Kale Chopped Salad with Creamy Lemon Garlic Dressing (vegan, oil-free)
Lacinato (aka tuscan, dinosaur) kale is softened with the creamy lemon garlic dressing and topped with vegan pecan parmesan and dried cranberries. This chopped kale salad is plant-based, oil-free and a recipe you'll keep coming back to again and again.
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Total Time20 minutesmins
Course: Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine: Plant Based
Keyword: creamy lemon garlic dressing, kale chopped salad, kale salad with nutritional yeast
Dry roast shelled pecans in small skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant and lightly browned, about 1-3 minutes. Be careful because they go from fragrant to burnt very quickly. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
⅔ cup shelled pecans
Once the pecans have cooled a bit (they can still be warm, but not piping hot), transfer them to a food processor, along with the nutritional yeast and pinch of sea salt. Process until the pecans are a little bigger than breadcrumbs. Do not over-process (we don't want pecan butter). Taste and adjust seasoning, as desired.
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast, pinch sea salt
Make the Creamy Lemon Garlic Dressing
In a blender (a small blender works best), add maple syrup, lemon juice, white beans (or olive oil), water, peeled garlic clove, sea salt and black pepper. Blend until completely smooth and there are no pieces of garlic or beans left. If you only have a large blender, it may be best to double or triple the dressing recipe. You can also use a small food processor as an option for making the dressing.
2 tablespoons maple syrup, 2 tablespoons cooked white beans, 1 tablespoon water, 1 clove garlic, ¼ teaspoon sea salt, ⅛ teaspoon black pepper, 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Combine the Salad
In a large salad bowl, place your chopped kale, dried cranberries and pecan parmesan.
6 cups tuscan kale, ¼ cup dried cranberries
Pour dressing onto chopped kale salad. Toss to combine and let rest for 5 minutes to allow the dressing to tenderize and soften the kale before serving.
Notes
Serves 4 as a side salad.If preferred, reserve ½ of the pecan parmesan for sprinkling on top when serving the salad.To save time chopping the kale, buy pre-packaged washed and chopped tuscan kale and then blitz it in a food processor to make it smaller pieces.If you like a lot of dressing, double the dressing recipe.