Kale Salad with Garden Tomatoes

Have you noticed how some of the best ideas spring from the challenge of what to do with leftovers or what to do with over-abundance in the garden? This composed salad is one of those gems.

The kale was flourishing as the tomato harvest began. We were still in the season of more eggs than we knew what to do with and some cooked garbanzos lingered from another meal. What a dynamite salad as a result!

The kale is fresh, not cooked in any way. To use it as a base for a salad, it is necessary to shred it in strips as thin as possible. The resulting shreds are tender and pick up the olive oil and garlic dressing easily. This is foundationally important.

The salad combination is most flavorful at room temperature. I suggest building the salad with room temperature ingredients and serving it as soon as the construction is complete. The exception to this is the grated Romano. It gets grated right out of the refrigerator but is pretty much room temperature when it gets to the table.

Kale Salad Ingredients

• About 1/2 pound fresh kale leaves (I used Lacinato)
• 3 large cloves garlic, finely minced
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• About 1 cup cooked garbanzo beans
• 3 large ripe tomatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1/2 cup sliced black olives
• 4 hard boiled eggs
• 1/3 cup grated Romano cheese
• Seas salt and freshly grated black pepper to taste

Kale Salad Steps

1. Wash and remove stems from the kale leaves. Shred the leaves as finely as you can manage.
2. Pile the leaves in a medium mixing bowl with half the garlic and half the olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Toss gently to coat each kale shred with oil. Set aside while you prep the rest of the ingredients. The flavors blend so nicely during this time.
3. Pile the garbanzo beans and tomato cubes in a medium mixing bowl. Add the other half of the garlic and olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss gently to coat all surfaces with oil. Set aside.
4. Peel the eggs and cut in half long ways.
5. Divide the kale mixture evenly on four salad plates.
6. Arrange the eggs and tomato mixture on top of the kale.
7. Divide the black olives between the four plates and sprinkle the grated Romano cheese on the top.
8. Serve the salads as they are or consider a drizzle of homemade mayonnaise or a squeeze of fresh lemon.

The above ingredients and amounts are suggestions. Be flexible and work with what you have and what you love. Put it all together with a fine dressing and everyone will consider it to be gourmet. Have fun!