Friday, May 2, 2014

The Rubdown

When it was time to think about lunch today I looked in the refrigerator and noticed a bunch of kale that needed to be used.  I decided to make a kale salad and serve it with salmon left over from last night's dinner.  Normally I'd remove the kale stems, wash and chop it, then add dressing and immediately eat it.  However, in the interest of trying something different today I decided to make a massaged salad.

If you've ever eaten raw kale, you know it's tough and fibrous. However, iIf you massage it with (depending on the recipe) lemon juice, olive oil, or salt it becomes softer and easier to chew.  It also makes it less bitter.

After I chopped, washed, and dried the kale I put it in a bowl and added a tablespoon of lemon juice, two tablespoons of olive oil, a big pinch of kosher salt, and some pepper.  I tossed everything together to mix it, then took bunches of kale in my hands and rubbed them together.  It only took a couple of minutes for the greens to shrink in size and become glossy.  I sampled a piece, and it had a pleasingly smooth texture.

When I was done I transferred the kale to two bowls-one for me and one for Hubby Tony to eat with his dinner.  I ended up using mine as the basis of a main dish salad; I heated up the salmon filet and flaked it on top of the kale, then added some chopped cantaloupe and a sprinkling of sesame seeds.  It was good stuff.

Five years ago today:   Mocha Mask

12 comments:

  1. I don't think I've ever had kale this way. I hate the stuff, but know it's good for me. I can tolerate it when it's juiced with lots of other veggies and fruits.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You should definitely try it! At first I had the same opinion of kale you do. With time it will grow on you.

      Delete
  2. Yum! I often serve leftover salmon on top of a salad....great minds!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Although I don't cook salmon often, I love to eat it :-)

      Delete
  3. Sounds yum and easy. I've never eaten raw kale, always cooked or ground up into a smoothy. I'll try this out.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh thank you! I wish I'd known this when we had some kale in the fridge the other day that someone gave us from their garden. Mom cooked it in butter, but it was still too hard for her. I'd like to try what you did the next time I have kale.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm almost out of groceries and really need to go buy more. I think I might just have to pick up some kale while I'm there and try this.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow Kathy that sounds good. Salmon is perfect to pair with Kale. I never thought of it. I have a salad bowl that has a chopper. The chopper is like a double pizza roller. This helps to break down "greens" so that you eat all the parts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've never heard of a chopper. Wonder if it would work as well or better than my hands>

      Delete