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Ensalata Bomba
Jane M
Inspired by a restaurant in Portland this salad is everything you want – hearty, crunchy, healthy! It holds up to dressing well so you can dress in advance and even eat leftovers. This is Jane’s take on recreating it!
Serves as a large salad for a dinner party of 6–8
Ingredients
- Bunch of kale (curly, dino, any type, or a bag of pre- chopped to make it easy!)
- 1 Apple cut into pieces (crunchy and tart preferred, I like honeycrisp).
- 1 wedge Gouda crumbled or chopped (choose something aged that has cheesy crystals in it)
- 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes halved
- crunchy bread or a rustic loaf for croutons
- 2 large carrots shredded
Seeds: a mix of the following in your desired ratio, at least 1/4 cup, mostly sesame seeds:
- sesame seeds (white or black)
- poppy seeds
- sunflower seeds
Dressing
- hefty scoop (~1/4 cup) Apple butter
- a little olive oil
- apple cider vinegar
Optional: here are other items that are excellent if you have them around!
- pickled beets
- blanched asparagus
- pea shoots
- avocado
- Make dressing by combining about 1/4 cup apple butter with some olive oil and apple cider vinegar. No measurements sorry! More vinegar than oil and thin with a little water to desired consistency. Add pinch of salt and ground pepper
- Prepare croutons. Rip a loaf of bread into medium sized pieces (~2 inches) and place in bowl. Coat in olive oil until well covered. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder if desired. In a hot pan add a little butter or oil and toast croutons in pan until crispy and starting to char on medium high heat stirring frequently. Take off heat and cool once crispy and complete.
- Wash kale and chop into bite sized pieces. The stems can be used too if chopped into small pieces
- Mix in salad bowl: kale, shredded carrot, halved cherry tomatoes, crumbled Gouda, apple and dressing
- Top with seeds and croutons
- Enjoy!
I know – this recipe isn’t exact but it’s a salad that doesn’t have to be. Just make it bright colorful, crunchy and yes, do the croutons, everyone wants crusty croutons!!!! And yes, the apple butter is the star here!