This kale salad is made with Tuscan kale massaged with pesto and topped with chicken, blue cheese, and parmesan. It made a quick lunch and will hold up in the fridge for a second meal.
I am hoping to share more real life meals as mini recipes with you guys. Mini recipes and how-tos – like in the old KERF days. Somewhere along the way (in the past twelve years – ha!) I adopted the mindset that a post needed 15 perfectly styled photos to be ‘legit’ recipe post. That’s hogwash! If I inspire one person’s lunch menu I can rest my hat.
Pesto Tuscan Kale Salad
This kale salad came together in minutes thanks to ingredients I had on hand: pre-chopped Tuscan kale, pesto in a jar, and leftover smoked chicken. Of course you could make your own pesto or use any protein you had in your fridge – from hard-boiled eggs to salmon to tofu.
A Few Flavorful Ingredients
Sometimes just a little of something fancy elevates the whole dish. A few ingredients that are always worth it: lemon zest, fresh herbs, salt blends, and good olive oil. I used , a little lemon zest and a squeeze of juice, a little chopped fresh dill, a special salt from Feast and a Lemon olive oil from Oliva.
Massage Kale
With pesto, a drizzle of oil, lemon and zest, and a sprinkle of salt.
Add toppings
Warm chicken + a little blue cheese + parmesan (double cheese, but it’s good!) If you have time to make homemade croutons – DO IT. Sprinkle in fresh dill.
How I Made It
Pesto Massaged Kale Salad
Ingredients
- 1 bag Tuscan kale
- 1/4 cup pesto
- 1/2 lemon juice and zest
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 pinches salt
- 1/2 cup chopped chicken
- 1 tbsp crumbled blue cheese (like Bleu d'Auvergne)
- 1 tbsp fresh dill
- 1 tbsp shredded parmesan
Instructions
- Pour kale into a large bowl.
- Add pesto, olive oil, lemon juice and zest, and salt and massage kale for 1-2 minutes, until it's shiny.
- Top with chicken and blue cheese. Sprinkle with parmesan.
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog says
Healthy and delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe! 🙂
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Tonya says
I’m inspired to make a big batch with some tofu and have it ready in the fridge for lunch or dinner next week.
Ani says
Would you season the tofu in this?
Debbie says
Very interested to try this flavor combo! Blue cheese and pesto, huh?? Looking forward to more of these posts! It’s my lunch that you’re inspiring lol 🙂
Denise says
This is so simple and delicious – I can’t wait to try it! Personally, I dislike the multitude of pictures most bloggers use on their recipe posts. I get it, I see what it looks like and I want to try it. I hate having to wait for all the pictures to download, and then scroll, and scroll, and scroll to find the recipe. This post is perfect 🙂
KathEats says
Glad you like the format!
Kris says
Yes! Please share more recipes like this–real life! I’d also love if you shared with Birch or Mazen and whether they liked it 🙂 Thanks for being great! (And do you like the new Survivor season? I’m kind of here for IOI!)
KathEats says
Sure thing! They didn’t eat this salad, but I’ll be sure to report dinnery foods 🙂
Christine Whittington says
I love this salad as is and will make it that way many times in the future, but tonight I wanted it to be dinner, so I used a full package of plant-based chicken (I am vegetarian and love Daring original chicken pieces because they aren’t breaded or flavored), about a pint of halved cherry tomatoes, and 1/2 package of blue cheese crumbles. Topped the salad with Parmesan and toasted pine nuts. In the future, I might top it with toasted pita triangles. This is simply an amazing, multi-star salad! I was pulling out the kale pieces coated with the pesto dressing to sample them before I even added the other ingredients. Thank you!
Kath Younger says
Your version sounds amazing!!!