When I’m in a crunch for lunch but I want something healthy, I often find myself wandering to the Whole Foods near my office for their kale salad. It’s a simple salad – just curly kale tossed in a lemony-tahini dressing, but it’s so delicious and filling I keep finding myself going back for more.
One of the things that makes this salad so good is that it tastes like it’s been chilling for a few days, letting the kale leaves become soft and tender. Hence – the perfect meal prep for workday lunches, minus the extra trip to Whole Foods!
I’ve added balsamic baked tempeh to this recipe for more protein, and often I pack a half an avocado to top it with too. Some days, I eat it plain. Whatever floats your boat! In my opinion, there’s not much worse than raw kale tossed in dressing and served immediately, so make sure you add the dressing and let it sit for a least an hour before eating.
If you try this recipe, tag me in your photos on Instagram at @groundedchow, or comment below!
Whole Food’s Kale Salad
Ingredients
- 1 bunch of curly kale
- 2 T olive oil
For the lemon tahini dressing:
- 1/2 c tahini
- 3/4 c water
- 3 T lemon juice
- 2 T liquid aminos
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 T nutritional yeast
- 1 garlic clove minced
For the balsamic tempeh:
- 1 block of tempeh
- 2 T balsamic vinegar
- 1.5 T liquid aminos
- 1 T olive oil
- 2 T nutritional yeast
Instructions
- Wash and dry your kale. Cut or tear away from the stem into bite-sized pieces.
- Add your kale to a large bowl and drizzle two tablespoons of olive oil. Using clean hands, massage the kale with olive oil for 2 minutes, to help make it more tender.
- To make the dressing, blend tahini, water, lemon juice, liquid aminos, apple cider vinegar, and nutritional yeast in a high-speed blender until smooth. If it appears too thick, slowly add more water until it reaches your desired consistency. If it appears too thin, add tahini by the tablespoon. If you don’t have a blender available, simply mince garlic and whisk dressing ingredients together.
- Pour the dressing over the kale and toss the salad so all pieces are covered. Place the kale in the fridge and let it sit for at least one hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place tempeh brick in a saucepan, and cover with water. Bring the water to a boil, then cover the pot and turn heat to low. Let the tempeh simmer in the water for 10 minutes. This will open the pores and allow it to soak in the marinade better.
- Meanwhile, make the marinade. Whisk together balsamic, liquid aminos, olive oil, and nutritional yeast.
- Remove tempeh from water and cut into bite-sized triangles. Place the tempeh in a shallow dish and pour the marinade over it, covering all the pieces. Let marinate for 10 minutes.
- Place tempeh on a lightly oiled baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, flipping halfway.
- To serve, divide kale into bowls and top with tempeh triangles. If you’re prepping for later, let the tempeh cool before storing on top of kale salad in the fridge. Enjoy!