Everytime I come across a Kale recipe on Youtube or blog, I feel a pang of envy because I have never been able to find that in KL. And to be honest this nature’s superfood was not on my radar when I was still living in Oz, as it hasn’t gained such a huge popularity yet. Oh, once I did see that in B.I.G but the price was way too crazy, I picked it up and hesitated. Only until a couple of days ago when we were at our local supermarket I finally saw some imported Kale for quite reasonable price, so I snatched a bunch in a heart beat.

Kale is a leafy green vegetable that belongs to the Brassica family, a group of vegetables including cabbage, collards, and Brussels sprouts that have gained recent widespread attention due to their health-promoting, sulfur-containing phytonutrients. Curly kale has ruffled leaves and a fibrous stalk and is usually deep green in color. It has a lively pungent flavor with delicious bitter peppery qualities.

Nutrients wise, it has high content of antioxidants, dietary fibre, Omega-3 Fatty Acids and not to mention various Vitamins and Minerals. It’s no wonder Kale has been dubbed the new Superfood. And don’t be intimidated by the extreme green hue, when prepared right, it can be quite delicious (as far as vegetables can be of course, I’m not going to promise tasting bacon from this, although you are welcome to add some….).

There are many ways Kale can be cooked. Braised, Steamed, Baked in to chips, Blend into juice but for the first recipe, I wanted to try it in its Raw form. Particularly, I wanted to have a go at “massaging” the kale. So I explored my fridge for some salad ingredients and put this salad together. Of them there was a bulb of fennel I had wanted to cook with some fish but didn’t get to, but just as well because I love the aniseed flavour when it’s raw.

This salad took no time at all to put together and it has a lovely balance of sweet and tartness, complete with delightful texture and crunch. Here’s the recipe:

Massaged Kale Salad (serves 2 or 1 very hungry person)
2 large stalks of Kale
1 Medium Apple
1/8 Small Purple Cabbage
1 Small Carrot
1 bulb medium Fennel
Olive Oil
Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon honey (Omit for those on Whole 30)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Tear the kale leaves into small section and remove the hard stalks. In a large bowl, add a little olive oil and salt and get both hands to massage the leaves until the leaves are nicely wilted and soft. It’s quite a therapeutic process, mind you.

Slice the apple thinly and slice the purple cabbage, carrot and fennel into thin strips. Meanwhile mix olive oil, lemon juice, and honey and whisk well. Mix all fruits and vegetables together (arrange nicely if you like) and drizzle the dressing over. Season with salt and pepper if you like. Serves as is or cold.

Of course, when it comes to salads, the sky is your limit. Feel free to add your choice of fruits (mango is quite popular with kale, orange too) and perhaps some nuts too. I like to keep my dressing fairly simple to eat clean, you can always spice it up with more herbs and spices.

Bonus Pic: Featuring the very adventurous Harry (who once went missing for a week and caused a ruckus) was being his mischievous self nosing around.

Back to the salad:

Can’t wait to buy more Kale!

This post has been included in the article <Twinkl’s top veggie recipes> by International educational publisher, Twinkl – you can read more here.