Late last week, we had family passing through Northwest Connecticut on their way back to Michigan. They arrived late on Thursday afternoon to big bowls of hot New England Clam Chowder, a warm French Baguette, and a salad composed of Kale and Ricotta with a super simple homemade lemon dressing.
When the weather is cold, I never really crave salad the way I do in the hot Summer months. That being said, I’ve been really into the flavor of Kale the last few months. I’ve mainly focused on eating it hot as a side dish at dinner – a simple preparation – sautéed in olive oil with garlic, salt and pepper. That was until I saw this recipe for Sautéed Kale and Cranberry Salad. Needless to say, after looking at those beautiful photos I was intrigued by the idea of eating raw kale in a salad.
Shortly thereafter, I started my search around the internet for the very best Kale Salad Recipes that I could find. I was immediately drawn to a kale, ricotta, shallot and lemon flavor salad that was featured on Kim Severson’s website. When I found myself with all the ingredients in my pantry except for shallots, I decided to make a go of it. I simply replaced the shallot flavor in the recipe with minced garlic. The results (if I may say so myself) were delicious!
And the very best part? The kale leaves are so hearty that the already dressed leaves remained in my fridge until Saturday afternoon when I enjoyed the leftovers for lunch. How remarkable is that!? I have no doubt that I’ll be making big bowls of this recipe and eating it for lunch during the week until the warm weather returns to the Northeast!

Posted by Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo / totally delicious dishes and Uncategorized