Lentil and Kale Salad with Dried Cherries and Feta

Kale is a polarising ingredient … so many people hesitate using it because they feel it is tough or bitter, but I have come to realise it is mainly because they do not know how to prepare it.  I posted a recipe for a kale salad a little while ago where I explained how to prepare it, and showed pictures to help with the process.  If you are unfamiliar with how to prepare kale, it would be great for you to refer to this recipe (see here) first.

This is a quick and easy salad to put together as the dressing, marinated lentils, marinated cherries, toasted seeds, and kale can all be prepared a day ahead (if you wish the kale to be particularly “perky” then prepare that a few hours ahead on the day you plan to serve the salad).  Then the kale can be plated, topped with the marinated lentils and cherries, and left in the fridge for a few hours … the final touch would be to sprinkle on the feta and seeds just prior to serving.

I love Golden Hummus too (see here), and it is a perfect match for this salad … initially I spread the hummus onto the platter before placing on the kale, but I found I had to dig too deep into the salad to get to the hummus which is not ideal … so now I serve it on the side, allowing people to take a spoonful or two to put onto their plate before helping themselves to the salad … the combination of flavours is fabulous, but this is totally optional.

You will have leftovers of the dressing which will keep in the fridge for a month, and goes beautifully with all leafy greens.

I buy my dried cherries on-line from 2Brothers.com (see here) as they can be a little hard to source, but if you don’t have them then you can use dried cranberries, but I do love the size and chew of the cherries which makes this dish particularly delicious.

I have tested this recipe with Tuscan Kale (aka Cavolo Nero) and regular kale (aka Curly Kale) and both work well.

In terms of the kale, each bunch I bought weighed roughly 350g, but once I trimmed the leaves off the stalks I had anywhere from 200g to 300g kale.  For this recipe you need 200g, so once you have trimmed and washed it, put the excess aside for another time as it keeps well in the fridge for a few days in a sealed container.  If you use more than 200g the balance of the dish will be “out”, and I want you to love this as much as I do.

This dish is perfect as a light meal with fresh sourdough bread and the hummus, or serve as a side dish with a protein such as salmon, chicken or lamb, all served with a lemon yoghurt sauce which will balance the salad beautifully (see here).

For a festive occasion use toasted pistachios, roughly chopped, to sprinkle over the salad instead of seeds … see here for my method of toasting seeds, and for nuts I just bake them for a little longer, usually an extra five minutes or so but watch them, especially pistachios, as they can burn easily.

Gina @ The Passionate Pantry

Lentil and Kale Salad with Dried Cherries and Feta

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 15 minutes mins

Servings: 6 to 8 as a side

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

POMEGRANATE MOLASSES DRESSING

• 4 tbls pomegranate molasses
• 2 tbls fresh lemon juice
• 6 tbls olive oil
• 1 tsp sea salt flakes or ½ tsp fine sea salt
• ½ tsp cracked black pepper
  
  

KALE SALAD

• 100 g dried cherries
• 2 tbls red wine vinegar
  
  
• 1 x 400g tin brown lentils well drained
• 1 tbls olive oil
• 2 spring onions finely chopped
• 20 g parsley leaves and soft stems, finely chopped
• 1 tsp sea salt flakes or ½ fine sea salt
• ½ tsp cracked black pepper
  
  
• 200 g kale leaves only (trimmed weight), washed, dried, and cut into 2.5cm slices
• 1 tsp sea salt flakes or ½ tsp fine sea salt
• 125 g feta I like Danish feta, crumbled
• 40 g toasted pepitas and sunflower seeds

Method

 

1. Combine dressing ingredients and store in the fridge until needed (leftovers will keep for up to a month)
2. Marinate cherries in the vinegar and put aside for at least 30 minutes at room temperature, but can be done a day ahead and kept in the fridge
3. Place the lentils, olive oil, spring onions, parsley, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl and combine (use a large mixing bowl so that you can go straight onto preparing the kale in the same bowl without washing it)
4. Put lentil mix aside in the fridge until you are ready to plate the salad (this can be done a day ahead)
5. Place kale in the same bowl that you used for preparing the lentil mix
6. Add 2 tbls dressing, sprinkle over the salt and massage the kale for a couple of minutes until it starts to wilt (to do this, lift and scrunch the kale in your hands, allowing it to drop back down into the bowl, continuing to “lift and scrunch” until the kale turns a brighter colour, and feels softer in your hands … taste a piece to ensure it is no longer “tough”)
7. You are now ready to plate the salad which can be done a few hours before serving, but hold back the feta and seeds and add that just before you serve
   
   

BRINGING IT TOGETHER

1. Pile the kale onto a large platter
2. Add the marinated cherries to the lentil salad and stir through
3. Place the lentil and cherry mixture randomly over the kale
4. Sprinkle over the crumbled feta
5. Lastly sprinkle over the toasted seeds and serve

Notes

This is a quick and easy salad to put together as the dressing, marinated lentils, marinated cherries, toasted seeds, and kale can all be prepared a day ahead (if you wish the kale to be particularly "perky" then prepare that a few hours ahead on the day you plan to serve the salad). Then the kale can be plated, topped with the marinated lentils and cherries, and left in the fridge for a few hours ... the final touch would be to sprinkle on the feta and seeds just prior to serving.

You will have leftovers of the dressing which will keep in the fridge for a month, and goes beautifully with all leafy greens.

I have tested this recipe with Tuscan Kale (aka Cavolo Nero) and regular kale (aka Curly Kale) and both work well.

In terms of the kale, each bunch I bought weighed roughly 350g, but once I trimmed the leaves off the stalks I had anywhere from 200g to 300g kale.  For this recipe you need 200g, so once you have trimmed and washed it, put the excess aside for another time as it keeps well in the fridge for a few days in a sealed container.  If you use more than 200g the balance of the dish will be "out", and I want you to love this as much as I do.