This is one of my favorite salads.It is also great way to eat kale without it feeling like you are forced into eating boring greens. A flavor packed mint-lime dressing coating crispy carrots, creamy white beans and chickpeas with a little zing from the pickled red onions, just divine!
Ingredients
Serves 4-6
For the dressing
1/2 cup mint leaves
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
3 tbsp lime juice
3 tbsp water
1 garlic clove (optional)
1/2 tsp red chilli flakes (optional – I like the heat)
1/2 tsp salt
For the Salad
1/2 of a large red onion, very thinly sliced
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 serrano chilli, finely chopped
15 baby carrots, sliced (you can use any kind of carrot,chopped into bite size pieces)
3 cups of chopped kale (preparation method below)
1 large juicy tomato, diced
1 cup canned cannellini beans, drained and washed
1 cup canned chickpeas, drained and washed
1 tsp coarse kosher salt
Method
Blend together all the dressing ingredients until smooth. You may need to adjust the water and add more to bring this to a dressing consistency.
In a large mixing bowl, add the thinly sliced red onions and lemon juice. Mix this well and set aside for 10 minutes. This will slightly pickle the red onions and reduce the pungency of the onion, while adding much needed acidity to the salad.
Add the chopped chillies, carrots, tomatoes and kale to the bowl.
Add a tsp of salt and mix well. Add both white beans and chickpeas, drizzle half of the dressing, and toss together gently. Keep adding more dressing per how ‘flavored’ you want your salad to be.
I personally like a lightly dressed salad, and the dressing is perfect to store in the fridge, upto a week.
