On a vacation in 2019, Anne found themself in Bath, England for a couple of days. The first night they discovered that all the restaurants closed really early and so they had to throw together something from a small, local grocery store. There were delicious, fresh, local veggies and avocado (not local). They had bought a bag of dried fava beans to snack on at the train station, and those ended up being an amazing crispy topping for a massaged kale salad. Since returning from the trip, Anne has been trying to find a crisp fava bean snack to match that memory, and we really like the ones we include in this recipe.
Because this salad has such a minimal dressing, the olive oil you use will significantly impact the taste. If you have some fancy olive oil available, this is the place to use it.
Camille and Anne have slightly different methods for massaging kale. Camille puts a small amount of salt on the kale and massages it just a little bit. This is faster and the kale won’t lose much liquid so no need to squeeze the liquid out, however the kale will be a lot chewier when you eat it than if you do Anne’s method. Anne salts the kale really generously and massages until the kale gets much darker in color and much softer in texture. They they squeeze as much liquid out of the kale as possible. This process removes a lot of liquid from the kale, so it shrinks a lot and the texture change is significant. The results are soft to chew and seasoned nicely.
Serves: 2
Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
4 large leaves lacinato kale
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
handful of cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 a medium cucumber, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 small avocado, sliced
1/2 bag of Good Bean Sea Salt Crispy Favas and Peas
Wash, de-stem, and chiffonade the kale. put it in a large colander and sprinkle with salt. Massage over the sink until the kale is a darker green color, softer in texture, and when you squeeze it liquid pours out. Squeeze as much liquid out of the kale as you can, and set aside. Chop the tomatoes, cucumber, carrot, and slice the avocado. Place the kale and chopped produce on plate(s), drizzle with lemon juice and olive oil. Sprinkle with crispy beans and enjoy!