Easy Raw Kale Salad Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Can you eat raw kale as a salad? ›

Often labeled as a superfood, kale is one of the healthiest and most nutrient-dense foods you can eat. This leafy green comes in a variety of colors, shapes, and textures. It's often eaten raw in salads and smoothies but can also be enjoyed steamed, sautéed, boiled, or baked.

Massage Your Kale Leaves

Kale will benefit from some gentle kneading to soften its texture. A bit of oil can help to break down the fibrous membranes as well. Here's how: Wash the kale and remove the leaves from the stems. Tear the leaves into smaller pieces and rub them in your hands with olive oil and salt.

Steaming is a better option than boiling because you don't lose as many nutrients with this cooking method, according to Gray. “You're not giving it heat treatment for very long, so it's closest to raw that you can get and you still are cooking it to some degree,” she said.

Chrissy adds: “Kale can be eaten raw or cooked but do make sure you only cook kale lightly (lightly steam or stir-fry) to minimise loss of water-soluble nutrients.”

"However, if you are looking for a food that is particularly high in fiber, vitamins K and C, kale is a better choice," she said. "If you are looking for a food that is particularly high in folate and a source of iron, and vitamins A and E, then spinach is a better choice."

RELATED: Believe It Or Not, Kale Actually Lives Up To All Of Its Hype—Here's Why. Manganiello says you can eat kale every day, just don't overdo it. She recommends one to two servings maximum of kale per day, leaving room for other healthy foods that provide an assortment of nutrients.

When you finish chewing and swallowing raw kale, the vegetable will pass through the digestive tract intact because it doesn't dissolve quickly. This type of fiber is indeed useful for smooth bowel movements and overcome constipation. However, excessive consumption of rigid fiber can cause digestive problems.

You can also soften kale with lemon or another acidic ingredient, such as apple cider vinegar. Use about a tablespoon per bunch of kale. Follow the same steps as you would if you were using oil. Some people like to use both oil and an acidic ingredient, since acid can really help break down the kale.

Unlike some other types of kale, lacinato is tender, which makes it ideal to use raw in salads. You can also add it to soups, frittatas, and other cooked dishes.

Cutting the stems crossways shortens the fibres, much as with a tough steak, making them perfectly edible and preventing waste. Cut this way, the stems can be cooked in the same way as the rest of the leaf: sauteed, boiled or steamed.

Why does my kale taste bad? ›

Much like in onions and garlic, kale's bitterness is only formed when the vegetable is sliced, chopped, massaged, or chewed. When cells in a leaf of kale are intact, an enzyme called myrosinase and sulfur-containing compound glucosinolate are separated from one another.

Why You Should Soak Kale. Not only does soaking kale tenderize it, it also pulls double duty by cleaning it and improving the flavor at the same time. It produces the same results as massaging, with a fraction of the work.

"Glucosinolates are greatly diminished by cooking, so it's good advice to boil, roast, or stew your kale before eating. This is the same for any other cruciferous veggie like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, kohlrabi, and bok choy," Basham says.

She recommends one to two servings maximum of kale per day, leaving room for other healthy foods that provide an assortment of nutrients. When you do nosh on this dark leafy green, pair it with foods rich in fatty acids like oil or nuts to boost the uptake of fat-soluble vitamins, according to Manganiello.