Description

This salad was a big winner on my blog. Everyone fell in love with the ease of the recipe and the deliciousness of the flavors. When you hear about kale salads being trendy and craveable, this is the type of salad that everyone is referring to! Raw kale marinated or massaged with flavors, tahini or nut butter, avocado, veggies, a sweet accent, and something sassy like lemon juice or apple cider vinegar. Make this your go-to raw kale recipe—it only takes five steps!

Ingredients

1 bunch kale
¾ cups shredded carrots
1 small avocado, diced
½ cup diced sweet onion

Simple Sweet Tahini Dressing (see note)

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar or fresh lime juice)
2 tablespoons tahini (or substitute with nut or seed butter)
2 tablespoons grade B maple syrup
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil (optional, adds richness)
Pinch of freshly grated zest
2 pinches cayenne
Pinch of sea salt and a few pinches freshly ground black pepper
2 to 3 tablespoons seeds or nuts (optional)

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Instructions

Wash the kale. Run each thick leaf under warm water and massage any grit away. Tear the leaves away from the thick stalks and place them in a large bowl. Rinse and drain the leaves several times until the kale is adequately clean.
Drain the water from the bowl for a final time and squeeze the kale dry with a few paper towels. Remove any large pieces of kale from the bowl and finely chop them into long strips. (If you like large pieces of kale you can skip this last chopping step.) You should have 4 to 6 cups of kale.
Place the kale, carrots, avocado, and onion in a large bowl.

For the Simple Sweet Tahini Dressing:

In a small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients together.
Add the dressing to the bowl of veggies and kale and start tossing. Massage the dressing into the kale with your hands, if you’d like, for more infused flavor. Fluff and toss until the dressing is well absorbed into the greens and veggies. Fold in the seeds, if desired.
Cover and refrigerate the salad. Allow at least 1 hour for the dressing to really sink into the ingredients. Plus, chilling everything makes it refreshing and tasty as a cold salad side. You can even make this salad the night before you serve it. Overnight chilling works! The greens should be eaten within a day for the best taste and texture.

Notes

Make a double batch of dressing if you like your greens more heavily dressed.