I have become a fan of Lacinato Kale in my salad bowl. For me, a salad with a bit of "chew" as well as enough structure to hold onto the dressing is my favorite choice in salad greens. You will probably find a few other names for this type of kale such as Dinosaur Kale, and Tucson Kale. My local market offers it as Tucson Kale.
Do you garden? For home gardeners, Kale has a long growing period.
The wonderful thing about kale is that it can be grown through summer and depending on your growing region, until early March, making it available for winter salads. Even in colder areas, often organic farmers and home gardeners who have hoop houses, and kale can be grown through the winter. Making salads easy to produce. One of the reasons Kale is perfect for the home gardener. 
Kale is also easy to prepare, keeps well, is nutritious and the salad isn't bad either! My favorite way to be salad ready is to get a couple of bunches of kale, wash it well, remove the center rib, cut the leaves into bite-sized pieces, and store them in the refrigerator.
I prefer a large plastic bag with a folded-up clean cotton towel in the bottom to absorb excess moisture. You may also use a bowl with a tight-fitting lid. With the prep work completed, a salad is only moments away. Kale Salad isn't any different than your standard tossed greens, simply enjoy with your favorite dressing. The only difference is in nutrition and fiber. Both of which are good for you!
This is how I clean and store kale for tossed salads.
Wash the kale leaves in a sink of tepid water. Lift up the leaves, let drain in your hands and return to the water. Let sit for a moment or two. then lift and drain again. Dirt particles will have settled to the bottom of the water.
Lift from the water, drain well and lay on cotton toweling.
Remove the center rib/stem. It is very tough and will ruin your salad!
You may simply tear the leaf away from the stem or you can use a "stripping" method by holding the end of the stem with one hand, place the thumb and index finger of the other hand squeezing gently on each side and strip the leaf away from the stem. Either method works fine.
Cut the upper portion of the leaf where the rib/stem ends, in two. Stack the leaves. If they are quite large a lengthwise cut is advised to avoid overly large pieces. Then cut crosswise into squares.
After you have made crosswise cuts, feel free to make sure the pieces are not too large for you. We all have a preferred style of salad making and serving. If adjustments are needed, now is the time...
Place the cut kale into the storage container of your choice. We have such a small fridge, this reusable bag (I wash and reuse plastic bags until no use remains!) works best for any usable space.
At our house, the scraps and the ribs are cut for the hens!
Let's make a salad!
To make a salad, place the amount of cut Lacinato Kale into a large bowl.
To "knead" or "massage" the cut kale, take a handful of the kale, and squeeze it, release, move to the next section of the bowl and continue to pick up, squeeze, and release until all the kale in the bowl has been "massaged".
Add grated carrot and some grape tomatoes and enjoy with the salad dressing of your choice.
You may also enjoy: 
#wholefoodingredients
#scratchmadefoodforyourfamily
Featured recipe at: 
Scratch Made Food! & DIY Homemade Household is a featured blogger at You're A Star Linkup!
Scratch Made Food! & DIY Homemade Household featured at Full Plate Thursday Link-up and Blog Hop.
Thanks
for stopping by!
We
offer new and delicious recipes as well as DIY ideas for your home, regularly.
Feel free to drop us an email request for any question or recipe you may be
looking for. In addition, like all our guests, we invite you to come for a visit
again and again for new recipes, and my down-home take on frugal ways to keep
your home in tip top shape.
Hey
you, don’t miss a post! Please consider following Scratch Made Food! & DIY
Homemade Household. To follow by email, and/or by RSS feed, complete the
application located on the right-hand side of the blog. Please Note,
some posts may contain affiliate links, thank you for supporting Scratch
Made Food! & DIY Homemade Household.
PS,
friends, and family who love good food and household ideas might love us too!
Tell them about us, and thanks for the referral!
You may also enjoy, Creative writing from the heart... stories of life,
living, and family.
Scratch
Made Food! & DIY Homemade Household proudly shares with these generous link
parties featured here.
UPDATED: 03.11.2024
'Looks delicious! Thank you for sharing your recipe at You're the Star Blog Hop! -Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome, thanks for dropping by!
DeleteI like your instructions for de-ribbing. It's a step I've omitted out of laziness and it so makes a difference! Thanks for sharing at the What's for Dinner party. Hope to see you there next week!! Have a lovely week.
ReplyDeleteFortunately we don't like the ribs, but the hens do! Thanks for hosting, have a great week ahead.
DeleteI really like a kale salad -- it's a pain to cut the ribs out, but still worth it.
ReplyDeleteI have reached the point of enjoying kale more than traditional salad greens.
DeleteI like kale but not when I make it. Interestingly I didn't know about the massaging so am wondering if that's why...?
ReplyDeleteLydia, I like this particular type of Kale for a salad, and yes the massaging is what makes it work!
DeleteLacinato Kale Tossed Salad sounds interesting. I've never had kale.Bit I have to tell you that I think deribbing makes a difference in salads for me.
ReplyDeleteThanks bunches for sharing your Kale tossed sals with Sweet Tea & Friends this month dear friend.
Paula, thank you for dropping by, and for hosting Sweet Tea with Friends!
DeletePerfect timing for this recipe! My dinosaur kale is thriving. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteTerri, thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it. See next comment for another great idea!
DeleteHave you ever tried massaging the kale with salad dressing and allowing it to marinate? That's how I like my kale salad. Yours look lovely the way it is.
ReplyDeleteNancy, what a great idea, thank you!
DeleteSo awesome, love kale, love salad, so will pin this to try this summer.
ReplyDeleteEsme, thank you!
Delete