All Kale Caesar Salad

Well, someone finally turned summer on here in the Northwest, which is nice if you like that sort of thing, but honestly I am already pining for the fall. In the meantime, I am trying to make do with operating the oven on as little as possible. This calls for salad dinners. And speaking of salad dinners, you can’t do much better than this one.

The kale stands up to the Caesar dressing really well and this is one of the very few letttuce-y salads that you can save the leftovers from (I’ve stored them in the fridge for about a day — not sure you’d want to go much longer than that, but leftovers will definitely last until lunch the next day).

Another neat thing about this salad is the egg voodoo. Such a neat trick — use a mesh strainer to sieve the eggs! Cool! Thanks, Bon Appétit magazine!

All Kale Caesar Salad
Adapted from a recipe in Bon Appétit magazine…although the bad pun name is my doing.
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp anchovy paste
2 large garlic cloves
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 hard-boiled egg, peeled
12 ounces Tuscan kale or other kale
3/4 cup croutons, made from cubed, toasted crusty bread (or store bought)

Remove center stalks from kale and slice thinly, cross-wise.

I like to give them a spin in a salad spinner. I think they enjoy it too.

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a blender or food processor; purée until smooth. With machine running, slowly add oil, drop by drop, to make a creamy dressing. Transfer dressing to a bowl and stir in 1/4 cup Parmesan. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and chill.

Separate egg white from yolk. Place egg white in a coarse-mesh strainer set over a bowl. Press egg white through strainer with the back of a spoon; scrape egg white from bottom of strainer. Repeat with egg yolk.

Toss kale, eggs and dressing in a large bowl to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Top with remaining Parmesan and croutons. Serves 3-4. Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator and will make it to lunch the next day just fine!