Kale Salad with Sunflower Seed Pesto and Apricots
Outstanding! Easy and delicious and super-healthy. Makes about 4 servings.
Servings: 4 servings.
Calories: 242kcal
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup dried apricots , diced
- 2 tablespoons white wine
- 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
- 1 clove garlic
- ¼ cup plus ¼ cup grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese
- ½ cup tightly packed fresh basil leaves
- 2 tablespoons plus ¼ cup lightly toasted sunflower seeds
- 1 pinch fine sea salt
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 bunch kale , stems removed
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- Sprinkle the diced apricots with the white wine and sherry vinegar and set aside to macerate while you prepare the pesto and kale.
- Make the pesto: In a food processor with the motor running, mince the garlic by dropping it through the feed tube. Add the first ¼ cup of cheese, the basil, the first 2 tablespoons of sunflower seeds and the salt. Process for about 10 seconds, stopping to move things around if they get hung up. With the machine running, pour oil through the feed tube in a thin stream, processing until everything is well blended.
- Chop the kale into ribbons about ¼-inch wide and put in a large bowl. Add the lemon zest and lemon juice and about ¼ cup of the pesto. Massage the mixture for 1 to 2 minutes and then set aside for about 15 minutes to give the kale time to tenderize and marinate.
- To serve, toss with the apricots, the remaining cheese and sunflower seeds.
Notes
- *I used lacinato or dinosaur kale but red or green curly kale is just as good. Use what you have.
- This recipe makes more pesto than you will need. Use 1/4 cup to dress the kale and save the remaining pesto for another use.
Nutrition
Calories: 242kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 7mg | Sodium: 113mg | Potassium: 520mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 7321IU | Vitamin C: 85mg | Calcium: 186mg | Iron: 2mg