5.0 from 36 votes
Chopped Kale Salad
It's easy to embrace your veggies with this colorful chopped kale salad! Loaded with flavor and texture and tossed in the most amazing lemon dressing, it's sure to brighten up your plate and your day!
Prep Time
20 mins
Total Time
20 mins
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 139 kcal
Course:
Salad
Cuisine:
American , Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 4 cups chopped curly kale
- ½ tsp olive oil
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 1 cup chopped fresh baby spinach
- 1 cup chopped red cabbage
- ½ cup shredded carrots
- 1 red bell pepper
- ¼ cup lightly salted pumpkin seeds (pepitas) plus extra to taste
- crumbled Feta cheese (optional topping) skip for vegan/paleo
LEMON DRESSING
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
- 2 TBSP fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1-2 TBSP red wine vinegar (adjust to make more or less zippy)
- 1 clove garlic (smashed/peeled/minced)
- ½ tsp dried oregano leaves
- ¼ tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp sweetener of choice (honey, agave, sugar, etc...) - totally optional!
Instructions
- First make the dressing. Combine ingredients above in a lidded mason jar, seal, and shake well. Dip a kale leaf in the dressing and adjust sweetener, salt, and pepper to taste. You can make this dressing as sweet or tart as your heart desires! I like mine a bit tart and even add a little lemon zest to the dressing. To reduce tartness, simply add a little extra sweetness, to taste.
- Clean and dry kale leaves and remove from stem. Finely chop. Drizzle with 1/2 tsp olive oil and a pinch of salt. Massage using fingers until leaves begin to darken and tenderize. This makes it taste great and gives the kale a silky texture!
- Chop remaining veggies. The finer the veggies are chopped the easier it will be to get a little bit of everyting in each bite. Love it so!
- In a large bowl combine massaged kale, spinach, cabbage, carrots, pumpkin seeds, scallions. Feel free to add extras of your favorites.
- Shake (sealed/lidded) dressing once more and pour about 1/2 of the dressing over the salad. Toss to coat and add additional dressing, to taste. Top with optional crumbled feta. Enjoy!
Cup of Yum
Notes
- Broccoli makes a delicious addition to this salad if you have some handy!
- Need less servings? Feel free to halve the recipe to yield 3 side salads.
- Skipping the optional feta will make this salad both vegan and paleo. Skip or use a compliant sweetener for the dressing and it'll also be low-carb and keto friendly.Do both and you've got yourself some whole 30 approved vegetarian eats. Woot!
- Nutrition Facts below are an estimate gathered using an online recipe nutrition calculator. Values below calculated for both dressing and salad but do not include optional extras. Add approx. 25 calories per TBSP of feta added. Adjust as needed based on sweetener of choice and extras added and enjoy!
Nutrition Information
Calories
139kcal
(7%)
Carbohydrates
8g
(3%)
Protein
3g
(6%)
Fat
11g
(17%)
Saturated Fat
2g
(10%)
Sodium
179mg
(7%)
Potassium
381mg
(11%)
Fiber
1g
(4%)
Sugar
2g
(4%)
Vitamin A
7500IU
(150%)
Vitamin C
92mg
(102%)
Calcium
82mg
(8%)
Iron
1mg
(6%)
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 6servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 139
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 139kcal | 7% |
| Carbohydrates | 8g | 3% |
| Protein | 3g | 6% |
| Fat | 11g | 17% |
| Saturated Fat | 2g | 10% |
| Sodium | 179mg | 7% |
| Potassium | 381mg | 8% |
| Fiber | 1g | 4% |
| Sugar | 2g | 4% |
| Vitamin A | 7500IU | 150% |
| Vitamin C | 92mg | 102% |
| Calcium | 82mg | 8% |
| Iron | 1mg | 6% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.