Chopped Kale Salad with Apples and Hazelnuts
A healthy chopped kale salad loaded with apples, toasted hazelnuts, crispy pancetta, a sprinkle of buttery panko breadcrumbs, fresh parmesan and lightly drizzled with a sweet and tangy apple cider vinaigrette.
Ingredients
For the massaged chopped kale:
- 4-6 large bunches of Tuscan Kale 12-15 cups of kale - 800-1000 grams
- 1 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
For the salad:
- 2-3 cups diced apple 3-4 apples, I used honeycrisp and granny smith, cored, no need to peel
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 cup hazelnuts toasted
- 8 ounces pancetta crisped
- ½ cup pankp breadcrumbs
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
For the apple cider vinaigrette:
- 1 small shallot or 2 tablespoons chopped
- 1 garlic clove
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar 57 grams
- ¼ cup unfiltered apple cider no added sweeteners or spices (57 grams)
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ⅔ cup good quality extra virgin olive oil I use Luigi Tega
Instructions
For the massaged chopped kale:
- 1. Strip the kale off of the stems and discard the stems ( add to compost pile/bin if you have one).
- 2. Rinse and dry the kale leaves ( I use a salad spinner for this).
- 3. Working with a handful of leaves at a time roll together, then slice into thin ribbons ( see photos in post).
- 4. Add chopped kale to a large mixing bowl. Once all the kale is chopped drizzle with the tablespoon of olive oil, lemon juice and salt and massage well with your hands until all the kale is coated, softened in texture and reduced in size as well as turned a darker green. Set aside to marinate while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Prepare the rest of the salad ingredients:
- 5. Core and dice the apple into centimeter sized pieces, drizzle with lemon juice to keep from browning. Drain the lemon juice before adding apples to salad.
- 6. Crisp up the pancetta in a sauté or cast iron pan then transfer to a paper towel lined plate. This takes about 10 minutes.
- 7. In another pan, toast the hazelnuts over medium heat until starting to change color then remove from heat. Once cooled, roughly chop.
- 8. In the same pan used for the hazelnuts, melt the butter over medium heat, then add in the panko and salt, stir until the panko has turned more golden, season with salt, stir and transfer to a bowl.
For the apple cider vinaigrette:
- 1. Combine all the vinaigrette ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Transfer to a jar or salad dressing bottle and keep chilled until ready to use.
To assemble:
- 1. Add in the diced apples, pancetta, and hazelnuts and toss. Divide amongst serving bowls. Sprinkle with panko and a generous amount of parmesan cheese.
- 2. Drizzle with the apple cider vinaigrette and serve. You can always save some apple, hazelnuts and pancetta to sprinkle over the top instead of mixing all of them into the salad at once.
Notes
If it’s your first time making this recipe then make sure you read all of the information in the main post as it includes lots of additional tips, as well as the answers to some common questions.
If you have any further questions then do let me know in the comments and or email me [email protected] and I’ll do my best to help.
If you choose to make substitutions to the recipe that I have not tested yet please do so at your own risk. I cannot guarantee the same results if you change a lot of the ingredients or method. However, if any of your changes are successful I would love to hear about it and will add to my recipe notes for other readers to try as well.