Tuscan Kale Salad

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Delicious and easy to prepare, this Tuscan kale salad is a simple recipe to enjoy as a light lunch or a side dish. The ingredients give a great Italian flavor, from the crunchy kale to the Parmigiano and the lemon dressing!

Prepare it in only 20 minutes or less; this is a great healthy option for your next potluck, picnic or work lunch! Don't you love a delicious salad that can be a side dish or a whole meal? Such as the Greek Tabbouleh bowl or the Mediterranean chickpea salad, there are some other awesome options!

one plate with kale salad, a yellow tea towel on the top left corner and another plate on the bottom right corner.

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🥗 Ingredients Needed
🔪 How To Prepare It
📋 Variations and Substitutions
💭 Recipe FAQs
🥬 More Delicious Salads
📖 Tuscan Kale Salad

Why you will love my Tuscan Kale Salad:

EASY to make
A fantastic recipe to MAKE AHEAD
Perfect SIDE DISH all year round
A great HEALTHY salad with the superfood
And an amazing VEGETARIAN option

🥗 Ingredients Needed

Prepare everything you will need as it will make the assembling of the recipe much smoother.

Labelled ingredients: Kale, white beans, lemon, olive oil, kalamata olives and parmigiano.

KALE: You can use any type of Kale, this one is the common curly kale. If you wish, you can also do a mix of kale with another green.
WHITE BEANS: I used canned ones but you can also cook your own if you wish. They bring a nutty and hearthy flavour to your salad.
PARMESAN CHEESE: I used the shaved Parmigiano but shredded works well too.
Olives: Kalamata olives bring a salty and sharp taste to your salad.
Lemon: The citrusy dressing brings the salad together, do not skip the lemon juice.
Olive oil: if you have an extra virgin olive oil will bring more aromas.

🔪 How To Prepare It

This recipe has only 3 simple steps: preparing the chopped salad from the kale leaves, draining the beans, and the dressing. That's all! It is so straight forward yet delicious with a Mediterranean flare.

collage of 2 pictures, on the left a hand holding a kale leaf and pulling the steam of it and on the right a dressing in a white container placed on a wood piece.

First, prepare the kale: wash the leaves and remove the stems by holding the stem in one hand and pulling the leaves with the other one (Picture 1).

Next, prepare the dressing by mixing the lemon juice, olive and salt. Stir well so it is well incorporated (Picture 2).

collage of 2 pictures, on the left a transparent mixing bowl with kale, white beans, black olives and parmesan and on the right, some dressing being poured on it.

In a large mixing bowl, place the kale chopped, the white beans, drained, the olives and the Parmesan cheese (Picture 3).

Lastly, pour dressing over and toss (Picture 4). It is ready to be served!

TIP: Raw kale tends to be tough and some like to massage their salad before placing it in the bowl. I prefer to chop it small and using a citrus in the dressing breaks down the texture of it.

📋 Variations and Substitutions

This delicious Tuscan kale salad is versatile, and you can easily adapt depending on your taste all year round. Here are more suggestions:

GREENS: You can do a mix of radicchio with the kale or arugula to add some bitterness.
BEANS: You do not have to use the whites ones, you can use a medley.
DRESSING: Keep the Mediterranean flavours, you can add some finely chopped garlic to the olive oil and lemon.
SPICY: You can add a little kick with some red pepper flakes sprinkled before serving or some ground black pepper.
CRUNCH: Add a little crunch to your salad recipe with some bread crumbs or croutons.
VEGAN: To adapt it to a plant based dish, skip the parmesan and replace it with a vegan cheese of your choice.

close up of a kale salad with shaved parmesan cheese, kalamata olives and white beans.

💭 Recipe FAQs

Do I need to massage the kale?

Not really, chop it in a small pieces and dress it an hour or so before serving and your kale will have soften.

How long can I store this kale salad recipe?

I would say it is best to eat within the 24 hours it has been made. The longer you wait, the soggier it will get.

Can I make it ahead of time?

Yes! If you want to make to make it the day before, prepare your kale and the rest of the ingredients and store them in the fridge in separate containers. Otherwise, you can make it a few hours ahead of time.

How do you serve it?

– a perfect side dish to accompany grilled meat.
– a great lunch option if you are adding protein such as chicken, fish, or quinoa.
– an addition to a potluck table.
– a picnic meal.

🥬 More Delicious Salads

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