Kale Slaw

I've made a few recipes from the Moosewood Restaurant's Cooking for Health cookbook my friend gave me for Christmas and all have been very tasty. This Kale Slaw became a favorite as soon as I tasted it. I never thought I'd crave cold crunchy veggies and now I find myself contemplating this salad for breakfast. If you think that's odd, it's new and weird to me too.

Moosewood's original recipe doesn't call for fresh orange juice but I had some really delicious oranges that week so I included it in the dressing. The beauty of cooking at home is that you can always improvise and you might come up with a new favorite dish. The picture below was taken the second time I made this recipe and I didn't have an apple on hand. Instead I added sliced red pepper to try and replace the sweetness of the apple. It didn't give me the same effect but the salad was yummy anyway.

You'll definitely want to let the salad marinade for 30 minutes to let the flavors blend and the kale to soften up a bit.

Kale Slaw

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons cinder vinegar
juice of 1/2 an orange
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Dash of cayenne pepper
3 cups very finely chopped kale, ribs removed
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 1/2 cups grated carrots
1 cup grated apples

For dressing, whisk together oil, vinegar, orange juice, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper in a small bowl.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the kale, onion, carrots and apples.  Pour dressing over salad and combine.  Let  it sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Can also be served chilled with a squeeze of lime.