My friend Page is a great cook and she made another winning dish while we were away together on our ski trip...inspired by a kale salad she had at a party she set out to duplicate it and then added one of her favorite fruits, pomelo. The crunch of toasted almonds and the citrusy zing of the pomelo and lemon vinaigrette are perfect with the fresh kale. Page served this salad with our dinner but it also makes a great lunch with bread and cheese. Since the kale stands up well to the dressing, you can even make it for dinner and enjoy any leftovers the next day.
Page likes to use dinosaur kale, also known as tuscan kale, nero di Toscana, or lacinato kale. The salad is best if the kale is thinly sliced into small bite size pieces. When I made this salad (for the photo above) dinosaur kale was sold out at my local market so I bought a curly leaf variety and it was delicious anyway...if you use a kale variety with a tough rib in the leaf femove it before chopping the kale.
PAGE'S KALE SALAD
1 bunch dinosaur kale (can substitute other varieties)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup roughly chopped dry roasted almonds or marcona almonds
1/3 cup finely grated parmasan (use a microplaner if you have one)
1 pomelo, peeled, all membranes removed and sections broken into small pieces
FOR THE VINAIGRETTE
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Combine all vinaigrette ingredients in a jar and shake thoroughly to emulsify.
Combine the kale, lemon juice, and salt in a bowl and let marinate for 30 minutes, massaging the leaves with fingertips to soften. When ready to serve add vinaigrette, almonds, parmesan, and pomelo and toss to combine. Season with sea salt and pepper to taste.