Kale salad with orange and goji berries

This kale salad with orange and goji berries is on repeat at my house all autumn and winter long – it’s definitely one of the best ways to eat delicious seasonal kale and oranges, in my humble opinion anyway.

The salad is fabulous with things like beef patties, roasted chicken/turkey/duck, salmon and white fish – heck, leftovers are great with a fried egg for breakfast too!

Oh and a heads up – this salad is perfect for upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners too! For an upgraded deluxe version, try adding a generous sprinkle of chopped crispy bacon (…I mean, you know everyone will eat their kale like that, right?).

How to make kale salad your new favorite thing

I used to hate kale salads with their dry, sort of ‘rough’ mouthfeel – absolutely not a pleasant eat in my book!

Well, that was until I figured out how to make raw kale tender and well – tasty.

The secret? A good ol’ massage!

Yes, you have to get in there and massage your kale with oil and salt. IT’S A GAME CHANGER!!!

It’s super simple too.

You just clean your kale, remove the tough middle stems and chop it up (I always do a ‘not to fine, but pretty fine’ chop), pour over some good quality oil and ditto salt and massage away with your fingers. Just a few minutes. This will tenderize the kale and make the color and flavor pop!

Mix and match

Basically the massaged kale is a great base for a variety of delicious salad combinations.

No goji berries? No problem! You can use dried cranberries or cherries (I prefer apple juice sweetened), chopped dates, chopped figs, chopped apricots or dried mulberries instead.

Not a fan of orange? Thinly sliced apple or pear is delicious! Same with blueberries and blackberries. Just add a splash of lemon or orange juice to balance the acidity, if not using orange.

Substitute any type of toasted nuts or seeds with the sunflower seeds too – the salad is so good with pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios, pine nuts and pumpkin seeds! Just please remember to toast them, right? Toasting adds nuttiness, depth and amazing flavor! It’s super easy to do too – this is how I toast nuts and seeds.

For added flavor you can add grated lemon or orange zest to the salad. A dash of vanilla powder is amazing with kale too!

Oh, and not to forget. If you really want to knock it out of the ball park for a special treat (like Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner) add a generous sprinkle of chopped crispy bacon!

…who knew that a basic kale salad could have so much potential, eh?

Kale salad with orange and goji berries

Easy to make and with basically only 4 ingredients, this crunchy kale salad with orange and goji berries is sure to be on repeat all autumn and winter long!

Servings 2-4 people (depending on other side dishes)

Ingredients

• 6 C / 1,5 L loosely packed kale, chopped
• Mild-tasting extra virgin olive oil and fine grain pink Himalayan salt or sea salt
• 1 large orange, segmented (if you haven’t tried it before, there’s plenty of useful tutorials on how to fillet or segment an orange on Youtube – you can peel and cut the orange in bite-sized pieces too, but the segments without pith and membranes are more delicate for both taste and presentation)
• 1 handful dried unsweetened goji berries
• 1 handful toasted sunflower seeds

Instructions

1. Combine kale, a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt in a big bowl and massage, using your fingers, for a few minutes (read description above).
2. Squeeze any fleshy peel parts from the orange over the kale to use that bit of orange juice as a dressing too.
3. Taste the kale – anything missing? Add more oil or salt if necessary.
4. Arrange kale on a plate and decorate with pieces of orange, goji berries and sunflower seeds.
5. Enjoy!

Storage and shelf life

1. The salad stores well in the fridge for 1-2 days – the goji berries and sunflower seeds will soften though.

Do you want to print the recipe for kale salad with orange and goji berries? I’ve got you!