This is the kind of salad that happens when your fridge is almost empty and you combine what you have on hand to make something fresh and healthy. In my case: kale, carrots, and ginger.
This oil-free salad is fresh, tasty, easy to make, and is perfect for a light dinner or an appetizer. It requires just 6 ingredients, It is so simple and so good that I didn't want to ruin the simplicity of this dish by adding too much. Let's go!
All you need is a bunch of kale and a couple of carrots as the main ingredients. Kale is first massaged with some salt (and an optional drizzle of oil if you don't mind it) until it turns darker and softens. Then you add grated carrots and prepare the dressing.
The dressing consists of lime juice mixed with soy sauce, maple syrup, and grated ginger. It's simple yet effective, it's sour, sweet, and salty with some freshness and spiciness coming from fresh ginger.
To finish, sprinkle some fried onions or shallots on top, roasted cashews, and if not oil-free a drizzle of sesame oil for extra flavor! This salad takes basically 10 minutes to prepare and is low-calorie, fresh, tasty, and healthy!
For more healthy salads, check out this Arugula & Sweet Potato Salad, Creamy Cucumber Salad with Miso Tempeh, or this Quinoa Green Salad with Buffalo Eggplant Dip!
Let me know in the comments if you try this recipe!
10-Minute Ginger Carrot & Kale Salad
Ingredients
- 3 cups lightly packed kale
- 2 cups grated carrots
- 2 tablespoon lime juice (or white vinegar)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 2 teaspoon grated ginger
- for topping: fried onions roasted cashews
Instructions
- Roughly chop the kale and add to a large mixing bowl. Add a pinch of salt (and optionally 1 teaspoon of oil) and massage the kale for a about one minute, or until it turns darker and becomes tender.
- Add the grated carrots to the bowl and stir to mix.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice, soy sauce, maple syrup, and grated ginger. Pour in the dressing into the bowl and stir to coat.
- Serve immediately or let it chill for about 1 hour in the refrigerator. Top with crunchy fried onions or shallots, and/or roasted cashews!
Love it!
Made it today - delicious and beautiful.
Thank you Thomas for great and creative recipes.
Thanks for your feedback Sara! 🙂
Simple and beautiful! A good ginger dressing cannot be overrated, yum 🙂
Thanks Hannah!
How do you get your carrots shredded so pretty?
Food processor 🙂
I bustled up to my local health food/green shop to grab me some of their lovely organic kale, and they didn't have any today! So I bought a huge bunch of rainbow chard and I am going to do my best with it. I'll fry the stems and massage the leaf, as per your instructions. Hopefully it will still be delicious!
I also hope rainbow chard will be a good substitute! 🙂
It's become a classic at home. So quick and easy to make, so delicious. Sometimes we add rice noodles... this salad has been shared several times among our friends and everyone loved it! Thanks Thomas!
Thanks for sharing your feedback Charlotte 😉
can I make without maple syrup?
Yes, or you can substitute with another type of sugar.