This past summer we were at a Fourth of July lunch celebration, and I tried a salad with a lemony vinaigrette that my friend Susan had made. The salad appeared to be an ordinary salad, but when I ate it, it was anything but ordinary. The extraordinary lemony vinaigrette Susan served, made my taste buds dance. It had just enough salt in combination with the lemon to create a scrumptious wave of flavor. I had to get the recipe right away! She told me the recipe orally and that night I tried to recreate it without any measurements and a flawed memory. It was still good, but I eventually got the original written recipe and slightly adapted it.
Have you ever eaten kale before? Had it raw? Cooked? The first time I was introduced to kale, besides as a loverly garnish, may have been cooked in a soup my dad made a year or two ago (my memory is a bit fuzzy). I bought it for the first time about a year ago to start eating raw in salads. Kale is an amazing super food that helps fight cancer, is stocked with vitamins and is low in calories among many other amazing properties.
When we started our garden with the help of my friend Teresa in the spring, she realized that I wouldn’t have enough space to plant my kale, so I gave her our seeds to plant at her house. As kale has been in season the last couple of months we have had abundant opportunities to have it. Besides having it raw in salads like this one featured, we have also sauteed it with other vegetables and even tried kale chips, which my family loved!
Lemony Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 5 T olive oil 1/4 cup + 1 T
- 2 T lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ t dry mustard
- ¼ celery seed
- ¼ t honey the original recipe calls for sugar
- ¼ t pepper
- dash of cayenne pepper increases metabolism, lower blood pressure and along with other beneficial properties
Instructions
-
Combine all ingredients together in a jar and shake.
-
Refrigerate the remaining dressing.
Lemony Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 5 T olive oil 1/4 cup + 1 T
- 2 T lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ t dry mustard
- ¼ celery seed
- ¼ t honey the original recipe calls for sugar
- ¼ t pepper
- dash of cayenne pepper increases metabolism, lower blood pressure and along with other beneficial properties
Instructions
-
Combine all ingredients together in a jar and shake.
-
Refrigerate the remaining dressing.
The Verdict: The dressing makes this salad come alive! I love to double, or triple the recipe. This is my favorite dressing, and we always try to keep it on hand.
This looks great! Thanks for the recipe and I love the honey swap for the sugar.
I love cooked kale but I found eating it raw too tough until I discovered how to ‘massage’ kale from Susan Voisin at fatfreevegan.com. You pour your salad dressing onto the raw chopped kale then knead it in for 2-4 minutes. It softens up the kale and makes it easier to chew. Also reduces how much space it takes up on the plate so I can pile more on!
Hi Liz, Thanks for the heads up! I will try that!! I usually just deal with the chewiness.
We absolutely love kale over here! I tend to put it in my green smoothies, but I also love massaged kale salad with avocado and tomatoes – yum! This dressing looks delicious!
Sonja, thanks for sharing this at Raw Foods Thursdays. I have a bunch of kale in the fridge and needed a new idea. I’ll be making this today!
Just made the vinaigrette and loved it! The lemon, honey, and cayenne just sing! Had to change the kale salad ingredients a bit based on the contents of the fridge, but this dressing is a winner! Thanks again! 🙂
Hey Heather, So glad you liked it!! We are in love with it!
Awesome vinaigrette. Btw, I always spell that word wrong. I definitely had to peek up to see how to spell it correctly. haha. I make a pretty similar one actually.
I saw this post on Slightly Indulgent.
LOVE KALE! Kale has so many nutritional benefits, I love to find different ways to eat it, and this looks great with the dressing! Thanks for the post!