One Leaf, Five Salads

Even if you take a decidedly lax approach to maintaining a balanced and nutritious diet, there’s a high probability that salads play at least some part in your day-to-day eating habits. As you probably know, this is a win-win situation for your health. However, this also means that unless you want to quickly become bored of the same old salad, you’ll need to put forth a little more creativity and effort in terms of food preparation. This task is easier than you might think, and to get your creative juices flowing, we’ve listed five different salads that are all built around the same leaf: kale. Nutrient-rich and full of flavor, kale is a hugely versatile dark green vegetable and can be adapted to a number of cuisines and prepared using many different cooking methods.

200 g / 7 oz kale 3 tbsp lemon juice 2 garlic cloves (minced) 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 5 tbsp Dijon mustard 2 anchovies 175 ml / 0.75 cup extra virgin olive oil Parmesan cheese
Tear kale into large pieces by hand. In a small bowl or food processor, combine the lemon juice, garlic cloves, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, and anchovies. Then, add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking or blending continuously until a smooth dressing has formed. Finally, fold in the Parmesan cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add desired amount of dressing to salad and toss well. If desired, top off with homemade croutons.

200 g / 7 oz kale 2 cloves garlic 150 g / 5 g cherry tomatoes 1 avocado 2 170g / 6 oz salmon fillets 3 tbsp pesto 2 cloves garlic vegetable oil for frying
Tear kale apart by hand. Finely mince garlic cloves. Halve cherry tomatoes. Cut avocado into bite-sized cubes. In a large bowl, mix together kale, cherry tomatoes, and avocado. In a large frying pan, sauté garlic in some vegetable oil over medium-low heat until lightly golden and crispy. Set aside. Add more vegetable oil to pan and sauté salmon over medium heat for 3 – 4 min. per side. Place salmon on a bed of kale salad to serve and garnish with crispy garlic. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

425 g / 15 oz whole canned beets 200 g / 7 oz kale 0.5 red onion 2-3 blood oranges 60 ml / 0.25 cup lemon juice 120 ml / 0.5 cup olive oil salt pepper
Drain beets and quarter. Roughly chop kale. Julienne onion. Peel and segment oranges. Whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Combine everything in a separate bowl and mix well.

200 g / 7 oz kale 0.5 tbsp minced ginger 0.5 head red cabbage 1 bunch cilantro 1 red bell pepper 1 cup almonds (sliced) 60 ml / 0.25 cup Macadamia or sesame oil 60 ml / 0.25 cup tamari (wheat free soy) 1 lime (juice) 60 ml / .25 cup rice syrup
Mince ginger. Pull kale from the rib and then cut leaves into thin strips. Cut cabbage into thin strips. Roughly chop cilantro. Julienne bell pepper. In a small bowl, whisk together Macadamia or sesame oil, tamari, lime juice, rice syrup, and ginger. Then, combine everything in a separate bowl and mix well.

200 g / 7 oz kale 1 425 g / 15 oz. jar of kimchi 1 tbsp black sesame seeds
Roughly chop kale and fold into kimchi. Garnish with sesame seeds.