Make friends with this killer kale salad
Yeah, yeah, we know. Raw kale salad doesn’t sound very killer. But trust us on this one – if your kale salads have been bad in the past, it’s because you haven’t learnt to massage your kale. Help it relaaaxx into deliciousness and it will change the way you look at the leafy vegetable forever. This is just one of the many hot tips Dale Pinnock, aka The Medicinal Chef, offers in his new book How to Cook Healthily. The cookbook is full of tasty and healthy recipes to help you to kickstart the new year, and introduce nutritional dishes into your weekly kitchen routine. In addition to this killer kale, sweet potato and cherry tomato salad, you’ll find Chinese-style roast chicken, feel-good fish fingers, goji berry cheesecake and much more.
INGREDIENTS
1 small sweet potato, diced (skin left on)
olive oil, for drizzling
200g curly kale
1 red (bell) pepper, diced
5 cherry tomatoes, quartered
sea salt
For the dressing
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
1 small red chilli, finely chopped
1 teaspoon honey
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
1 heaped tablespoon almond butter
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
small handful coriander leaves, roughly chopped
TO MAKE
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Place the sweet potato in a roasting tray, drizzle with a little olive oil and a small sprinkling of salt, and roast for about 20 minutes, turning occasionally, until soft and the edges are turning golden. Remove and set aside.
Place the kale in a bowl, drizzle with a little olive oil, then get your hands in there and give it a good massage. Keep this up until it softens, wilts, and starts to resemble cooked kale.
Add the bell pepper, tomatoes and roasted sweet potato, and toss well.
For the dressing, put the garlic and chilli in a small bowl, then add the honey and soy, followed by the almond butter and five-spice powder. Mix well. Add one tablespoon of water and mix well again. Add another one tablespoon of water and the chopped coriander and mix well. The dressing should be a smooth, creamy texture, not too thick or too watery. Dress the vegetables to serve.
This is an edited extract from How to Cook Healthily by Dale Pinnock. Published by Hardie Grant Books and available in stores nationally. Photographer: © Issy Crocker.
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