Crispy kale, toasted coconut and chewy barley give this salad a lot of textures! Tossed with buttered radishes, this Toasted Coconut Kale Salad has a little of everything!
Dear white butterfly/moth, I’ve expected you this year. This year your caterpillar spawn will not eat holes in my kale, nor any other brassica plant. Keep on flying. Mi casa no es su casa.
Every year caterpillars try to eat through my plants. Not this year. I’ve companion planted and stuck herbs here and there throughout my garden to fend off the onslaught of garden pests. I’ve added this bug hotel to welcome beneficial guests. I’m on top of it – thus I have kale coming out the wazoo.
I’m a bit behind in my kale recipe blogging for the month. I’ve been traveling – check out my trip here! The past few days have been full of weeding and harvesting everything that was waiting for my return – mainly kale and radishes.
One of my favorite cook books is Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson. There are some really great recipes and combinations that I’ve never tried before. The best part is that all the recipes make you feel healthy and full. I thought I’d start with a recipe from her book as a starting point for my garden harvest dinner. Light, airy, crispy oven baked kale, tossed with toasty coconut and topped with butter sautéed radishes. Serve it alongside grilled chicken or it’s great as a main dish as well!
Crispy coconut and kale pieces add a fluffy element to this grain bowl. The addition of sautéed seasonal veggies - like radishes - make this grain salad a meal on its own.
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 4 cups lightly packed chopped kale leaves
- 1 cup unsweetened large flake coconut you can use shredded, but the texture is different and cut the qty in half
- 2 cups cooked farro barley or other whole grain
- bay leaf
- 4 small radishes
- 1.5 tablespoon unsalted butter
- salt to taste
-
Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
-
On the stovetop, prepare your grains. I used barley - 1 cup dried yields 3 cups cooked and takes about 25 minutes. Cook in 3 cups liquid (I used 2 parts water, 1 part vegetable broth and a bay leaf and about 1 tsp salt).
-
While the grains are cooking, prepare the kale mixture and the sautéed radishes.
-
In glass Pyrex measuring cup, mix the olive oil, sesame oil, and soy sauce.
-
In a large mixing bowl toss chopped kale and coconut. Pour 2/3 of the oil mixture over the top and toss to coat.
-
On two rimmed cookie sheets, evenly distribute the kale/coconut mixture into a single even layer on each sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes, switching the sheets top to bottom and toss the mixture halfway through. Keep an eye on it towards the end to prevent burning. Transfer the mixture to a bowl.
-
Trim radishes and slice in half vertically. Slice even wedges (about 1" thick) and saute them about 10 minutes in unsalted butter until browned.
-
Assemble into bowls topping grains with kale mixture and radishes. Drizzle extra dressing over top.
adapted from Super Natural Everyday by Heidi Swanson
Follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest to get the latest!
Leave a Reply