After attending Chef AJ’s cooking class last Sunday, I was dying to try one of her recipes and definitely craving some kale.
I went for the “Hail To The Kale” salad, which was the original dish I had tried at Whole Foods before discovering Chef AJ!
Hail To The Kale Salad
Recipe by Chef AJ
serves 3-4
Salad:
2 large heads of curly kale
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup raisins
Dressing:
1 cup raw almond butter (unsalted/unsweetened)
1 cup coconut water (I use O.N.E.)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 cloves garlic
3/4 oz. fresh ginger (approx 1″)
2 tablespoons low sodium Tamari or low sodium soy sauce
4 pitted Medjool dates
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
Chop the kale and set aside in a large bowl.
In a high powered blender, combine all dressing ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy.
Massage about 1/2 cup of the dressing onto the kale (more or less depending on your taste).
Toss with slivered almonds and raisins and serve.
Store excess dressing in a jar and refrigerate.
Chef AJ’s recipe doesn’t call for raisins, but I thought they were the perfect chewy addition to this creamy salad.
As Chef AJ says “Like a woman, this salad gets better with age.” I have to agree, I love to let the kale marinade in the dressing overnight in the refrigerator. It is twice as good the next day!
This recipe makes a large amount of dressing.
I was able to coat my 2 heads of kale, and fill an entire mason jar for future salads.
This dressing is a great staple to have in your fridge for veggie dipping and quick salads.
Sarah
May 20, 2012 at 10:16 pm (12 years ago)Jus made this the other day but with water instead of the coconut water. I love it but noticed the dressing gets incredibly thick like almond butter in the fridge. Did yours do that? I was thinking I would add more liquid next time. The coconut water sounds like a great addition!
Catherine
May 20, 2012 at 11:03 pm (12 years ago)Hi Sarah! I am so glad that you tried the salad! The dressing does get thick when kept in the fridge because the fat from the nut butter solidifies. This is completely normal. You could try adding a bit more liquid if it help you to coat the kale evenly!
Christine
June 26, 2012 at 11:54 am (12 years ago)Mmmmm!! After I made some almond butter in my blender, I didn’t want all the yummy bits stuck at the bottom to go to waste, so I made this dressing. YUMMM! Absolutely every recipe I try from rffmbt is wonderfully delicious! It’s a no fail-recipe blog :9 I was tempted to drink the dressing (ew?) but it is that good! Positively can’t wait to have it on a kale salad as my pre-3 hours of dance meal!
Catherine
June 26, 2012 at 3:56 pm (12 years ago)Hahaha you are hilarious! I love your idea of turning your extra almond butter into dressing! I am quite obsessed with this dressing and even dip my veggies in it for an afternoon snack! So glad you loved the recipe! health & Happiness xo
Carrie
July 16, 2012 at 3:37 pm (12 years ago)This dressing was SO yum! My taste buds were dancing when it got the almond butter and ginger flavors. Delish! Can’t wait to maybe use it as a marinade.
Catherine
July 16, 2012 at 4:09 pm (12 years ago)So glad you loved it, and omg a marinade would be incredible! Isn’t the flavor amazing?! Chef AJ is a genius!
Torre
August 12, 2012 at 10:54 am (12 years ago)Just finished eating a big bowl of this! YUM!! Also, I finished the Bunny Cleanse on Friday and lost 7lbs! My mom even came to visit me this weekend and noticed I was losing weight. I seriously can not get enough of your food. I even think of the Bunny Pyramid when I’m eating a meal. It just so easy to follow. And tasty of course! When eating this for a meal, do you recommend adding a grain to go along with it?
Catherine
August 12, 2012 at 11:09 am (12 years ago)Hi Torre! That is fantastic and so rewarding that your mom noticed your weight loss after your cleanse! I am so proud of you! Isn’t Hail To The Kale amazing?! Chef AJ is such a genius! When I make this salad, I usually eat it as is for a light meal, because it’s so delicious on it’s own. To make it a meal you could add 1/2 cup of cooked chickpeas for protein, and 1/2 cup cooked quinoa as your grain – either on the side or mixed in. I wonder what the salad would taste like with chickpeas and quinoa! Or maybe just a side of mixed quinoa or chickpeas? I definitely need to explore this haha I’m so happy that you had great results with the cleanse, and find the Rabbit Food Pyramid helpful while dining out 🙂 I try to make healthy eating as easy and stress free as possible! xo
Torre
August 22, 2012 at 5:23 pm (12 years ago)First of all, I put chickpeas into this the other day and it was awesome. Second, a vegan friend of mine came over yesterday. I had him try the dressing and I thought he was going to die. He just texted me about how he’d been thinking about it all day. Haha!
Catherine
August 22, 2012 at 5:39 pm (12 years ago)Hahaha that is awesome!!! So happy your friend loved it too! Definitely my favorite salad dressing!
Jody
September 1, 2012 at 11:29 am (12 years ago)Thanks for that! It’s just the aswner I needed.
Torre
August 22, 2012 at 5:23 pm (12 years ago)Oh! Also, I hope you’re healing well. All the best!
Torre
August 23, 2012 at 4:08 pm (12 years ago)Oh dear. My posts are getting obsessive. But I had to share this with you. This dressing, raw broccoli, sunflower seeds and dried cranberries. Do it! Nom nom nom. Okay, I promise to stop commenting on your stuff for at least a week now. Haha.
Leaf
November 9, 2012 at 5:27 pm (12 years ago)I was wary of the Tamari sauce in this recipe but my interest was piqued enough to give it a whack. 🙂 I am happy to report that it turned out pretty well. The dressing is best on the kale and the raisins and almonds are a great finish. If I made this one again, I’d decrease the Tamari and increase the ginger and lime. Just to bring more of the refreshing almond/lime/ginger combination. 😉
Thank you so much for sharing!
Also, I must say, Catherine, that rabbits have a special place in my heart too. For a large part of my kid days we had rabbits out the wazoo (they kept having babies… I was in heaven). I miss having rabbits very much and hope to get a pair again some day. What breed of rabbits to you have? We mostly had Netherland Dwarfs and Silver Martens.