Kale Tahini “Caesar”

Ingredients

Dressing:

• ~2 tbsp tahini

• ~1 tbsp olive oil

• 1-2 anchovy filets

  • Substitute: if you don’t have or don’t like anchovies, you can use capers, fish sauce, or even a little soy sauce—add to taste

• 1-2 gloves of garlic

• 1 lemon

• A couple of sprigs of dill or parsley—up to personal preference

• ~1 tbsp parmesan

  • Note: you can either use grated or whole. If using whole parm, you do not need to grate it first, just cut it into a couple of strips and throw it in

• ~1 tbsp dijon mustard (optional)

• ~3 tbsps cold water

• Salt to taste

Salad:

• ~1 bunch of kale

• Avocado

• Parmesan (shaved or grated)

• Pepitas

  • Substitute: you basically just want something crunchy here, crispy chickpeas would be amazing, croutons, or other nuts/seeds of your choosing

• Dill or parsley (optional)

• Radish (optional)

~1 serving

Method

• Dressing: put all ingredients in the blender or food processor together and blend until everything is well incorporated and creamy

  • Note: if your tahini is thicker, you may need to add more water. You want the dressing to be pourable, but not super watery, so adjust as needed

  • If you do not have a blender or a food processor, you can make by hand. You’ll need to ensure all your solid ingredients (herbs, anchovy, garlic, parmesan) are finely chopped or grated beforehand. Then you can put all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth

• After blending, taste and add salt or more of any ingredient as needed

  • Tip: in general, if something is too salty, you can reduce the saltiness by adding more fat or acid. In this case, if the dressing tastes too salty, you can correct by adding more tahini or olive oil (fat) or lemon juice (acid)

• Salad:

  • De-stem and chop or tear your kale

    • Tip: always remove kale from it’s stem, which is fibrous and tough to eat

  • Pour a tiny bit of olive oil or lemon juice onto the kale and massage

    • Tip: with salads in general, I like to toss the leaves in olive oil and/or lemon juice first so that every piece gets coated. This adds a foundation of flavor

    • Tip: massaging your kale first helps breakdown and soften the kale, which not only makes it easier to eat, but also releases some of the bitter compounds in kale

  • Add the dressing to the kale and toss so that ll the leaves are coated

  • Add avocado, parmesan, pepitas (or crunch component), and dill and toss all together

  • Transfer to clean bowl (or eat out of mixing bowl in your pajamas over the sink, doesn’t matter)

  • Top with more dill, pepitas, parmesan and radishes

    • Note: You can get creative with toppings/mix-ins depending on what you have and what you like—it’s a salad after all, there’s no one right way to do it