Lime Kale and Sesame Salad
This Lime Kale and Sesame Salad is a fun one folks. A bit of a happy accident, but am I ever happy we made it. There’s something about the mix of super toasted nutty sesame, balanced with the sharp acidity and freshness of lime. Add in your favourite hearty greens and enjoy!
Lime Kale and Sesame Salad- All about balance.
Like I said above, this salad is a perfect example of balance.
When we talk about balancing flavour, we want everything to work together, no one ingredient outshining the others.
Raw sesame seeds have great flavour, but when you give them a hearty toast, they open up and release a ton of nutty goodness. This is one of those instances where more is better, load it up with sesame!
The vinaigrette had a good amount of fat (olive oil) that matches up with the nuttyness of the sesame. To balance it we need a few good twists of lime.
Next we need a bit of heat, and I’m not talking about spice. There are a ton of ingredients we can use to get some heat. In this case we use fresh ginger, raw garlic and dijon. It’s less spicy and more of a burn (think of a raw ginger shot and fresh ground mustard).
Lastly we need just a touch of sweetness to bring it all home. I used honey, but you could use any other sweetener you like. Maple syrup would go great with those nutty sesame flavours!
Lime Kale and Sesame Salad – Winter Greens.
A winter green is any hardy leafed veggie that you can get through the winter months. Think kale, cabbage and brussels.
I love using these kinds of greens in my winter salad – shop local and what not.
Kale gets a bad wrap. People often think it’s too rough, tough and fibrous. But if you prepare it properly, it can be the most tender salad green out there.
You really need to tenderise your kale. The best way to do that is to marinate it in your dressing, and by getting your hands a little dirty!
Before you add your shredded brussels sprouts and toasted sesame, add your dressing to your chopped kale and really mash it in. And I mean mash it in. Get right up in there and crush the dressing into the kale. There’s no need to blanch and shock it, just spend some time with it and give it some tough love.
You’ll see the green turn a darker shade (that’s from the cell walls being broken), once it’s at that stage, you’re ready to eat!
A quick dressing is the best dressing.
Like all of my other salad dressings, I like to keep them super simple and quick to make.
All you need is a bowl and whisk or a larger sized mason jar.
Make sure your garlic and ginger are as finely minced (or even better yet grated) as possible. We want the ginger and garlic to be fully incorporated into the vinaigrette.
Give it all a good shake or whisk until the oils and juice are fully incorporated. Keep it in an airtight container for up to 5 days and enjoy through the week.
Other great recipes to check out!
If you liked the sound of this Lime Kale and Sesame Salad, here are a few other recipes I think you should try!
Sushi Restaurant Salad Dressing
Recipe
Lime Kale and Sesame Salad
Ingredients:
For the Dressing
- 1 Lime Zested
- 3 Limes Juiced
- 1 tbsp Honey
- 1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
- 1 inch Ginger Grated
- 1 Garlic Clove Grated
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 1/2 cup Olive oil
For the Salad
- 6 cups Kale chopped
- 1 cup Brussel Sprouts shredded
- 1/2 cup Sesame Seeds Raw
Instructions:
- Into a dry frying pan set over medium heat, add ½ of untoasted sesame seeds. With a rubber spatula or spoon, stir your sesame seeds. Toast until golden brown and remove from the pan. Remember if you turn your heat off when golden brown but keep them in the pan, they will continue to toast and burn.
- Into a mason jar, add the zest of 1 lime, the juice of 3 limes, 1 tbsp of honey, 1 tbsp dijon mustard, 1 inch of grated ginger, 1 minced garlic clove, 1 tsp of kosher salt, ½ tsp of black pepper and about ½ cup of olive oil. Give it a good shake until fully combined.
- Into a large bowl, add 6 cups of shredded kale. Pour over your vinaigrette and massage it into the kale. Once massaged, add in 1 cup of shredded brussel sprouts and ½ cup of your toasted sesame seeds.
- Mix well and enjoy!
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