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Kale and Apple Salad
Massaged kale, crisp apple and toasted walnuts in a honey-mustard dressing — a salad that eats like a meal.
Ingredients
- 1 bunch kale, stemmed and chopped
- 1 apple, thinly sliced
- ½ cup toasted walnuts
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp kosher salt
Steps
- Massage the kale with the salt for 1 minute until it softens and darkens.
- Whisk the olive oil, honey, mustard and lemon juice.
- Toss the kale with the dressing.
- Top with apple slices and walnuts and serve.
Serve with: roasted chicken or a grain bowl.
Massage the kale with a pinch of salt for a minute; it turns tender and sweet.
Find this recipe in the Salads section on the RecipeDelish home page, where you can scale it, print a clean PDF, download the shopping list and use cook mode.
Tips & mistakes
- Massage the kale for a full minute — under-massaged kale is tough and bitter, and no dressing fixes that.
- Slice the apple thin and toss it in the lemon juice from the dressing so it doesn't brown before serving.
- Toast the walnuts; raw walnuts taste flat next to the sweet dressing, while toasted ones taste almost buttery.
- Dress the kale 10 minutes before serving — it softens the leaves and lets the flavors marry without wilting.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use another green? Baby spinach works, but skip the massaging step; it needs no softening and would turn limp if you massaged it. Chard also works if you strip the stems and massage it like kale.
What apple is best? A crisp, sweet-tart apple like Honeycrisp or Fuji holds up; soft apples turn mealy in the dressing. Granny Smith works too if you like a sharper, more tart salad.
Can I make it ahead? The dressed kale keeps a day in the fridge; add the apple and walnuts at serving time. The apple browns and the walnuts soften if they sit in the dressing overnight.
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