Summer Shakedown Salad

Kale Shakedown Salad with

Ginger Lime Dressing

This salad was given it's infamous name thanks to my husband Scott. We were heading to my friends Carin and Kenny's boat for dinner and I was bringing the salad. I thought a great kale salad would be perfect  because I could prepare and dress the salad earlier and not worry about it wilting. The name can have a double meaning it could be the fact that I basically shook down my fridge and put as many delicious veggies as I could in this salad . The second definition of Shakedown from Wikepedia is " a shakedown cruise, a period of testing undergone by a ship..." This is what my husband thought we needed to do when we were about to board The Blown Away for dinner.

Kale is a a vegetable that has been around forever but in the past few years it has gotten reinvented.  Because of it's flavorful, healthy and hearty leaf it is the salad to get. I met a local chef in the produce isle of the IGA in Montauk a few years ago. His kale advice was to rub a tiny bit of olive oil over the leaves of the kale. This helps soften the kale and break up some of the fiber. It transforms the leaf from rough and bitter to tender and sweet. It also preserves the leaves . 

This is a packed salad with lots of crunch, and a combination of sweet and tang from the dressing and a blend of flavors from the mix of veggies. The veggies and the dressing are intended to shine in this salad, right along side of the kale. It is a winner salad!

Salad Ingredients:

4 cups of kale destemmed and chopped

1 teaspoon olive oil

4 Campari tomatoes quartered

2 ribs of celery sliced

2 radishes sliced and slivered

1/2 English cucumber peeled sliced and quartered

2 scallions sliced

1 cob of corn cooked or grilled kernels cut off

1 cup shredded carrots

1/2 cup feta cheese crumbled

Gently massage the teaspoon of olive oil into the cleaned and destemmed kale. This can be done up to a few days before you will be using the Kale. It breaks up the fibers, softens the leaves and adds to the sweetness of the kale.

Cut,

Chop,

Sliver,

This is a great way to use left over corn on the cob, but if you want to cook just an ear up for this salad a quick easy way to cook fresh corn is to boil it, cook it in a grill pan, or cook it in the microwave is husked on high for 4-5 minutes.

In a large bowl add all the veggies, kale and feta.

Ginger lime Dressing:

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1/8 cup apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup olive oil

1/8 cup honey

2 cloves garlic grated

1 tablespoon fresh ginger grated

salt and pepper

 

Add all the salad dressing ingredients to a jar and shake it up until it is all combined.

Toss about half the dressing into the salad.

This recipe makes enough dressing for two salads.

Enjoy!