Roasted Kale and Radicchio Salad with Blueberry Green Tea Vinaigrette

Dan    Appetizers & Co., Recipes     gluten-free, green tea, kale, recipes, salad, salad dressing, vegetarian

What you’ll need…

Vinaigrette:

2 cloves garlic (minced)

1 lemon (juiced, reserve zest for salad)

2 TBSP dried blueberries

2 TSP sugar

2 TSP grainy mustard

1/4 cup steeped green tea (cooled)

1/4 cup rice vinegar

2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

Salad:

1 bunch green kale (stem removed, loosely chopped)

1 head raddichio (chopped)

1 lemon (zested, sliced into thin strips)

1/2 red onion (thinly sliced)

5 radishes (thinly sliced)

1 orange (sliced, then quartered)

1/2 cup green pumpkin seeds

2/3 cup ricotta cheese

Now that it’s finally spring, my love of salads has finally returned. Not that it ever disappeared, it just takes a back seat to comfort food and beer in the colder months of the year. As well, as a result of my increased intake of comfort food and beer during the winter, I will obligated to keep on the lighter side for awhile, diet-wise. Kale is a superhero green with it’s hearty and almost meaty kind of flavour. Makes for a wicked salad. Roasting it will bring out a more vibrant green colour and give it a bit of a crunch as well. This is spring on a plate people! Eat it up!

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Place the kale and raddichio in a large mixing bowl, season with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil and toss gently by hand until coated evenly. Lay out kale mixture on two prepared baking sheets and bake for 15 minutes or until the edges of the kale are crispy to the touch.

In the mean time, place all vinaigrette ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Cover and set aside for now.

Once the kale mixture is out of the oven, let cool slightly before transferring to a large bowl with the next five salad ingredients. Pour 1/2 cup of the green tea vinaigrette over the salad and toss with hands to evenly coat. Portion the salad out onto plates.

Finish with a few spoonfuls of ricotta on each and a final drizzle of salad dressing. Done and done! Only serve to the best of friends!

Serves 4

Total prep time…25 min

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