Savory Sunday: Baby Kale Side Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette

By Anastazja Kolodziej

Welcome to the newest edition of the Savory Sunday column! I’m Anastazja, and I’m interning at the magazine this summer. The recipes that I’ll post on this column will be made using produce grown at the Washington Gardener’s community garden plot. Whether you’ve just started growing your own food or are simply seeking some inspiration, I hope my recipes will give you some new ideas on how to incorporate your produce into your meals!

This week, I got baby purple kale from the garden. The best part about baby kale is that it’s much more tender than when it’s fully grown. The kale had grown enough to harvest, but it was not enough to use as the main part of the dish. I decided to make a salad because, even though I used different greens as the base, kale helped me choose the natural pairings for the salad.

Ingredients:

Salad -

·        Purple kale (I had 35g from the garden)

·        Salad greens (I used romaine lettuce), as desired

·        1 apple

·        Dried cranberries, handful

·        Feta cheese to sprinkle on top

Apple cider vinaigrette -

·        5 tbsp olive oil

·        2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

·        2 tbsp maple syrup

·        2 tsp Dijon mustard

·        Salt/pepper to taste

This amount of ingredients made enough for 4 side salads. Adjust accordingly if making this dish as a main meal.

Directions:

1.    Wash and prep the kale, ripping the leaves off the stems. Discarding the stems makes the kale easier to eat.

2.    Add desired salad greens. I used romaine as the base of my salad.

3.    Add apple slices. For four side salads, using one apple came out to three slices per salad.

4.    Add dried cranberries.

5.    Make the vinaigrette by combining ingredients. Make sure all ingredients are room temperature so the vinaigrette emulsifies properly. 

6.    Drizzle vinaigrette onto salad.

7.    Top with feta cheese.

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"Savory Sunday" is a weekly summer blog series with seasonal recipes from the garden.

About the Author:

 Anastazja Kolodziej is a rising senior at the University of Maryland, double majoring in multiplatform journalism and the classics (Ancient Greek and Latin). On campus, she serves as an assistant managing editor at The Diamondback.