Marinated Kale Salad
After writing yesterday’s post on the amazing nutritional benefits of kale, I woke up this morning possessed with the thought of creating a new raw food recipe for a marinated kale salad. I love avocados and since tomatoes are in full season here, they had to be incorporated. For color and another burst of powerhouse nutrition, I added some purple cabbage and a purple onion.

Topped off with some protein packed hemp seeds and a wonderful lemon-garlic, flaxseed oil dressing, this quick salad not only packs a huge nutritional punch, it has a wonderful complexity of flavor that is refreshing and delightful to your palate! It is a perfect addition to your raw food diet recipe collection!
Marinated Kale Salad
SERVES 4
Marinade
- 1 clove garlic, finely diced
- 1 lemon, juice from (about 3 tablespoons)
- 1 tablespoon agave nectar (you can substitute your favorite sweetener)
- pinch Himalayan salt
- pinch pepper
- 1/4 cup flax seed oil
- Whisk together the garlic, lemon juice, agave, salt and pepper.
- Slowly pour oil into the mixture while still whisking. Set aside.
Salad
- 1 bunch kale (I used dinosaur kale for this recipe. see: dinosaur kale)
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 2 avocados, chopped
- 1/4 head purple cabbage, chopped
- 1/4 purple onion, diced
- 1/4 cup hemp seeds
- Remove stems from kale leaves and tear into bite sized pieces.
- Combine kale with marinade. Massage for a few minutes to well coat, set aside.
- Prepare tomato, avocado, cabbage and onion.
- Stir into kale mixture and mix well.
- Top with 1/4 cup hemp seeds and mix in.
Ellina wrote on August 22, 2015
My husband can’t have any sweet stuff including agave or honey or maple syrup. Any suggestions for this recipe to work without any sweetener?
Wendy wrote on January 2, 2014
Hi Susan,
Thank you for sharing your recipe. It was just what I needed to complement the cooked items on my New Year’s Day menu. I especially appreciated the sweetness of the marinade. Would you mind if I share it on my blog?
Andrea wrote on February 23, 2012
Ok, this was absolutely amazing… I didn’t have hemp seed nor did I know where to get them so I replaced with a mixture of raw sunflower and pumpkin seed… I really was expecting it to be bitter but I seriously had to stop myself from eating the entire batch myself…
Marija wrote on August 21, 2010
I have red Kale on hand. I tried simmilar recipe before, but my salad is too bitter! Lemon does not help…Should I marinate longer? Or maybe red Kale is more bitter and harder and nothing will help???
Susan wrote on August 21, 2010
I used dinasour kale for this one and didn’t have any problem with the bitterness, which I really don’t like!
Krista wrote on August 20, 2010
I made this the other night, I loved it! It will definately be on our salad rotation.
Sue Burley wrote on August 19, 2010
PS. I used olive oil and sunflower seeds because I had no hemp seeds.
Sue Burley wrote on August 19, 2010
This was awesome. It is even better than the other kale salad I have made which is similar in recipe but that agave in the dressing does it. There is no bitterness at all. I liked the other one but sort of had to force myself to eat it because it was you know good for me. This one is awesome. No one else in my family will eat kale so I get the leftovers tomorrow!!! Yahoo
Eli wrote on August 19, 2010
Made this tonight. So simple, so tasty! Thank you.