Strawberry Kale Salad with Blues Hog Tennessee Red Dressing
BBQ is not just for meat lovers, so when looking for a full flavored lighter dinner, I’ll make a Strawberry Kale Salad with Blues Hog Tennessee Red Dressing. Blues Hog makes this awesome sweet and tangy sauce that has a great zest. While Tennessse Red is zippy on pork, I think it makes for a great salad dressing!
The richness strawberries and cheese in this salad is cut by the deep bright flavor of kale. Yes, I did say bright flavor of kale. Do you wonder why the kale salads at restaurant taste better than the salads at home? And the kale leaves are more vibrant? By “massaging” green curly kale, this cruciferous vegetable allows the cell walls to break down where some of the inherent enzymes interact. Supposedly, the enzyme interaction will create a sulfur compound that has a bitter taste (that can be rinsed if you prefer). However, I think the massaging reduces the bitter flavor of kale for a brighter flavor.
Try massaging your kale and let me know what you think. And by massage, I do mean massage. Grab handfuls of the kale and clench into your hand a few times. It doesn’t take much for the the kale to turn into a vibrant green. Now if someone wants to massage my shoulders….I’m in on that too…
Strawberry Kale Salad with Blues Hog Tennessee Red Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 bunch of kale rib removed, chopped and massaged (yes, clench the kale chop in your hands until the kale turns a bright green)
- ½ clamshell of strawberries sliced thin
- ½ cup soft goat cheese
- ½ red bell pepper sliced thin
- ¼ cup sliced almonds toasted
Blues Hog Tennessee Red Dressing
- 2 tablespoons Blues Hog Tennessee Red
- 1/2 tablespoon strawberry fig or balsamic glaze
- 1/2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon salad oil vegetable, corn, olive etc.
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey optional
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk all the Blues Hog Tennessee Red Dressing components until homogeneous. Set aside.
- In a salad bowl, combine kale and red peppers.
- Pour dressing over kale and red peppers and toss to combine.
- Add strawberries, soft goat cheese and sliced almonds on top of the salad. Serve or set aside in the fridge until ready to serve.