A lovely Middle-Eastern (sorta) inspired salad chock full of flavour and nutrients! Served with a tahini-lemon dressing, this salad is a great side to any number of Middle-Eastern stews or rice dishes. If you don’t like kale, feel free to use any other green you prefer!
If you’d like to make this salad a little more substantial for a light lunch or the like, I highly recommend adding in some Bulgur wheat or couscous! If you can’t have gluten, quinoa would also be a good option.
Serves 4-6
Prep time: ~15 minutes
Ingredients:
- 3-4 large bunches of kale, leaves stripped off the stems and roughly chopped.
- 1 bunch mint, finely chopped.
- 1 bunch parsley, finely chopped.
- 1 can chickpeas, rinsed well.
- seeds from 1 pomegranate.
- 1 cucumber, peeled if desired, finely sliced.
- 1/2 red onion, finely minced.
- 1-2 pieces Arabic bread, cut into small squares.
- 1-2 tsp olive oil.
For the dressing:
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice.
- 1/2 cup olive oil.
- 1 tbsp tahini.
- 1 clove garlic, crushed.
- 1 tsp agave syrup.
- salt.
- pepper.
Cooking Instructions:
First, time to make some easy croutons! Preheat the oven as high as it will go. Toss the bread pieces with a tiny bit of olive oil, spread them out thinly on a baking sheet, and pop in the oven. Bake them for 5-10 minutes, giving them an occasional stir, until nice and crispy. Take them out of the oven and allow to cool completely.
Place the kale in a large bowl and massage it gently to help tenderize it. Add the rest of the salad ingredients and toss until well-mixed.
Mix the lemon juice with the tahini, garlic, agave syrup, salt, and pepper. Slowly add in the olive oil while mixing (preferably in a blender or with an immersion blender), until nicely emulsified.
Top the salad with the croutons, dress liberally (or have dressing on the side), and serve!
Unintentionally Vegan 