Weather: 30 degrees, snowing steadily
What I’m listening to: Downton Abbey Soundtrack
I had a couple of inspirations for this salad. Kale is one of the healthiest and trendiest superfoods around. It’s everywhere these days. And, it grows beautifully in the winter, so it is plentiful and in season. Last month, when I had dinner with several other Alaska food writers, there were two beautiful raw kale salads on the table, brought by two separate local food aficionados. I scooped a serving of both onto my plate and decided right then that there would surely be more raw kale salads in my future.
The second inspiration was a Twitter conversation I had with Tasty Kitchen. I had posted a photo of my other recent seasonal food obsession – grapefruit – when Tasty Kitchen wrote back telling me that they (I say “they” because I don’t actually know for sure which lovely Tasty Kitchen personality was Tweeting me that day) enjoy their grapefruit with slices of avocado. Did someone say avocado? Sold. Done deal. Somewhere in all of this, I imagined a raw kale salad with grapefruit and avocado, some walnuts for crunch, and a bright grapefruit vinaigrette. Also, stay tuned for another kale recipe coming up later this week in the form of a spicy soup.
Kale Salad with Grapefruit, Avocado & Walnuts
Yields: 1 lunch-sized salad or 2 side dish portions
- 2 cups kale, stems removed, finely chopped
- 1/2 of a large ruby red grapefruit, segmented (no white pith) and seeds removed
- 1/2 of an avocado, chopped
- 1/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
- For the Dressing:
- 2 tablespoons ruby red grapefruit juice
- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon honey
- salt and pepper
Place the kale in the serving dish (to tenderize your kale, give the leaves a 30 second massage with your hands). In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients until well combined. Drizzle 2/3 of the dressing over the kale and toss until coated. Top with grapefruit, avocado, and walnuts. Drizzle remaining dressing over the top and serve.
