Meatless Friday: Kale Slaw

Kale: It's the new broccoli. Remember when broccoli was all the rage as an extremely nutritious vegetable? A grocery cashier recently told me she was amazed at the number of people buying kale. Don't get me wrong. Broccoli is a good vegetable. But kale surpasses it in a couple of areas. Broccoli has 87% of the daily requirement for vitamin A compared to kale's 206%. Broccoli has 494% of the daily requirement for vitamin K (not bad!). But kale has 684%! There's just one problem with kale. It's not very tasty. It's kind of bitter and a little chewy. So you have to have a good recipe to doctor it up if you're going to eat kale and enjoy it.

This recipe is a modification of a Martha Stewart recipe. I'm amazed that my entire family, everyone, loves this recipe.  Whenever I serve it to a gathering of people, someone asks for the recipe. And it's kale!!

Kale Slaw

Ingredients

2 large bunches of kale (but not TOO large) -- about ten cups
1 yellow, orange, or red pepper, cut however you like them
2 carrots, thinly sliced crosswise (or julienned looks pretty if you have a slicer)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup salted peanuts
2 Tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 cup salted peanuts (an additional 1/4 cup to the one listed earlier)

Directions

1. Slice kale crosswise thinly (If you use curly kale it will look like that crinkly packing material)
2. Thinly slice pepper lengthwise (or chop in bite-size pieces)
3. Toss carrots, pepper, and kale
4. Puree 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, 1/4 cup vinegar, 1/4 cup salted peanuts, 2 T brown sugar, and salt
5. Pour dressing over vegetables just before serving (or anytime. I like it poured over earlier, even hours earlier)
6. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup nuts, coarsely chopped

This recipe can also be made with almonds, but use a smaller amount of almonds in the dressing. (It gets too thick otherwise.)

Give it a try! Here is a way to get your family to eat one nutritious vegetable and like it! (On Fridays it could be paired with tuna salad, fish sticks … anything, really.) Kale Slaw … it’s the best!

What's cooking? Find all our Meatless Friday featured recipes here.