Kale and Cucumber Slaw

I recently discovered what i haven’t cooked yet – a blog by local chef Jonathan Bardzik. Among the many delicious-looking recipes, I spotted one for a raw kale salad, an idea that intrigues me, yet at the same time, semi-terrifies me. I know raw kale is all the rage lately, but quite frankly, it sounds as appetizing as a plate of grass cuttings. Preconceived notions aside, I like the idea of eating veggies raw and not cooking every last nutrient out of them, so I decided to give this one a whirl. Who knew kale salad could be so delicious? I’ve made it twice in the past week and actually find myself craving it (especially on hot days).

I made a couple small changes to this recipe, like nixing the cilantro and adding the cucumbers towards the end to keep them crunchy. B also noted that it’s really more of a slaw than a salad, since we found letting it sit for an hour or more allowed the kale to absorb the dressing and lose the bitterness.

For this recipe, you will need:

    1 clove garlic minced*
    1/3 cup white balsamic vinegar
    1 tbs mint, finely chopped    2/3 cup olive oil
    zest from 1 lime
    Tabasco or comparable hot sauce
    1/2 pound kale, ribbed and thinly sliced
    1/2 cup minced cucumber
    sugar
    salt and pepper

**Jonathan said to mash the garlic with 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt, but I didn’t do this because I am lazy. It tasted fine minced, but feel free to do it the right way.

Whisk together garlic, vinegar, cucumber, mint, and a dash of hot sauce. Let dressing rest for at least 5 minutes for flavors to blend.

Whisk in olive oil and lime zest. Season to taste with sugar, salt and pepper.

Dress kale and cucumbers and let sit for an hour or more. I made this last night and let it sit for two hours before serving and it tasted great!

Original recipe here.

PS Here’s the recipe for the fried okra plated above.