The kale Caesar salad gets a seasonal variation with winter vegetables. Spring romaine lettuce is replaced with hardy kale and a gnarly celery root is peeled and sliced to add a very subtle celery flavor and a whole lot of crunch.
The kale salad is tossed with a quick & easy homemade Caesar dressing that uses just 4 ingredients: garlic, lemon juice, mayo, and olive oil.
This recipe includes a quick pan-fried, breaded chicken and cornbread croutons made from a couple of store-bought (or homemade) muffins. This kale Caesar salad is hearty enough to be a full meal.
Recipe
Ingredients
Chicken & Breading
- ½ lb chicken breast
- 1 cup almond milk or low fat milk
- ½ cup Panko bread crumbs
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup flour
Salad
- 1 celeriac
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 bunch kale
- ¼ cup chopped hazelnuts
- 2 cornbread muffins
Dressing
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 1 Tbs olive oil
Instructions
Prepare
- Cut out stems of kale and slice into bite-size pieces. Peel garlic and grate it on a zester to make a paste (or mince and pound it to a paste). Peel and cut celeriac into matchstick pieces, then put them in a bowl with the vinegar and honey (to keep it from turning brown, and add a little flavor). Zest the lemon, then cut it into quarters.
Toast Hazelnuts
- Toss the hazelnuts in a dry pan, and toast over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Set a timer for 3 minutes to check on them (they can burn fast). If they aren't done, set the timer for 1 more minute at a time, until they are done.
Toast the cornbread
- Cut the cornbread into crouton-sized pieces (or roughly break it apart). Put them under the broiler for a few minutes, until crispy (a toaster oven works great too).
Prepare the chicken
- Measure the flour into 1 bowl, and the breadcrumbs and HALF of the Parmesan into a second bowl. Pour the milk into a 3rd bowl. Get a clean plate set aside as well.
- Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces. Toss several of them in the flour mixture and shake off excess. Next dip it into the milk (shake off extra), and then into the breadcrumb-parmesan mixture. Coat well - then place on the plate you previously set aside. Repeat with remaining chicken.
Cook the chicken and make the dressing
- Place 2 tablespoon of olive oil in a pan (for cooking the chicken) and heat it on medium-high.
- While that heats up, make the dressing: combine the garlic paste, mayo, lemon zest, juice from the lemons, and the rest of the Parmesan cheese in a bowl (or mason jar). Whisk in 1 tablespoon of olive oil (or shake the jar). Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the chicken to the hot oil (if it isn't very hot, the breading will soak it up instead of frying). Cook until browned and no longer pink, turning occasionally.
Combine & Serve
- Massage the dressing into the kale with your hands. Add in the celeriac and hazlenuts, then place on your plates. Top with chicken and croutons.
Nutrition
Calorie breakdown
Do I want half a cup of Parmesan cheese on my salad - of course I do, but I probably shouldn't. And how big of a dent are these cornbread muffins making? Can I use a whole muffin, rather than half (yes)? While calories are not the perfect measure, I find it helpful to put each ingredient into perspective.
Below is a breakdown of calories by ingredient, per serving, so you can adjust to meet your personal goals. This recipe serves two people as a main course (650 calories), or four as a side salad.
For those of you looking to enjoy this kale Caesar salad as your entire dinner, I advice you to follow the recipe.
However, if you are looking to cut back on calories or use this as a side dish, there are two things you can cut:
- Skip the breading on the chicken to remove about 125 calories per serving.
- Use half of the cornbread croutons to save 50 calories or remove them entirely and add extra celery root for crunch.
- Swap some or all of the cornbread muffins for nuts, which won't save on calories but can be a healthy swap.
Using kale in salads
Kale Caesar salads are gaining popularity because kale leaves are just as sturdy as romaine, holding up to a thick coating of salad dressing.
When working with kale, whether it's lacinato (dinosaur) or curly, both are treated the same to make them more tender. First, remove the tough stems from the kale leaves. They can be cut away or simply ripped off the center stem by grabbing the base with one hand and ripping down with the other (as shown here).
Next, tenderize the kale leaves by massaging the Caesar dressing into them prior to serving. Both the massaging action and the lemon juice in the dressing helps break down the fibrous leaves, making them much more pleasant to chew.
Shredded kale, on the other hand, doesn't need the extra massaging step. Instead, simply toss the kale salad and dressing together 10 minutes before serving. The lemon juice will do all of the tenderizing you need, without turning them mushy.
If you're using baby kale for the salad, don't massage the leaves or dress them early. As Bon Appétit advises, "you definitely don't need to massage it—that stuff is delicate enough to eat on its own, and massaging it will just wilt it in a gross way."
Lastly, if you find kale to be bitter, try soaking it in hot water instead of massaging dressing into it. America's Test Kitchen shares this method, explaining, "When you soak kale, some of the bitter-tasting compounds found in cruciferous vegetables after they’re chopped, called isothiocyanates, are rinsed away. This results in a milder kale flavor."
Working with celery root
Celery root, also known as celeriac, is in season from fall through early spring. It's a specific type of celery plant grown for the root ball.
It has a delicate potato-celery like flavor and can be eaten raw or cooked. It's used raw in this kale Caesar salad, but you could certainly take the time to roast it for a warm salad option.
Smaller celery root will have a more pronounced flavor, which I recommend for salads. If you get one with a spongy center, it's still perfectly fine to use. Just cut around the spongy center and use the rest of the flesh.
Get more tips with the celery root guide.
Other recipe Notes
This is one of my favorite kale Caesar salad recipes, although you should feel free to make your own variation as well.
- Hazelnuts: I suggest buying the chopped ones and toasting them. It saves the hassle of rubbing the skins off and then chopping them, but if you're not pressed for time, go for it! You can substitute your favorite nut if you prefer.
- Breading: you can also bread the entire chicken breast and cook it, then slice it up. That looks nicer if guests are coming over, but I like the fast cook-times on the nuggets (and more surface area is coated in the breading).
- Add other winter vegetables, like celery stalks, roasted parsnips, or make butternut squash croutons by following the steps on this autumn caesar salad recipe.
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