Kale Salad with Tahini Lemon Dressing

This Kale Salad with Tahini Lemon Dressing is creamy and filling.  It includes all the elements of a great kale salad, including tangy lemon, sweet dates, and crunchy almonds.  I love hummus, so it is no surprise I love this salad with it’s Mediterranean flair.    The dressing is basically hummus without the chickpeas.  Then you put the chickpeas on the salad.  See what I did there?  We are getting all fancy and deconstructed.

Prepare the kale

Properly preparing the kale is essential to a super tasty kale salad that doesn’t make you feel like you are impersonating a goat with a mouth full of tough, unpalatable greenery.  If the kale has stems or thick ribs, simply tear the leaves off the central rib.  You can use a knife, of course, but you don’t need to worry about bruising the leaves because you are going to do that on purpose in a few moments, anyway.  Chop the kale into bit size pieces.  Transfer to a bowl, sprinkle with salt, and then get your hands in there and bruise that kale.  Just scrunch it up in your hands until it is dark green and limp.  The salt will help it soften, too.  Now you kale is ready to get dressed and accessorized!

Be a salad renegade

Guys, I’m going to let you in on a little secret.  There are no rules when it comes to salads.  No rules that I care about, anyway.  We’re not making croissant here [that’s my euphemism for something technically difficult and fussy].  No dates?  Try golden raisins or sun-dried tomatoes.  Have a pomegranite kicking around?  I bet it would be awesome on this salad.  If you hit on a flavor combo that doesn’t work for you, at least you learned not to put strawberries and green beans together ever again, for example.