Miso and Kale are not Four-Letter Words

I probably should have used half this amount. But it’s all good.

Bell peppers are good for color.

And I hear you. Kale is tough, it packs a punch of strong green flavor, and it suffers from a pretty serious case of being overhyped by the hipster crowd.

I forgot to blend the sesame seeds into the dressing, but again, let’s roll with this.

But…but, give it a chance. And this salad is a pretty good start.

It’s a big salad to toss. Things got messy.

Sugar snap peas, bell pepper (capsicum to the Brits), avocado, almonds, and a miso sesame seed dressing all do very well to mask compliment our curly kale.

I’ll eat anything that has avocado.

And at the risk of sounding insane, massaging the kale before assembling really does help break down and soften the leaves. So does chopping them up into tiny pieces. Not as tiny as tabbouleh, but pretty small.

Don’t be like me and leave these unattended…they burn.

So go on, give it a shot. If you don’t like it, I’ll personally come over and give you a hug.

Can barely see the kale anymore. Win.

Because I keep it real, here’s my mess.

Miso Dressing
adapted from Andrew Zimmern

3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon brown miso
1 teaspoon dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Place all ingredients in blender. Blend. Add salt to taste. Pour over salad. Nom.
Kale Salad

1 bunch curly kale, middle stems removed and chopped finely
Good handful or two of sugar snap peas, sliced
1 bell pepper (red/orange/yellow are best), chopped
1 avocado
1/4 cup slivered almonds, lightly toasted

Wash kale and remove tough stems. Get your hands dirty and literally rub the kale leaves for a minute – like squinch them good. This helps soften the leaves and makes it less like…kale. Chop finely and toss together with bell pepper and sugar snap peas. Make dressing below and toss with salad. Add avocado last because any earlier and it’ll get all squished in the salad (squishing kale = good, squishing avocado = bad). Store in fridge for up to two days.