Spring Dreams – Kale, Apple, and Almond Salad

Wintery months can still be apt for a nice hearty salad – and kale fits the bill just fine. For a dinner party, this dish is perfect, as it can be prepped and made the night before.
By Jessie Chien Bryson

I checked my calendar today. Yup, still winter. In fact, only one month in. Sigh.

See, I’m already dreaming of the first of Spring’s bounty, marked by fiddlehead ferns, garlic scapes, and the brightest of berries. Already imagining what my vegetable drawer looks like without the brainy-heads of cauliflower and broccoli. Dreaming of fresh crudites and lively salads, galore.

But wait-a-minute, the winters’ got it’s fair share of offerings, too. Apples up the wa-zoo. Leafy greens abound. There’s kale, perhaps this decade’s MVP of greens. Cooked kale, braised kale, kale chips, kale shakes, we’ve pretty much exhausted the superfood for what it’s worth. I’m not quite sick of kale yet, though, so I’ve been using it as a salad base in these times of wintery distress. A bit of freshness add a healthy dose of brightness to the usual mix of roasted potatoes and crock-pot wonders that come out of the kitchen in the winter.

Don’t be alarmed at the prep time for this salad; the chopping and compiling is actually a breeze. The salad only takes longer because the kale is left to marinate in lemon juice for several hours, making the otherwise tough leafy green citrusy, soft, and more delightfully consumable. I advise allowing the kale to marinate for at least three hours, although I’ve made this for a dinner party where I prepped a large batch the night before, letting the kale sit overnight.

This menu gets its regular spot on my dinner table, not only because it’s so tasty and seasonal, but for its health benefits and ease of prep as well. And while I enjoy this wonderfully, wintery, wistfully-spring kale salad, I’ll also continue to dream of Spring.