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I adore everything about this salad- such rich, wonderful flavours all in one bowl. I also love the versatility in this dish… thanks for sharing!
I’m gettin all healthy on ya today.
I’ve been at the grocery store A LOT lately. Grocery shopping has always been a weekly highlight for me, because obviously I live on the edge. Some people spend Saturday at the mall buying shoes; I spend Saturday at the grocery store buying new kinds of flour and chocolate. I mean, um, vitamins.
In one of my recent grocery trips, I discovered those bags of prewashed, precut kale in the produce section. I know, I’m a little behind the times and mayyyybe a little lazy in that I don’t like to spend one minute washing and cutting those huge kale leaves. But after living abroad for a year with a reduced number of fresh greens available and a thorough cleaning process required for all vegetables, my eyes popped out of my head and my jaw hit the floor when I saw this convenience superfood. They must know me.
Grocery shopping, though.
Something scary is happening to me, and it’s called I never want to go back to the grocery store ever again. Making the drive, zigzagging across the store to get what I need, waiting in line, bagging my stuff, awkwardly speed walking it out to my car because I’m apparently always in a hurry, and repeat that once, sometimes twice, daily for almost three weeks? It makes a person fall out of love quickly.
Good news: there’s only FIVE DAYS left until I am done with my eCookbook and can stop going to the grocery store every day. Let’s celebrate with a sale!
So confession: I actually really like eating this balsamic KALE salad, and so does Bjork (!). It makes me feel good and happy and lucky to have the opportunity to eat such healthy food. <– 100% serious. After living in a developing country for a year, I am much more aware that it’s a privilege to have access to nutritious food like this on a regular basis.
And if the choice involves warm olive oil and balsamic sauteed kale, tossed with garlic-butter mushrooms and tender sweet bell peppers and Asiago cheese, with a dusting of sea salt and a sprinkle of black pepper? I say thank you, YES.
This salad is like one million flavors in one, and here’s the funny thing: every time I make it, I add something new. It’s an everything but the kitchen sink kinda salad: fresh basil, or dried cherries, or grilled salmon, or feta, or brown rice, or rosemary garlic sauce leftover from one of my eCookbook recipes. It all just works.
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Warm Balsamic Kale Salad
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
Description
This warm balsamic kale salad has tons of flavor and includes sauteed mushrooms and peppers, bell peppers, and Asiago cheese.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup diced onion
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 1 yellow pepper, diced
- 8 oz. baby portobello mushrooms, sliced
- 4 cups kale
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup Asiago cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium heat, melt one tablespoon of butter. Add the onions and peppers; saute for several minutes until softened. Add the mushrooms and one tablespoon butter; saute for several minutes until browned.
- Add the kale, garlic, and balsamic vinegar. Saute until the kale is deep green but not yet wilted. Remove from heat and serve topped with Asiago or Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
You can also add a protein for a more filling “meal” salad, like grilled salmon, chicken, white beans, etc. I also liked having this over a brown rice/ancient grain blend.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: warm kale salad, balsamic kale salad, kale salad
Eat kale and be happy, and someone please sign me up for Coborns Delivers.
(…Actually, for real, does anyone use a grocery delivery service?)
We loved this. Thanks for the recipe. I added more garlic but followed the recipe otherwise. It turned out great. We will be making this again and again.
I made this last night and we enjoyed it. Nice to soften the kale.
I was a bit confused as to why so many people write reviews on a recipe they haven’t tried? Saying it looks good or discussing the purchasing aspect really isn’t helpful!
Precut Kale has the stems in it and chemical preservative taste. Warm kale salad is a nice change up from the normal. I’ll just chop up my own.
Made this as a Thanksgiving side this past year and everyone absolutely loved it 🙂 thanks for a great recipe!
I love kale salads. I will be trying this one soon!
Thanks for sharing.
Delicious! This salad is so tasty!
Awesome. This recipe was my first time to try kale and it was wonderful I love the warm veggies that accompany the kale
Can this be done ahead for Thanksgiving Dinner and if so, how would I do this?
I love this recipe! It’s very easy to edit to fit your own tastes – for example I switched out the mushrooms for chicken. It was delicious and filling and very easy to make. I highly recommend!!
Why can I not find Hidden Valley Spinach dip mixer anymore???
I’m so excited to try this recipe. I don’t have mushrooms, so I’m using zucchini instead:)
I made this salad this evening and it is fabulous. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe. I cannot wait to try others
Made this for lunch today and added bacon. Hubbie doesn’t like mushrooms so I thought the bacon would be a good way to hide the mushroom taste. It worked! This is such a good salad for winter. So quick to prepare as well. Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it, Sandra!
This salad looks amazing! Love me some kale! My question is…if you are using the pre-washed/bagged kale do you still cut out the stems? I do and it takes me forever and a day, and I despise it!
Really depends on your preference! They tend to be the most bitter part, so I almost always cut them off. 🙂
This was easy and great! I used bagged baby kale from Trader Joes (which wilted too quickly down to almost nothing, so I took it off the heat and added a second bag.) I also added about a cup of cooked quinoa. Delicious!
Sounds amazing! Glad to hear it!
Delicious!! Will definitely be a go to from now on – excited to try some variations of this salad/meal
I made a mini version of this for lunch with some organic baby kale from Aldi. Delicious!
I served this salad along with a venison burger. It was the perfect side dish!
This is sooooooo good! Made it this past weekend, I am in Love! I got mad when I ran out! The best ever!
Thanks Loretta! Glad you liked it!
My sister has been raving about this recipe! I am making it tonight. Trader Joes has a huge bag if ore washed and cut Kale for 1.99!!!
This recipe was fantastic. I used bottled red and yellow peppers and added a pinch of smoked paprika. It was delicious!
Thanks for the comment – I’m so glad to hear that you liked it Hannah!
Can’t wait to try this! Any idea if it reheats well?
I had a big bag of kale and thought this recipe was a great way to try kale differently (I normally just bake it into kale chips or make a kale bean soup). This was easy to make, beautiful presentation and delicious. The taste really grows on you the more you eat so I was trying it hesitantly at first and then wolfing it down after a few minutes. Thanks for the recipe!
Ok, I get a CSA box over the summer.. there is always Kale, and I needed something quick to go with supper. I had no Peppers, so I used Peaches and Beets instead! Oh My! and I used half Kale, half Frise Endive. Scrumptious!
Wow – what a fun combo!
Can this salad be enjoyed at a pot luck or does it need to be really warm to bring out the flavors?
Sure! It might be a little less fresh-tasting since the veggies are sort of sauteed but if you took care not to overcook them I think it could work.