Being a food blogger is all about setting the next trend – or chasing the current one. Food trends are fun but can also be a bit exhausting. And where’s the fun in seeing the same recipe over and over on your timeline? So we decided to revisit a super old food trend, a blast from the past: the beloved kale salad. Back in the days when Millenials were still cool and not cringe at all, the kale salad was some hot shit.
As you might have already guessed: we are Millenials. The kale salad holds a lot of nostalgia and special place in our hearts. It reminds us of a time when hairlines weren’t receding and metabolisms were still working. But this trend is pretty much gone, much like our hopes and dreams. Now that we’re thinking about it, maybe we can call this a Halloween special since we focus on a more dead-than-alive trend: A zombie kale salad.
But enough about us. Let’s talk about kale salad!
This dish has a delicate balance of flavors. The sweet and tart quince chutney balances the salty, pungent blue cheese dressing. The sweet and spicy sunflower brittle adds a great crunch you’d want to sprinkle on everything (or just snack as it is).
You could explore many variations with this, using pears or apples instead of quince and adding different spices such as star anise or fennel seed. You could omit the blue cheese and add another cheese like Comte or Gruyere to the salad. Or you could crumble extra blue cheese on top because life is much like a kale salad: full of possibilities, surprises, and edible mold.
This kale salad has a lot of components but a lot of ingredients repeat themselves. So it’s easier than it might seem at first.
Ingredients:
Quince Chutney:
- 1 quince, peeled, cored, roughly chopped (like us)
- 1 dry chili, broken (like our hearts)
- 2 cardamom pods, crushed (like our dreams)
- 70 g apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp honey (or maple syrup)
- salt
- water, as needed
Kale:
- 500 g fresh kale
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt
Blue Cheese Dressing:
- 120 g Roquefort
- 2 tbsp sunflower seeds
- 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- salt
- black pepper
- 80 g sunflower oil
- 80 g olive oil
- 1-2 tbsp water
Sunflower Brittle:
- 2 handfuls of sunflower seeds
- 1 dry chili, broken
- 1 tbsp honey (or maple syrup)
- salt
Serving:
- 1 handful of pomegranate seeds
How to make the kale salad:
For the chutney, add all the ingredients to a small pot, and bring to a simmer on medium heat. Add about ½ cup of water, cover, lower the heat and continue cooking gently on low heat for about 20 minutes. Remove the chili and cardamom and blend to a smooth paste. You might want to add 1-2 tbsp of water to reach desired consistency.
Pull the kale leaves off of the stems, and tear them to the desired size. Wash thoroughly, dry, and then mix with lemon juice, olive oil, and salt. Massage well for at least a minute until the kale has softened. Let sit for about 10 minutes.
Place all the ingredients for the dressing in a tall, narrow container or jar. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth and creamy. If your blender isn’t very powerful, you might want first to blend everything but the oil and then slowly stream in the oil. Otherwise, the dressing might split.
In a large pan, toast the sunflower seeds with salt and chili for about 2 minutes. Add the honey and continue toasting and stirring until the sunflower seeds start sticking together in little bundles. Break them apart with a spatula to get brittles and remove them from the pan after about 2 additional minutes.
Dress the softened kale generously with blue cheese dressing. Artistically spread little dollops of the quince chutney over a large plate. Hide it all with the dressed kale. Sprinkle with the sunflower brittle as well as some pomegranate seeds.
Kale Salad With Blue Cheese And Quince
Ingredients
quince chutney:
- 1 quince peeled, cored, roughly chopped (like us)
- 1 dry chili broken (like our hearts)
- 2 cardamom pods crushed (like our dreams)
- 70 g apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup
- salt
- water as needed
kale:
- 500 g fresh kale
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt
blue cheese dressing:
- 120 g Roquefort
- 2 tbsp sunflower seeds
- 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- salt
- black pepper
- 80 g sunflower oil
- 80 g olive oil
- 1-2 tbsp water
sunflower brittle:
- 2 handfuls of sunflower seeds
- 1 dry chili broken
- 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup
- salt
serving:
- 1 handful of pomegranate seeds
Instructions
quince chutney:
- Add all the ingredients to a small pot, and bring to a simmer on medium heat. Add about ½ cup of water, cover, lower the heat and continue cooking gently on low heat, for about 20 minutes. Remove the chili and cardamom and blend to a smooth paste. You might want to add 1-2 tbsp of water to reach desired consistency.
kale:
- Pull the kale leaves off the stems, and tear them to the desired size.
- Wash thoroughly, dry, and then mix with lemon juice, olive oil, and salt. Massage well for at least a minute until the kale has softened. Let sit for about 10 minutes.
blue cheese dressing:
- Place all the ingredients in a tall, narrow container or jar. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth and creamy. If your blender isn’t very powerful, you might want first to blend everything but the oil and then slowly stream in the oil. Otherwise, the dressing might split.
sunflower brittle:
- In a large pan, toast the sunflower seeds with salt and chili for about 2 minutes. Add the honey and continue toasting and stirring until the sunflower seeds start sticking together in little bundles. Break them apart with a spatula to get brittles and remove them from the pan after about 2 additional minutes.
serving:
- Dress the softened kale generously with blue cheese dressing. Artistically spread little dollops of quince chutney over a large plate. Hide it all with the dressed kale. Sprinkle with the sunflower brittle as well as some pomegranate seeds.
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