This garlic kale salad was inspired by Il Corvo, Seattle. It has pecorino cheese, toasted pepitas, and a green, garlic confit dressing for a fresh hit of deliciousness!
¼cupolive oilor enough to cover garlic cloves in pan
¼cupfresh parsley
⅓cuppecorino Romano cheesegrated (divided, set aside 2 tablespoons for garnish)
1tablespoonapple cider vinegaror white wine vinegar
1tablespoonfresh lemon juice
Assemble the Salad
10ozkalechopped into small pieces
1tablespoonolive oilfor massaging the kale
½tablespoonlemon juice
¼cuppepitas
2tablespoonspecorino Romano
Instructions
Add 8 to 10 peeled cloves of garlic into a saucepan and add enough olive oil to cover the garlic - typically about ¼ cup. Cook on low flame for about 30 minutes until the garlic is soft (but it should not brown!)Alternatively, you can place the garlic in an oven-safe bowl, fill with olive oil so it covers the garlic and then roast at 250°F for 2 hours.
Meanwhile, shred 10 oz of kale into bite-sized chunks and place in a mixing bowl. Remove a tablespoon of olive oil from the garlic confit and add to the kale along with lemon juice evenly and massage the kale (softly press down on as many pieces as you can) and set aside
To make the salad dressing: after 30 minutes, using a slotted spoon, remove the garlic pieces and transfer to a small blender or food processor. Add olive oil from garlic confit, along with ¼ cup of fresh parsley, ⅓ cup of grated pecorino Romano cheese, and 1 tablespoon each of lemon juice and apple cider vinegar. Pulse together to form a creamy green salad dressing
Add ¼ cup of pepitasto a small sauce pan and toast them for about 4-5 minutes until they're crunchy. Toss the kale with the salad dressing and add the remaining pecorino and serve fresh!
Notes
Depending on your pan, you might need to use more than the amount of olive oil suggested in this recipe. If so, use just ¼th cup in the dressing and save the rest to use for cooking as you normally do, except it tastes 10x better!
You can replace the Pecorino Romano with any sharp hard cheese - but I recommend grating the cheese fresh before serving. Please also make sure to pick up a vegetarian version of this cheese since most varieties (if not labeled vegetarian) are made with animal rennet.
You can substitute the pepitas with any toasted seed or nut; apple cider vinegar with red wine vinegar.