Over the past five years, I’ve cooked various iterations of the kale salad I first created by combining several recipes. I never wrote it down until last year, despite several requests, and I’ve since perfected it. I always leave a bowl empty when I bring it to a potluck.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 10 mins |
| Additional Time: | 3 hrs |
| Total Time: | 3 hrs 25 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 12 servings |
Ingredients
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 16 ounces kale, stems removed and discarded, leaves torn into bite-sized pieces
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 5 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
- ½ cup toasted walnuts, chopped
Instructions
- Combine water and cranberries in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until cranberries are soft and liquid is syrupy, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in honey, remove from the heat, and allow to cool.
- Put kale and red onion in an 8-quart pot or a very large bowl.
- Whisk olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl; pour over the kale and stir well. Add feta cheese, walnuts, and moist cranberries with their syrup; stir until well combined. Cover and place in the refrigerator to marinate, stirring occasionally, until kale has wilted and shrunken in size, 3 to 8 hours.
- To serve, transfer to a smaller serving bowl.
- I have substituted blue or Gorgonzola cheese for the feta and pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, or sunflower seeds for the walnuts with great results.
- If the kale looks dry after marinating for 4 hours, add additional olive oil and balsamic vinegar in equal amounts starting with 1/2 tablespoon each.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 139 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 12 g |
| Cholesterol | 11 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 4 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Sodium | 295 mg |
| Sugars | 6 g |
| Fat | 9 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
The dressing on this salad is so good! I would keep the water the same but add another ¼ cup cranberries. I thought I had feta, but I didn’t, so I used parmasean cheese. Feta would be better. Thanks for this recipe. Chicken would be good on this to make it a meal, and apples would be good too.
I have never made a kale salad and by chance today I searched for a recipe and this popped up. Fabulous salad! We are making it for company this Saturday! Delicious!