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In This Post: Everything You Need For Roasted Peanut Kale Crunch Salad
Watch How To Make This Kale Crunch Salad
Lindsay’s Notes
Holy moly, I’ve lost count of how many times we’ve eaten this salad in the last few weeks! First of all, let it be known that roasted peanut vinaigrette is the only way I want to live from here on out. It gives all the flavor of a peanut dressing but none of the heaviness; it’s much lighter and saucier, getting into every nook and cranny of this salad the way a regular peanut dressing wouldn’t be able to. It’s fantastic. Plus, the texture on the cabbage and the kale makes this salad TRULY ENJOYABLE to eat, and tossing it all up with some peanuts and thinly sliced fresno peppers makes this crunchy, spicy, filling, and perfect. The typical order of events for this salad is:
I make it for lunch. We have the rest of it for dinner.
It actually lasts shockingly well, even with dressing on it, because the kale and cabbage are so hearty! I often enjoy our dinner leftovers as much as I did the original lunch salad because the kale softens even more as it sits in the dressing. But we don’t always do this all in one day – it works great for meal prep as well. I’ve been known to tuck a container of the shredded up kale, cabbage, and herbs in the fridge, plus a container of the dressing, and basically just toss together individual salads all week long for amazingly fast little lunch salads that I always, always look forward to. You can eat this salad on its own, and I often do, especially as a lunch salad! Or you can do what we did last night for dinner and throw some herby shrimp on the side with a hunk of buttered bread. Or what we did the night before – serving it alongside leftover grilled chicken and rice. This roasted peanut kale crunch salad is my new BFF.
How To Make This Roasted Peanut Kale Crunch Salad
Step 1: Make a Quick Roasted Peanut Vinaigrette
Whisk or blitz a quick little roasted peanut vinaigrette! The magic ingredient here is the roasted peanut oil (affiliate link) – it gives this dressing the taste of a peanut dressing but maintains a light, silky vinaigrette texture. This might require a trip to a separate store depending on where you shop, but when you find it, I’d recommend buying multiple bottles – I’ve very quickly gone through 2 bottles with several batches of this salad! If you can’t find roasted peanut oil or just honestly don’t want to bother with finding it (I get it), you could use this peanut dressing, or use avocado oil in its place for a different flavor but similar texture.
Step 2: Chop Your Veggies
I do these ones by hand: cilantro, green onion, fresno peppers, and peanuts.
Step 3: Finely Chop Your Greens
Finely chop your kale and cabbage in a food processor for the ultimate in teeny-tiny chopped texture. I would recommend cutting the vegetables into chunks first so they process more evenly and doing this in several batches. If they start to release too much water, just give them a gentle pat or squeeze with a paper towel. You can store the kale and cabbage together in one bowl or container!
Step 4: Combine It All
Toss your dressing, peppers, herbs, peanuts, and greens all together! ENJOY YOUR LIFE!
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4 large stalks kale, stems removed half a head of green cabbage 2 small fresno peppers, sliced 1 cup peanuts, chopped 1/2 cup chopped cilantro 1/2 cup chopped green onions
Roasted Peanut Vinaigrette:
1/2 cup roasted peanut oil 2 tablespoons rice vinegar 1 clove garlic 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt (more to taste) freshly ground black pepper
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