Kale, Caesar!

Kindly excuse my lengthy absence.  Let's eat some garlic, shall we? 

We've gotten kale several times in our CSA box over the summer.  Every time but one I've made delicious kale chips (thanks, Maddy!), but I wanted to do something different this week.  As fate would have it, I came across a recipe for a kale caesar salad and was intrigued.  I've had raw kale salads that I've enjoyed, but something about the words "raw kale" makes me think of terrible health food and gets me depressed.  Like, here, have some delicious raw kale and a bowl of steamed bulgur.  MMMMM.

But fear not.   This kale gets splashed with a real caesar dressing - the punch of raw garlic, the deep salinity of a few anchovies, some bright lemon, and some smooth egg yolk and olive oil to bring it all together.  Add some shavings of parmesan and some utterly simple but totally delicious croutons and you have a gorgeous salad.  You won't want to smooch anyone the next morning, but it's worth it.

I halved the recipe and we split this salad for dinner, along with some confited duck legs (no, I did not confit them myself, although that is one of my silly goals).  The halved recipe is supposedly good for 3-4 "generous" servings.  Surely they mean appetizer-size servings.  The original recipe also calls for you to add the olive oil one drop at a time.  Are you kidding me?  We're hungry here, people!  As long as you're going to eat this forthwith (and you're going to want to cause it's yummy!), the emulsification wll hold just fine if you add it in glugs.

Kale Caesar Salad
Serves 2 as an entree
Adapted from Tasting Table's adaptation from Chad Robertson's Tartine Bread

Croutons
3-4 slices day-old rustic bread, sliced into 1-inch cubes
2 T olive oil
salt

Salad
1 large clove garlic
3 anchovy filets
zest and juice of one lemon
1/2 large egg yolk (you can only really approximate this.  Eat the other half + the white for breakfast the next morning!)
salt
2/3-3/4 cup olive oil
pepper
1 head kale (about 1/2 pound), tough stems removed and leaves torn into bite-sized pieces
shaved parmesan

1. Croutons:  Preheat oven to 400.  Toss the bread, olive oil, and a good pinch of salt in a medium bowl.  Spread on a baking sheet and bake until toasted, 10 minutes, stirring once midway through.
2. Dressing:  In a blender or mini food processor, pulse the garlic, anchovies, and lemon zest.  Whiz in the egg yolk, a squeeze of lemon, and a good pinch of salt.  Alternate whizzing in the olive oil and remaining lemon juice until the dressing is smooth and creamy.  Taste and add more salt or lemon juice (I thought one lemon was fine) and a good grinding of black pepper. 
3. Combine the kale and croutons in a large salad bowl.  Dress the salad liberally, toss it well, sprinkle the shaved parmesan on top, and serve immediately, passing any remaining dressing at the table.

Comments

[Rachel H.]

You've always been such a good writer. Even in 8th grade.

[emily]

aw, thanks Rach! I got some good practice with "President & Vice President..."