Kale Chopped Salad with Summer Veggies

Our Kale Chopped Salad will give you bites of delectable flavour in each forkful. We combine summer veggies with famous superfood kale for the best-chopped salad to take to pot lucks and parties.

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Softened kale, aromatic summer tomatoes, crisp cucumber, pungent onion, toasted pine nuts are combined with the Mediterranean flavours of olive oil, oregano and salty kefalograviera cheese for a mouthwatering kale chopped salad that you will fall in love with.

What type of cheese is kefalograviera?

A very popular Greek semi-hard cheese produced traditionally from sheep's milk or mixture of sheep's and goat's milk. 

It has a wonderfully rich aroma with a salty, nutty, piquant flavour. It is pale yellow in colour and has a soft edible rind with little holes throughout. Its texture is smooth and creamy. 

It can be found in the deli/cheese section of most larger supermarkets or from Greek delicatessens it can be replaced with softer Kasseri or feta or even parmesan cheese. 

What is a chopped salad?

A chopped salad is where all the ingredients have been chopped into bite sized pieces and mixed with the dressing to incorporate everything together. 

The beauty of chopped salads is that you get a bite of mixed deliciousness with each forkful. 

Parts of a chopped salad

Like most of my salads I like to include five elements to my chopped salads as well.

• Base to build on and add bulk - we have used kale, because it is sturdy and holds up well and because of its nutrient density. As an alternative try, chard, silverbeet, spinach, rocket/arugula or romaine/cos lettuce.
• Additional veg or fruit for nutrient variety and colour - we have used cucumbers, tomato and onion. But you could include, peppers/capsicum, carrots, celery, corn, or creamy avocado. 
• Protein to increase satiety and helps to make you feel fuller for longer - we have used kefalograviera which is a Greek salty hard cheese but feel free to replace with parmesan, feta or a mature cheddar would also work well here. Or as a vegetarian alternative try some beans such as chickpea or cannellini. 
• Crunch for variety of textures in our salad - we have used pine nuts for their mild buttery sweetness. Feel free to swap for any other mild tasting nuts that you have in the pantry. But avoid strongly flavoured nuts such as walnuts and hazelnuts.
• Flavour to boost the taste- we have used both fresh and dried oregano to enhance the Greek flavours from the cheese but also because there is so much of it in the garden at the moment.
• Dressing to bring all the flavours together - we have used a simple red wine vinegar and olive oil dressing but you can use any vinegar or oil combination you like.

How to make Kale Chopped Salad

1PREPARE KALE
Wash your kale under cold running water, either rip the leafy parts of the kale from the ribs or cut them off with a knife then discard the ribs. Finely shred your kale leaves.
Place your kale leaves in a large mixing bowl, add some salt and the olive oil and vinegar and gently rub the leaves together for approximately 3-5 minutes to soften your kale for a more palatable salad. Don’t overdo it as you don’t want your kale to turn to mush.

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2DICE INGREDIENTS
Remove the papery skin from your onion, wash, trim and chop into small dice. 
Wash your tomatoes remove the core and bottoms and chop into small dice.
Wash your cucumber, trim the tops and bottoms then cut them in half.
Either use a small teaspoon remove the seeds or melon baller to remove the seeds. Chop into small dice.
Wash your oregano and pick the leaves from the stems.
Either coarsely grate your cheese or chop into small dice.

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3ASSEMBLE YOUR KALE CHOPPED SALAD
Place everything in a large mixing bowl, season with some sea salt and cracked black pepper add the dried oregano. Mix well to combine, taste and adjust seasonings according to your taste.
Arrange in a salad bowl and keep chilled in your fridge until you are ready to serve.

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Make ahead tips and meal prep

• The kefalograviera cheese can be grated in advance and kept in a sealed container in the fridge.
• The kale can be prepped the day before, kept covered and chilled in the fridge. All you need to do is chop the remaining veg and assemble the salad on the day.
• The salad can be made several hours in advance kept covered and chilled in the fridge.
• To food prep for weekday lunches, prepare the kale and portion into containers then add the chopped veg, pine nuts and cheese on top. Mix everything together just before eating. It keeps for 2-3 days this way. 

Serving Suggestions

This is a good all-round salad that goes well with just about everything. Any grilled or roasted meats, stews or casseroles or pasta dishes. We served ours with Greek moussaka. Try it with lasagna, beef stew Italian meatballs or lamb roast.

Looking for more healthy chopped salad inspiration:

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