Kale Salad with Tahini Dressing will be your go-to kale salad! A nice rich and tangy tahini dressing that is mixed with kale greens, chicken, toasted pine nuts for crunch and creamy avocado. I crave this all year long but especially in the winter months!!
Winter Salads
Sometimes I think that the term Winter Salad is an oxymoron - shouldn't a salad be filled with fresh summer produce? But truth be told, winter salads are some of my favorite. Using winter fruits such as apples, persimmons, pomegranates, pears or citrus make for a wonderful fresh and hearty salad. Like this Kale and Quinoa Salad with Apples and Pomegranate.
I also love adding other sources of proteins like beans or chicken! While in the summer, I may use some fresh arugula or spring greens for a salad, winter salads scream KALE! Kale is one of my favorite greens because of how hearty it is. I love that I can make a salad with kale and still enjoy it the next day without it feeling mushy. Most salads can't hold up to dressing but kale definitely can. The leaves are thicker, more waxy and while they allow dressing to coat - they don't get soggy quickly. It makes for a wonderful treat to dress a salad and enjoy the next day.
Tahini
Tahini is such a staple in Levant/Arab cuisine. Many dishes like shawarma or arnabeet (fried cauliflower) are topped with a drizzle of tarator - which is tahini, garlic, lemon, salt and water. A simple sauce that packs ultimate flavor. Tahini is also used in sweets - almost as a peanut butter or nut butter replacement, like in this tahini banana bread or as a non-sticking agent like in these namoura bars. Can we just go ahead and call tahini the condiment of the year? It really is that good!
Tahini is simply ground up sesame seeds, it adds richness to any dish. In this dish, we're going to combine a classic combination - tahini, lemon, garlic, salt with a hint of sweetness to create a creamy, tangy and thick dressing that will coat our kale leaves beautifully.
Ingredients
Let's find out what we'll need to make this delightful winter salad!
- Kale - My preference is using Lacinato Kale - sometimes called Dinosaur Kale or Tuscan Kale. It's a much darker and more leaf like vs the common curly kale. It is absolutely your preference and definitely use whatever you have on hand. It's best to use simply the leaves and remove the stem. But if you're a little bit lazy like me, you'll just pick up a bag of pre-washed, pre-cut from Trader Joe's and call it a day - stems and all. I do still try and remove some of the larger ones when I massage the kale.
- Carrots - Really for a pop of color I like to shred some carrots and add to the mix. Any extra veggies are a plus for a salad!
- Chicken - I love to keep chicken in the fridge, grilled snacking chicken is my fav and keep some on hand for a quick salad topper. This would also be wonderful with salmon. Or opt out completely and add white beans (cannellini are my favorite) for a meatless option. Heck, grab a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and call it a day!
- Avocado - I love the creamy texture of the avocado with the hearty kale leaves. And avocado really is slightly sweet which is nice in this savory salad.
- Toasted pine nuts - Toasted pine nuts for a little crunch. Add them in raw or toast lightly with some oil in a pan. You can use any nut you like!
- Parmesan - Parmesan cheese has a salty, bold flavor that holds up well with salads and will play well with the lemony tahini. You can swap out for manchego or even feta!
- Tahini - The star of our dressing. Tahini is much like a nut butter - it's creamy, thick and can be used sweet or savory. Tahini sauce is very common in Lebanese dishes, whether we are drizzling over falafel or cauliflower, the lemony, nutty sauce really brings dishes to life.
- Lemon - Most of my salad consists of lemon juice, it's the most used acid in my kitchen. It helps to brighten up any dish and for our dressing will balance the rich tahini and thin it out to make it the right consistency for our dressing.
- Garlic - I'm a firm believer than TOUM should be in all your fridges, yes - the condiment that will CHANGE YOUR COOKING! Emulsified garlic sauce, add it to your cooking, marinade with it or in this case, toss it in to create our dressing. If you don't have any toum on hand, a simple clove of garlic will do.
- Salt, pepper, dried oregano
Massaging Your Kale
Massaging your kale is ESSENTIAL! Kale can be quite leafy and tough which is great for holding up to dressings but it also needs a little massaging to tenderize. Massaging the kale with a bit of olive oil really helps to soften the leaves and make them more digestible for us to eat. If you skip this step, you may have super tough kale on your hands, take a few minutes - get your hands in there and rub those kale leaves!!!
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xoxo,
Cosette
Kale Salad with Tahini Dressing
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: No cook
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
Description
A hearty Kale Salad with a Creamy Tahini dressing.
Ingredients
Tahini Dressing
- 2 teaspoons toum or 1 clove garlic
- ½ cup tahini - I purchase mine from a local Middle Eastern store but you can find online
- 1.5 teaspoons kosher salt* - cut in half if using table salt
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup if you'd like to keep vegan
- ⅓ cup lemon juice (juice from about 2 lemons)
- ¼ cup water (from tap or fridge)
Salad Ingredients
- 2 cups chopped kale, stems removed if you can
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- ½ avocado, diced
- ¼ cup shredded carrots
- 2 tablespoons fresh Parmesan cheese, shaved
- ½ cup cooked chicken, diced
- 2 teaspoons toasted pine nuts
Instructions
Tahini Dressing
- In a small bowl, crush or press your garlic clove if you're not using toum.
- Add your remaining dressing ingredients and whisk until smooth.
- Adjust your lemon and salt to taste.
- Store in fridge for up to 2 weeks in sealed container.
Salad Ingredients
- On a sheet pan or large bowl, add your chopped kale and about 2 teaspoons of olive oil. With clean hands, begin to work the olive oil and rub the kale leaves within your hands to soften. Continue for 1-2 minutes until leaves are soften and glistening with the oil.
- Pour about ¼ cup of your dressing on the kale leaves to coat. I prefer dressing the leaves then assembling the remaining components of the salad and a final drizzle of dressing.
- Mix dressing with kale leaves then plate onto platter or 2 plates.
- Add your remaining ingredients and drizzle with additional dressing as desired.
Notes
- To make dressing vegan, use maple syrup instead of honey
- Options to substitute chicken to keep salad vegetarian/pesictarian: tofu, beans, salmon
- All salad ingredients are versatile and can be adjusted to your preference. Add some pomegranate seeds or persimmon for a bit of sweetness or sub almonds for pine nuts.
Jennifer H says
I made this dressing to go on a salad I was taking for my work lunch (leftover thin sliced steak that was cooked with onions, banana peppers and spices) and it was so good. This dressing is everything I've been looking for in a tahini dressing. Thank you!
Cosette's Kitchen says
Oh yay, I'm so glad to hear this! It really is a wonderful dressing for any salad - the steak would be a lovely addition!
xoxo,
Cosette