Have you seen it before?—baby kale leaves. I stumbled on a package of baby kale in the store the other day and knew it would be perfect for this delicious Chicken and Kale Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing. This just might be my most favorite kale salad ever. The original recipe is adaptation from a Sunset magazine salad where they grill the kale leaves. Somehow grilled greens didn’t seem to appealing to me but the tahini lemon dressing did!
Think of a lemony, garlic hummus flavor combined with the sweet tang of apples along with the smoky crunch of almonds piled on top of this tender baby kale. Come on, isn’t your mouth watering?
I love using kale in salads because it holds up well over time once its tossed with the dressing. In fact, you can make this and save the leftovers and eat it for lunch the next day. Salad lovers unite!
Baby kale is perfect to use in salads because its tender already and there is no need to finely chop or massage the leaves into soft submission. I have another tasty kale salad recipe on this site where you have to massage the olive oil and honey into the leaves before serving. That’s lots of fun but this is recipe is so much easier…and tastier too. Try it and let me know.
Heidi
Note: You can often find tahini in the Kosher section of your grocery store.
A savory- sweet salad made with baby kale, chicken, apples and a light tahini dressing.
Ingredients
- 4 small chicken breasts, pre-cooked or grilled
- 12 ounces of baby kale leaves, slightly chopped
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste)
- Juice of one large lemon along with the zest
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 clove garlic
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 small, crisp apples, cored and chopped
- ½ cup roasted salted almonds
Instructions
- Slice the chicken breasts into small pieces and set aside.
- Add the kale to a large salad bowl and set aside.
- For dressing, whisk the olive oil, tahini, lemon juice, lemon zest, honey and garlic in a medium bowl or small food processor. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- To the kale, add the apples and sliced chicken and toss with dressing.
- Sprinkle almonds on top and serve.
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