Kale Salad with Citrus, Almonds & Feta
This immunity boosting winter kale salad with citrus, almonds and feta makes the most of seasonal ingredients and is bursting with flavour and texture.
I have been doing pretty well on the hearty soups this winter, but decidedly less well on the salads. I love a good winter salad, and I think its a perfect time to experiment with nourishing bean and lentil salads, grain-based salads or even warm potato salads. I find the trick is to stick to fruits and vegetables that are in season, otherwise you will be left with something pretty blah.
This salad is far from blah. Last week I had a REALLY strong craving for something raw, fresh, crunchy and light, so I whipped this up from ingredients languishing in my fridge. The result was winter salad NIRVANA, so I wanted to share it with you fine people as soon as possible.
The kale ribbons provide a robust and bolstering base with just a little crunch along with the almonds, and the feta compliments this perfectly with its creaminess. The orange provides a little extra texture, sweetness and zing, and finally the honey lime dressing ties everything together, and gives everything a lift. Don’t you love it when a seemingly random hodgepodge of ingredients combine to make something wonderful?!
Happy salad munching, enjoy!
- For the dressing:
- Juice of one lime
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp honey
- ¼ tsp chili flakes
- sea salt and pepper to taste
- For the salad:
- 1 bunch lacinato kale (dinosaur/tuscan kale)
- 2 naval oranges
- ⅓ cup flaked almonds
- ½ cup feta, crumbled
- Whisk the dressing ingredients and set aside.
- De-stem the kale, and cut the leaves into small ribbons (the smaller the ribbons, the more tender they will become). Transfer the kale into a large bowl, sprinkle with sea salt and pour the dressing over the top. Using your fingers, massage the kale for a few minutes until the leaves start to become tender, then set aside. The leaves will continue to become tender as they marinate in the dressing, so you can leave the leaves for up to a few hours if you desire
- Cut each orange into quarters segments, and then run the knife along the peel of the orange and remove any excess rind. Cut each orange quarter in half and add to the bowl
- Toast the almonds gently in a hot dry pan until they are golden and fragrant, add them to the bowl with the kale and orange
- Finally crumble feta into the bowl, and give everything a good toss to combine
PS. This salad contains two of my favourite ingredients, kale and feta! See more recipes with kale here, and more with feta here!
I love kale salads. I will never tire of them as they are nourishing and so delicious.
Totally agree Kristie!
That dressing sounds pretty winning, Emma!
Thanks lady!
I like the sound of winter salad nirvana!! This sounds fabulous with the juicy orange bites in it!
I love a good winter salad like this one, Emma! I’ve been experimenting with kale salads lately and bet that your honey-lime dressing is the perfect complement. Kale is so sturdy that it really can hold up other flavors well!
Yum! Love feta in salad, I am not a fan of feta cheese otherwise but it’s really good in salads!
This salad looks simply delicious! Love eating kale and I’m always searching for new recipes to try using it! Love the addition of almonds and the feta- that’s definitely my fave cheese!
Jess, it is SO GOOD! Let me know if you try it 🙂