Lemon Kale and Swiss Chard Salad Recipe – A Tasty Vegetarian Dish
One of my absolute favorite cookbooks ever has become the Cooking Light Pick Fresh Cookbook because it shows you how to use garden fresh vegetables to make delicious food in the kitchen. A good friend of mine, Mary Beth Shaddix (photo right), was the amazing garden editor for the book. Without a doubt, the photography is super-gorgeous — it makes you want to eat the food right off the pages. Vegetables featured in this flavorful vegetarian recipe are kale, swiss chard, and onions. All full of nutrition and totally delicious.
Lemony Kale Salad Recipe
Hands-on time: 14 min.
Total time: 19 min.
A simple lemon and oil dressing with quality pecorino cheese is a must-try. If you doubt the raw kale craze, harvest leaves after one or two winter frosts, when the starches convert to natural sugars. Lacinato kale is a good option for this salad, paired with the colorful chard variety Bright Lights.
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1⁄2 teaspoon sugar
- 1⁄2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1⁄4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 cups torn kale leaves
- 2 cups torn Swiss chard leaves
- 4 teaspoons unsalted pumpkinseed kernels
- 1⁄4 cup sliced green onions (about 2)
- 1 ounce shaved fresh pecorino
- Romano cheese (about 1⁄4 cup)
1. Combine the first 5 ingredients, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add kale and chard; toss. Let stand 10 minutes.
2. While greens stand, heat a skillet over medium heat. Add kernels to pan, and cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring frequently. Add kernels, onions, and cheese to greens; toss. Serves 6 (serving size: 1 cup).
CALORIES 65; FAT 4g (sat 0.8g, mono 2g, poly 0.8g); PROTEIN 2.6g; CARB 6.3g; FIBER 1.4g; CHOL 2mg; IRON 1.4mg; SODIUM 234mg; CALC 87mg
Special thanks to the team at Cooking Light for sharing the recipe and photos above. Credits go to – Photo: Johnny Autry; Styling: Cindy Barr
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Lacinto kale is fabulous for this recipe. You can see the lacinto kale I grow in my containers below mixed in with the coleus in the back shade garden. Lacinto kale prefers full sun, but will grow just about everywhere, including shady spots like balconies and under overhangs. There is still time in the season to plant kale and harvest it before fall – definitely give it a try.
If you would like to order the Cooking Light Pick Fresh Cookbook just go to this LINK for more information. The Lemony Kale Salad recipe is wonderful and all the recipes I have tried are easy to fix and totally yummy!
