Say hello to my new favourite salad: the toasted almond and parmesan kale salad with a zingy, ever-so-slightly-sweet lemony dressing. This is the stuff of all my lunch dreams right now.

Let’s start this post with a confession. Lately my lunches for work have been of the sad salad variety: limp leaves and a half-hearted dressing. Sometimes I get lazy, ya know? That, my friends, is a poor excuse though. Especially when recipes like this exist.

There is SO much flavour and texture going on in this salad. Toasty, crunchy almonds and rich, salty parmesan and a sharp but sweet dressing. It’s one of those salads that you can quite happily eat on it’s own, but is easily made into a proper meal with the addition of some protein.

Let’s count the ways I’ve enjoyed this salad over the past 3 days (yep, 3 days in a row: that’s when you know you’re onto a winner!):

1. For an easy dinner with garlic + herb chicken skewers and roasted sweet potato
2. Alongside scrambled eggs for a super quick cooking-is-too-much-effort lunch
3. Topped with honey roast salmon flakes (yay!) and ate at my desk (not so yay)

And the best thing about this 3-day-in-a-row toasted almond & parmesan kale salad feast? It all came from the same batch!

No fiddling around with chopping leaves and making dressings 5 nights a week. Chuck it all together (minus the almonds, or they’ll lose their crunch. C’mon, there had to be some catch…), store it in the fridge, and you’re good to go for daaays.

This is the beauty of the kale + broccoli base: it won’t go soggy. Goodbye limp leaves, hello tasty lunches for the whole week.

Oh, and one last pro-tip: if you can’t find toasted almonds and instead toast your own, definitely make extra. You’re gonna want to snack on these the minute they come out the oven. You can thank me later 😉

Toasted Almond and Parmesan Kale Salad

Yield: 2 - 4 servings

Ingredients

• 100g kale
• 100g broccoli
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 40g grated parmesan
• 50g toasted flaked almonds
For the dressing
• 60ml extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp lemon juice (about 1 lemon, depending on size)
• 1 tsp maple syrup

Instructions

1. Remove any large stalks from the kale and thinly slice the leaves. I find the easiest way to do this is to bunch them together in one hand and then chop in a similar way to fresh herbs.
2. Add the broccoli to a food processor and whiz for a few seconds until you have small rice-like chunks. Alternatively, finely chop the broccoli.
3. In a large bowl, toss the kale, broccoli, shallot and parmesan together. If serving immediately, also add the flaked almonds.
4. Whisk together (or shake in a jar) the dressing ingredients and toss with the salad. Add the almonds just before serving.

Notes

This salad can be prepared and dressed ahead of time. Just leave out the flaked almonds until serving so they don't lose their crunch.

If you can't find toasted flaked almonds, you can toast your own: spread flaked almonds out on a baking tray and put in the oven at 180c. Keep an eye on them - they should only take 3-4 minutes. Store any extra in an airtight container.

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https://www.adashofginger.co.uk/2016/05/toasted-almond-parmesan-kale-salad.html