October 5, 2012 Crispy Kale Salad with Lime Dressing

 

When food historians and trend watchers look back at the second decade of the twenty-first century, they will no doubt include the kale salad as an emerging food trend. From my vast library of food magazines accumulated over the past twenty (Gourmet) to thirty (Bon Appetit) years I didn’t find a recipe for kale salad until the January 2007 issue of Gourmet. The source was Lupa, the trattoria style restaurant owned by Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich. Inspired by an antipasto, thinly sliced Tuscan or Lacinato kale was combined with ricotta salata and tossed with a simple vinaigrette. In their usual exacting way, Gourmet provided a photo and further description of Lacinato kale in their Kitchen Notebook.  A little more than five years later, Tuscan kale is a green anyone who frequents farmers markets or has a community supported agriculture (CSA) share would be able to identify at first glance. Today, kale is being tossed with all matter of fruits, cheeses and grains to make a hearty, healthful salad.

Now, in their September restaurant issue, Bon Appetit has anointed the kale salad from Battersby, a trendy Brooklyn restaurant with the title of “dish of the year”. Dish of the year? Well for me it was salad of the weekend because almost all of the ingredients to make the dish were growing in the garden with the exception of cucumbers. Strips of crispy kale adorn a salad of baby greens, pea shoots, thinly sliced cucumbers, root vegetables and more kale. A dressing of lime juice, brown sugar, Thai chili and fish sauce gives the salad a southeast Asian flair. Brushing rather than tossing the leaves with oil, keeps the chips from being too greasy. My kale strips took less time than the original recipe, they were sufficiently crispy in twenty minutes, most likely due to using the convection setting on the oven. The greens of choice that came from our garden for this salad included young kale leaves, baby arugula and mache (hello eighties) and pea shoots. Our fall crop of root vegetables provided us with the beautiful colors of watermelon, black and Easter egg radishes, Chiogga and Golden beets, baby carrots and snow white Hakurei turnips. The herbs I used were Italian flat-leaved parsley, cilantro, cinnamon basil and the first of the new crop of chervil. I added thinly sliced cucumbers, although peppers would have worked as well. In the off-season, I prefer Kirby or pickling cucumbers, I find they have more flavor than other varieties. We enjoyed the salad and I would definitely make it again. The simplicity of the original kale salad from Lupa is deserving of a try as well.  What I am really looking forward to is what happens to kale after the first frost. It becomes amazingly sweet. Then it will be time to cook with kale in traditional heartier dishes like stews and soups.

Crispy Kale Salad with Lime Dressing

from Bon Appetit September 2012

Ingredients

• 1 1/2T light brown or palm sugar, packed
• 1/4c fresh lime juice
• 3T fish sauce ( I am partial to Three Crabs brand)
• 1t minced garlic
• 1/2 red Thai chili, seeded and thinly sliced
• 24 small Tuscan kale leaves (5″ long) or 5″ pieces torn from larger leaves
• 1T vegetable oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3c loosely packed mixed tender herbs, I used Italian flat leaved parsley, cilantro, cinnamon basil and chervil
• 3c mixed shaved root vegetables, I used radishes, beets, carrots and turnips
• 2c of a combination of baby arugula, pea tendrils and mache (watercress is another option here)
• 2c thinly sliced stemmed Tuscan kale leaves
• 1c thinly sliced cucumber

Directions

1. Dissolve sugar and 2 tablespoons warm water in a microwave oven for about 30 seconds. Whisk in the next four ingredients for dressing. Set aside.
2. Arrange racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 250F. Brush tops of kale leaves with oil; season with salt and pepper. Arrange leaves in a single layer on 2 large baking sheets. Bake, rotating sheets top to bottom and back to front halfway through until kale is crisp, anywhere from 20 to 30. Know your oven!! Transfer the leaves from the baking sheet to a cooling rack.
3. In a large bowl mix herbs and the next four ingredients with enough dressing to coat lightly. Divide salad among plates; top with crispy kale leaves and additional dressing if desired.