Kale + Lemon + Parmesan Salad

In addition to candy sushi, I brought a Kale salad to my family's Spring Celebration. It is a super lemony salad, so if you aren't a lemon/citrus fan you probably won't want to make this one.

Kale is typically blanched before use, but this recipe calls for raw kale. The lemon juice acts a pickling agent and tenderizes the kale, so it best to allow the salad time to marinate before serving. [I've tried both waiting a few minutes-hours and think overnight is ideal.]

Kale + Lemon + Parmesan Salad
serves 4
1 large bunch kale, washed and trimmed of stems
4 ounces Parmesan grated [Pecorino, Romano or other hard, salty cheese would work too]
1 lemon, juiced
[Optional: 1/2 cup olive oil]
Kosher salt and fresh black pepper, to taste

Remove the stems of each kale leaf [I found the best method was to fold the leaf in half, cut along the stem and discard.]

Roll the stack of de-veined leaves tightly and thinly slice into ribbons. [I go over the ribbons again with a knife to get the pieces even smaller, similar to parsley in tabouli. I should mention, the photo is from the first time I made this salad. It was after this attempt that I decided to cut the kale into smaller pieces.] Place the kale ribbons into a bowl.

Squeeze the juice of one lemon into a bowl. [Whisk in Olive Oil if using. I omit the olive oil, but if you want your dressing to be more of a vinaigrette, use it.] Pour lemon juice over kale.

Grate Parmesan over kale + lemon. Mix salad contents and add salt/pepper to taste. Cover and store in fridge. [As I mentioned, I let the salad marinate overnight occasionally tossing and turning the marinating salad to make sure all Kale is coated with the lemon juice.]