lemon zest (to stir in once cooked before cooling)
(Trader Joe’s and Violife vegan feta contain oil, but are very delicious on this salad if you do not have time to make homemade which doesn’t contain oil).
Instructions
In a large salad bowl whisk the lemon juice salt (and avocado or evoo if using) with a fork.. Bunch up the kale and slice across into thin ribbons (or just open your bag!). Toss the kale into the bowl, and toss with your hands. Gently massage for a few seconds. Let that sit while your prepare your other ingredients. Toss the apple, dates, pomegranate seeds and sliced almonds, and a sprinkle of salt and fresh ground pepper in the salad and toss again.
To make the feta, combined all the ingredients (except for the agar, water and zest) into a high powered blender (I use a Nutribullet) and blend at least one minute or until smooth.
In a small sauce pan, use a fork to whisk the agar and water together over a medium heat, stirring contanstly until it begins to form the consistency of apple sauce. Quickly add it to the blender and blend with the rest of the ingredients until smooth.
Pour the blender contents in to a medium sauce pan over a medium heat, stirring frequently until it is smooth and begins to get stringy when you lift the spoon. Stir in the zest, Pour the mixture in to a cheese mold (or a square pyrex) and allow to cool uncovered in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Loosen the sides with a knife or spatula, and turn upside down to cut.
Garnish with chopped vegan feta.
