Kale Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette

Kale Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette

For the Salad:

-1 bunch Kale (or 2 bunches of kale if you aren't using baby romaine)

-1 small container of Baby Romaine or Spring Mix 

-6 Eggs

-6 pieces of Bacon (cooked and crumbled)

-1 wedge Aged Manchego

-1 pint basket Grape or Cherry Tomatoes, rinsed

-1/2 bunch Dill, chopped

-Toasted Pumpkin Seeds 

-Maldon Sea Salt & Freshly Ground Black Pepper

For the Vinaigrette:

-Extra Virgin Olive Oil

-Champagne Vinegar

-Dijon Mustard (like Grey Poupon)

-1/2 Shallot, minced

-Kosher Salt

(Any herbs you would like)

To make the Vinaigrette:

Stir together vinegar, mustard, shallot, salt and let sit for about ten minutes. Slowly whisk in olive oil to taste and herbs. This can be made several days in advance. 

To make the Salad:

Strip the leafy part of the kale from the tough stem and tear into bite size pieces. 

Thoroughly wash and spin dry kale and set aside to air dry a little more. (I like to tear it up first, because it makes it easier to wash. Kale sometimes has a lot of dirt on it, so wash well.) 

Mix kale with a small amount of vinaigrette in the bowl of a stand mixer for a minute to massage the dressing into the leaves. You can do this by hand if you don't have a stand mixer, it just takes more effort. (Also, I do this because it makes the kale less "fibrous" tasting, you can skip this step entirely if you don't mind the salad being a little chewier.) Bring a medium saucepan full of salted water to a boil and place eggs (directly from fridge) in the water using a spider or slotted spoon. For eggs like the ones pictured (outside of yolk set, inside very slightly runny), cook for 8 minutes and then remove eggs and place in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Once cooled (5-10 minutes), peel and set aside until all ingredients are ready for assembly. 

Using a vegetable peeler, shave the Manchego into long ribbons.

Slice the cherry tomatoes in half lengthwise and toss with a couple of tablespoons of the chopped dill, a pinch of Maldon salt, pepper and a tiny drizzle of the vinaigrette. 

If using the baby romaine, toss it with the kale and add more dressing only if needed. (Originally I was 

planning on making a kale only salad and then ended up having more guests which is why I added the baby romaine that I already had on hand.) Place the kale and romaine on salad plate and top with the cheese, tomatoes, bacon and pumpkin seeds.  Tear the eggs into pieces and place a couple of pieces on each salad. 

(I prefer the rustic look of the torn egg here, but you can slice it if you prefer.) 

Sprinkle the salad with a little extra Maldon salt and some freshly ground black pepper. 

Citrus Green Salad with Pomegranate, Marcona Almonds & Balsamic Vinaigrette

I never get tired of creating new salad combinations. This one combines some of my favorite ingredients: pomegranate seeds, marcona almonds, goat Gouda and a variety of citrus. Today, I used grapefruit, honey tangerines and blood oranges. 

Citrus Green Salad with Pomegranate, Marcona Almonds and Balsamic Vinaigrette 

-1 box mixed salad greens

-2 grapefruits

-2 or 3 Honey Tangerines or regular oranges

-2 or 3 Blood Oranges

-1/2 pint Spanish Marcona Almonds

-Goat Gouda (small wedge), crumbled

-1 pomegranate

Balsamic Vinaigrette

-extra virgin olive oil

-juice from one lemon

-balsamic vinegar

-kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

-honey

-stoneground Dijon mustard 

-1 garlic clove, crushed

For the vinaigrette: combine lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic, honey & mustard in a small bowl. Let sit for about ten minutes and then slowly whisk in the olive oil, in a slow steady stream. 

For the salad: cut the grapefruit into supremes. Supremes are segments of citrus that have all of the membrane removed. To do this, cut off both ends and then stand on one flat end. Cut the peel and white pith off following the contour of the piece of fruit rather than cutting straight down. Once all peel and white pith is removed, hold the fruit in your hand (best to do it over a bowl to catch all of the juice) and cut in between the segments, with the blade of the knife following the membranes. The cut fruit will kind of look like the pages of a book and you will end up with membrane free, beautiful fruit segments. For the tangerines and blood oranges I started out like I did when doing supremes, but instead of the last step of cutting the fruit into segments I sliced it into rounds. 

Next, remove the seeds from the pomegranate. I have a very fast, simple technique for doing this and will try to post a video. (Once I figure out how to post videos!) 😒 

To assemble the salad, place the greens in a large bowl and drizzle with a small amount of vinaigrette. (It's always best to start out with too little dressing since you can always add more. Nothing worse than overly dressed, soggy salad in my opinion) Toss the salad and add more vinaigrette if necessary. Place a small amount of greens on each salad plate and top with the citrus, pomegranate seeds, goat cheese and almonds.