I love kale. I could eat it any way you give it to me. My family…not so much. They love baby kale (like this salad), with its softer and more delicate texture, but they just don’t seem to like the coarseness of mature Curly Kale (the one most of us will find in our grocery store). I get it. It really can be tough. It’s that texture that makes it perfect for a “slaw”. So, I figured if I take those leaves and run my knife through them to get a nice shred, mix them with some other colorful veggies then toss with some flavors they love…they’d eat that darn kale!
And…they did.
Asian Kale Slaw
Ingredients
- 1 bunch curley kale shredded
- 1/2 head small red cabbage shredded
- 3 - 4 medium carrots shredded
- 4 green onions sliced thin diagonally
- 1/4 cup soy sauce use tamari to keep this vegan and gluten-free
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons coconut palm sugar or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds toasted
- 1/2 cup almond slivers toasted
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Shred all of your veggies by hand. A processor will shred too finely. For the kale, I run my knife through, starting at the top of the stalk and julienne until about half-way down, where the stalk begins to get really tough. Then, I pull those bottom leaves off, shred them and discard the rest of the stem. I use my knife for the cabbage too then the box grater to shred the carrots. As you shred everything, put all of the veggies in a large bowl.
- In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients up to the olive oil. Then, pour the dressing over the shredded veggies. Toss a bit and refrigerate for at least 15 to 20 minutes (if you can wait that long!).
- Sprinkle the top with the sesame seeds, almonds and the sea salt just before serving and toss once more.
- This slaw will keep for one more day after it's made, but gets watery beyond that.
Notes
More Kale recipes you’ll love…
Curly Kale Salad with Almonds Chorizo and Sherry Dressing from Lavender and Lovage
Cheezy Spicy Kale Chips from Lunch Box Bunch
Kale Salad with Blue Cheese and Pickled Carrots from Healthy Delicious
Kale Salad with a Tahini Lemon Dressing from Full Measure of Happiness
This is good but VERY tart as is, needs more brown sugar for balance IMO
Adjusting the tartness and sweetness to your palate is a great suggestion, Jen! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Eating this for lunch as I type this – SO good, love the crunch factor :)
I’m so glad you love it, Rande! That’s my favorite part, too!
We make kale slaw using garden kale, which seems more tender than the commercial stuff. Grab the stem and strip the leaf off. The stem will break just at the point where it is tender enough to eat.
This is the dressing we have come up with.
mayo
some olive oil
touch of sesame oil (important for flavour)
rice wine vinegar
juice from half lemon(also important for flavour)
some mirin
healthy squirt of oriental Rooster hot sauce.
We don’t add anything to the kale except a sprinkling of sesame seeds.
Thanks so much Jan. That sounds delicious! I look forward to giving that a try! I wish I had a garden full of kale…unfortunately, I’ve just got a few pots of herbs and things on my deck.
My husband and I both LOVE kale, but he’s not a big fan of cabbage whereas I am. I think you have just provided a delicious recipe that will allow me to have my cabbage and possible get him to eat it. :) This looks delicious and so healthy and colorful. I can’t wait to make it! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much MJ! If your husband doesn’t like the cabbage, try using shredded broccoli like I do in this Shaved Broccoli Salad. That would be delicious too! Let me know if you make it!
I was looking for an idea for a vegetarian spring rolls and this combination would be perfect. Adding kale for extra crunch never occured to me until this post! THANKS!
That would be wonderful, Diane! I love spring rolls. Let me know how they turn out!
The Asian Kale Slaw looks scrumptious and I look forward to trying your recipe. A couple of notes about kale: instead of selecting the curly kale, try the lacinto kale instead, it too can be found in most grocery stores. Unless using kale in a slaw such as you are here, kale should always be “massaged” after it has been removed from the stems and torn into bite-sized pieces. Once destemmed, place the Kale, either lacinto or curly, into a bowl and give it a generous drizzle of olive oil, then massage the leaves with your hands until it is somewhat darker in color. This process makes kale far more palatable, as it removes the bitterness many abhor. Once this step is complete, go ahead and add your other salad fixings…. and trust that “massaging” your kale is a sure-fire way to get kale-haters to eat this vegetable :)
Wow! Thanks for the wonderful kale info, Joni and the sweet compliment! I actually do love massaged kale. I like to serve it with some freshly grated parmesan. It’s delicious!
I am absolutely kale-crazy – I got super excited when I saw the title of this post! Asian-style slaws are my favorite slaws, so I would be all over this in a heartbeat. Brilliant combo!
Thank you so much, Faith! Let me know how you like it!
I love kale–pretty much all kinds and ways. Lacinato kale chips, curly kale simple sauteed with garlic and finished with a splash of vinegar, salt and red pepper flakes, and kale salad when the kale is finely sliced like your recipe here!
Thanks so much Letty! I love it sautéed with garlic too…that may be my favorite!