Kale is the new Spinach.

I have lived in Toronto for a long time now, but just discovered Gusto 101. An awesome restaurant downtown at King and Portland. I tried their “Kavolo Nero” salad, and fell in love.
The moral of the story is …. I recreated this delish Kale salad at home (with some modifications of course), instagrammed a picture and have had several people ask me for the recipe.

So, here it is!

What you’ll need:

Kale – 1 bunch
Lemon – 1 whole lemon (lemon juice works too)
White wine vinegar- 2 Tablespoons
Honey – 1 Tablespoon
Dried Cranberries – 3 Tablespoons
Extra Virgin Olive Oil – 1 Tablespoon
Salt – 1 Teaspoon
Sunflower Seeds – 2 Tablespoons
Parmesan Cheese

What to do: 

Firstly, go shopping for ingredients. Where to get Kale? At a local market or grocery. I get all my fresh produce in Kensington Market!
Step 1. Grab a small bowl, putting 3 tablespoons of your dried cranberries in it. Cover the cranberries with white wine vinegar. (just enough to cover, not to drown them!)
Step 2. Wash and finely cut your kale. You can use the whole bunch, or more or less as you desire. Put your cut kale into a larger bowl.
Step 3. Your dressing. The hardest, but best part! To make your dressing, grab a small bowl adding on teaspoon of white wine vinegar. Cut your lemon in half, and squeeze (with a lemon juicer, or by hand) the juice into the same bowl. You’re looking to get 3 tablespoons of lemon juice, so squeeze the other half if you cannot get three tablespoons from the first half. Next, grate some of the lemon grind into the dressing. Add your tablespoon of honey, tablespoon of olive oil, a bit of salt, and whisk it all together.
Step 4. After whisking, add your dressing, soaked cranberries, and 2 tablespoons of sunflower seeds to your kale in the large bowl. Toss salad all together and let the kale marinate for about 20 minutes.
Step 5. After about 20 minutes, your salad is almost ready! Shave some parmesan on top and enjoy!!

** The first time I made it, I added too much white wine vinegar and the salad was a bit too acidic by the bottom. Be careful not to overdo the citrus and vinegar.
** You may replace the sunflower seeds with pine nuts and/or the dried cranberries with currants.
ENJOY!