Kale and Red Leaf Salad with Apple Mint Vinaigrette

Kale and Red Leaf Salad with Apple Mint Vinaigrette is an unusual and delicious salad that we made this evening with our first spring batch of local green kale.  Kale is the quiet gawky kid in the corner who landed the starring role in the school play and never looked back. Kale has a serious following of die-hard fans who devour it in all forms; chips, smoothies, ice cream, brownies, pesto.  Kale is a cancer-fighting super-food loaded with beta-carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, calcium, and antioxidants. To learn about the many ways to use kale and its nutritional value check out Deborah Madison's new book Vegetable Literacy.  This Kale and Red Leaf Salad is a tasty example of raw kale serving as a base for this distinctive crisp apple mint vinaigrette.  We adapted the vinaigrette from spoon fork bacon. 

Yield: 4 size salad portions

Ingredients: 

   Salad:

• 6 ounces Green Kale
• 6 ounces red lettuce, washed, dried and torn into bite sized pieces
• 1/2 green apple chopped
• 1/4 cup toasted walnuts
• 3 sprigs fresh mint (optional)

   Apple Vinaigrette:

• 1/2 green apple roughly chopped
• 3 green onion stalks, roughly chopped
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/2 cup chopped mint
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup fresh apple juice (unsweetened), I fresh juiced 2 granny smiths
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Steps:

1. To prepare the kale, cut out and discard the "rib," or long stem running down the middle of each leaf.  Cut the leaves into 2 inch strips.
2. In order to tenderize the raw kale, knead/massage the leaves for 2 minutes. To do this grab handfuls of kale and firmly squeeze, as if you were wringing out water. You will know to stop kneading when the leaves are darkened and slightly shiny.
3. Place all vinaigrette ingredients into a blender or food processor, process until they form a smooth mixture.  Taste and adjust with more salt or pepper as desired.
4. Place the salad ingredients (prepared kale, lettuce, walnuts, apple, and mint) in a large serving bowl and dress the salad with the apple vinaigrette. Serve immediately. Enjoy!