Toss kale, orange segments, toasted almonds (I love a little crunch) and the light, citrus dressing in a serving bowl for a beautiful, flavorful salad.
One of the things that I love most about the food blogging community is that we have each other’s backs. When everyone heard that Lauren was in the hospital and then in for a long recovery, so many people jumped in to help with posts for her wonderful blog.
I’ve known Lauren online for awhile now and have always admired her healthy recipes and philosophy on balanced eating.
Let me introduce myself. I am Dara Michalski and I focus on healthy recipes and healthy living on my blog, Cookin’ Canuck (I’m a Canadian living in the U.S., which explains the “Canuck”). If you’re a fan of Lauren’s blog, you already know that healthy eating never needs to be boring, and that’s what I determined to show with my recipes.
The markets are practically bursting with fresh citrus right now and I just can’t resist tossing orange and grapefruit segments into my salads. If you are unsure of how to cut citrus fruits into salad-worthy segments, see my post on How to: Segment an Orange for step-by-step photos.
I used a combination of regular navel oranges and Mineola tangelos in this salad, but use whatever types of oranges are available at your local market.
While a kale salad isn’t exactly revolutionary, so often the simplest combination of ingredients produces the dishes with fresh, delicious flavors. A really good dressing doesn’t hurt either!
This dressing is a combination of fresh orange juice, Dijon mustard, a touch of agave nectar and extra virgin olive oil.
If you’ve avoided kale salads in the past because you don’t like the texture of the leaves, I urge you to try again. But first, be sure to massage the kale leaves under warm running water, which will make them as tender as regular lettuce leaves.
Ingredients
- Salad:
- 4-5 large kale leaves stems removed, leaves chopped (about 5 cups)
- 3 oranges any kind
- ¼ cup slivered almonds toasted
- Dressing:
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon agave nectar or honey if not vegan
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Place the kale in a colander and massage in warm running water until tender, about 2 minutes.
- Peel and cut the oranges into segments (see How to: Segment an Orange)
- In a large bowl, combine the kale, orange segments and toasted almonds.
- Toss gently with the dressing. Serve.
- The dressing:
- In a small bowl, whisk together the orange juice, Dijon mustard, agave nectar (or honey), salt and pepper.
- While whisking, slowly pour in the olive oil until combined.
I have always been a huge fan of Dara's recipes and now you can see why! Please go over and show her some love on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. I'd really appreciate it.
I feel so lucky to have such amazing, talented blogger friends! Thanks again Dara!
If you make this salad or any of my other recipes, please come back and let me know. I love to hear from you!
Thank you for stopping by!
Alexandra Caspero
What a lovely salad! I love how simple and refreshing this is. Honestly, segmenting citrus is such a pain to me, but I love your simple method. Mine tends to look like orange butchery when I'm finished 🙂
Rose | The Clean Dish
What a gorgeous looking salad! Simple combinations are truly the best. All it takes is fresh, quality ingredients! I love Dara's recipes so I know this is going to be great!!
Liza
This Kale and Orange salad looks delicious
Nutmeg Nanny
What a gorg salad Dara made for you! It looks totally perfect 🙂
The Food Hunter
This looks so fresh and delicious! I can't wait to try it.
Cookin Canuck
I'm so happy to be able to help out and am hoping that you feel better very soon, Lauren! This salad has become one of my go-to recipes in the past couple of weeks. I can't get enough of those oranges!
lauren.kelly
Thank you so much Dara! This is such a beautiful salad, it'll be one of the first recipes I make when I am able too. The best part is how easy it is! And I love the video on how to segment an orange. I won't even tell you how I was doing it before! 😉 Thanks again! XO
Claire Volkman
This is absolutely gorgeous! And totally agree with the blogging community 🙂 It's wonderful to know we have eachothers backs.
lauren.kelly
We are so lucky Claire!
Barb
THIS LOOKS AWESOME
Jordan
This is a gorgeous salad, and I love the reminder that citrus is in season right now. Using fruits and veggies when they're at their very best makes such a difference!
lauren.kelly
Yes I completely agree Jordan! We need to take advantage of our seasonal fruit!
Stephanie
This is such a lovely salad - love all the textures going on here!
lauren.kelly
I totally agree Stephanie!