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Chopped kale salad with lemon dressing in a jar.

Tuscan Kale Salad

A healthy, crowd pleasing Italian-style Tuscan kale salad featuring chopped lacinato kale, chickpeas, peppers, carrots and red onions. It’s finished with Parmesan cheese petals, pine nuts and a simple garlic lemon dressing.

Course Lunch, Main Course, Salad
Cuisine American, Italian
Prep Time 30 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 8

Ingredients

Lemon Garlic Vinaigrette

  • 2 small garlic cloves crushed
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • ¼ cup olive oil

Salad Ingredients

  • 1 bunch lacinato / dinosaur / Tuscan kale
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 540 ml tin chickpeas rinsed and drained
  • 2 medium red bell peppers diced
  • 2 medium carrots shredded on the large holes of a box grater
  • ¼ cup diced red onion
  • 1 cup Parmesan cheese petals see recipe note 5 below
  • ⅓ cup pine nuts see recipe note 6 below

Instructions

Lemon Garlic Vinaigrette

  1. In a small bowl or in a jar, add the garlic, lemon juice, mustard, salt, pepper, thyme and olive oil. Whisk well or shake well if using a jar. Set aside at room temperature.

Salad Ingredients and Assembly

  1. Wash and dry the kale completely. Strip leaves from the tough stems of the kale and chop or tear the leaves into roughly small 1” pieces to get 6 packed cups. Place the kale leaves in a large bowl and add 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Gently massage the kale with your fingers. Let the massaged kale sit for 10 – 15 minutes while preparing the other ingredients. This will tenderize the kale and improve the flavour.

  2. Add chickpeas, red peppers, carrots and red onion to the massaged kale and toss to combine. The salad can be made ahead to this point then dressed and garnished when ready to serve.

  3. About 30 minutes before serving, pour in the vinaigrette and toss to combine. Add the Parmesan petals and toasted pine nuts and toss again very lightly.

Recipe Notes

  1. Lacinato / dinosaur / Tuscan kale are all the same type of kale just with different names.
  2. Strip the thick stems from the kale leaves before chopping or tearing it.
  3. Massage the kale gently – do not over massage or the leaves will become limp.
  4. Bring the lemon vinaigrette to room temperature before using and toss the salad about 30 minutes before serving.
  5. Make Parmesan petals with a chunk of Parmigiano Reggiano by grating it with a vegetable peeler or on the large holes of a box grater.
  6. Toast pine nuts in a small skillet over medium high heat while tossing, just until lightly golden then
    immediately transfer nuts to a plate to cool.