Kale Salad with Pink Tahini Dressing
I might have a slight obsession with kale… and I say the word ‘slight’ loosely, as in… giant, haha. I am always trying to reinvent my kale salad recipes, and they almost always include strawberries and chickpeas, but this salad is embellished with pomegranate seeds + nut clusters + “parmesan” crusted chickpeas topped with pink tahini dressing. Talk about getting a makeover! I mean, who doesn’t want pink dressing? This salad is kalein’ it!
Kale Salad with Pink Tahini Dressing
Prep Time:
15 minutes
Cook Time:
5 minutes
Total Time:
20 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 large bunches kale
- 1 can chickpeas
- strawberries
- pomegranate seeds
- vegan parmesan cheese
- cashew sesame nut clusters, (recipe below)
- tahini dressing, (recipe below)
Cashew Sesame Nut Clusters
- 2 cups raw cashews
- 1/2 cup sesame seeds
- 3 tbsp sugar
Vegan Parmesan Cheese
- 3/4 cup raw cashews
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
Pink Maple Tahini Dressing
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp ground up freeze dried strawberries
- water, (to thin dressing if desired)
Instructions
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas and place in a medium bowl
- Make your vegan parmesan cheese by blending all ingredients in a blender
- Add 1/4 cup of the parmesan cheese to the bowl with the chickpeas and mix to coat the chickpeas evenly
- Drizzle olive oil in a medium skillet and cook the chickpeas over medium heat until they start to turn golden, stirring often
- Wash and squeeze excess water from your kale. Tear the leaves off in medium sized pieces and place in a large bowl
- Make your tahini dressing by first grinding up the freeze dried strawberries (enough to get 1 tbsp worth of powder) and then adding all the other ingredients to the blender, blending until smooth, adding water as needed to thin
- **NOTE: you may skip this ingredient and the regular tahini dressing will still taste delicious, but I loved the added taste of strawberry! You could also try using fresh strawberries if you don't have/can't find freeze dried strawberries
- Make the nut clusters by heating a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the sugar, and once the sugar starts to liquify (this won't take long, so keep an eye out- you don't want it to burn!) add the cashews and sesame seeds. Toss the nuts quickly in the sugar until well coated with the sugar. Remove from heat and transfer the nut mixture into a large bowl to cool
- Slice your strawberries
- Combine everything together, including the pomegranate seeds, top with dressing and devour!
Notes
** Vegan Parmesan Cheese recipe is from Minimalist Baker
** Cashew Sesame Nut Cluster recipe is from Dishing Up the Dirt
** Tahini Maple Dressing is adapted from Minimalist Baker
Items from this recipe that can be purchased in my Vittle Shop:
cashews
sesame seeds
nutritional yeast
salt
garlic powder
tahini
At the risk of sounding like an enabler, nah, you’re not obsessed. I think *I* may have a problem, and need to form a Kale Salad Makers Anonymous: “Hello, my name is Becky and I can’t stop making kale salads” kind of problem. But in the scheme of things, this type of obsession/problem is a good one to have. And I am printing several of the kale recipes to add to my ever-growing collection. I especially look forward to the kale and mushroom grilled cheese with Bourbon pear jam. I have a pear that my daughter brought home from school, and every day it looks at me and I look at it, and we both “know”. So, yeah. l am almost dizzy with delight, looking at the recipe bar at the top of the page since they are all kale! I shall work my way through them, and I mean it, too. No threat, just promise :).