Kale, Cabbage, Carrot & Cilantro Salad

This is my favorite salad and, in my opinion, it’s the salad to beat. It’s a delicious, nutrient powerhouse of a salad. You’re getting loads of fiber and nutrients in each bite. Kale offers a large multitude of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients and is particularly high in vitamins K, A and C. Cabbage is high in vitamins C and K as well as folate, and is fantastic for your gut health. And with both cabbage and kale you get the impressive benefits of the cruciferous family including heart disease and cancer prevention. Carrots are high in vitamin A in the form of beta carotene which is great for your vision and immune system. And cilantro is very effective in lowering blood sugar. Eaten consistently, this salad can give your health a big boost.

There are two main tricks to making this salad great. (1) Use good kale. Overly mature kale will ruin any raw preparation. If you have overly mature kale on your hands, I highly recommend using it up (and cooking it down) in a recipe such as this Spanish Kale. And (2) SLICE THIN. This is important if you’re trying to win people over to eating more kale and cabbage salads. Thinly sliced vegetables, dressed with a good vinaigrette, make for a very enjoyable eating experience. If you slice the kale, cabbage and carrots very thinly (the cilantro can be roughly chopped), you’re golden! I promise :) I usually toss this salad with this mustard vinaigrette, but you could use a wide variety of dressings here. You can also dress it with lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper.

This salad is delicious served with all kinds of things. It goes very well with steak or roast chicken if you’re cooking meat, and it’s also great on top of some warmed quinoa, or as part of a grain / legume bowl.

I hope you like it as much as we do!

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Kale, Cabbage, Carrot & Cilantro Salad

Note: I make about this much for a side salad for 4 or a main course salad for 2. Kale leaves can vary a lot in size so use this as a rough guide. After you make if a few times, you’ll learn the proportions you like of each vegetable and you’ll never look at the recipe again :)

3-6 Lacinato kale leaves,, destemmed and sliced thinly crosswise, then cut down the middle once lengthwise
About an equal volume of green cabbage, shredded
1 carrot, halved lengthwise and sliced thin
About 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Vinaigrette of your choice
Roasted pepitas or sunflower seeds to serve on top (optional)

Assemble the kale, cabbage, carrot and cilantro in a salad bowl, add your favorite vinaigrette, and toss gently. Serve with seeds sprinkled on top, if desired.

Serves 2 as a main meal, 4 as a side

Mustard Vinaigrette

This recipe makes mustard vinaigrette for the week, because I figure that if you’re going to take the time to paste a garlic clove, you may as well paste three and make a jar full. Also, the likelihood of eating greens significantly increases if you know that a healthy and delicious dressing is waiting for you in the fridge and all that’s required is to chop up a few leaves.

I like to make my own vinaigrette because I can use high quality olive oil (many packaged brands, even the healthy ones, contain inflammatory oils), there’s no zanthan gum or other stabilizers, and I reduce packaging.

Many mustard vinaigrettes use sherry vinegar (which is tasty) but I prefer raw apple cider vinegar to amp up the health benefits. Apple cider vinegar is said to improve metabolism and help lower blood pressure. And it tastes just as good. I put this dressing into a clean 16oz glass jar (from peanut butter or tahini or the like) and store it in the fridge. The olive oil will solidify, but just put the jar someplace warm - or into a bowl of hot water - and it will quickly come back to liquid form. Give the jar a good shake and you’re set to go.

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Mustard Vinaigrette
Adapted from the mustard vinaigrette recipe (pg 41) of Cook This Now by Melissa Clark

Note: If you don’t have kosher salt, use a bit less fine grain sea salt and go by taste. Add the large pinch into the garlic cloves, then add a rounded teaspoon or so into the dressing, shake, taste and adjust if necessary. Fine grain sea salt is a bit saltier than larger grain salt.

3 medium garlic cloves + large pinch of kosher (larger grain) sea salt
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup raw apple cider vinegar
1/2 tablespoon kosher (larger grain) sea salt
1 1/4 cups extra virgin olive oil

Peel and thinly slice your garlic cloves, then paste them with a pinch of kosher sea salt using a mortar and pestle. Put the pasted garlic into a clean jar, along with the Dijon mustard, raw apple cider vinegar, remaining kosher salt and olive oil. Screw the lid on tight and give it a really good shake to incorporate all the ingredients. Use some right away, or put in the fridge for later. This dressing will easily keep for the week.