Do you eat kale? If you say “what’s kale?”, you are not alone. I’ve never heard of it growing up in Japan, and even after I moved to the States. I never actually ate kale until 2 years ago. I saw many kale recipes on food blogs and one day I gave it a try and I really liked it. I’ve made kale chips and Kale Soup before and this time I made this delicious Mango Kale Salad.
My mom used to tell me vegetables with deep color have a higher concentration of nutrients and I have always been pretty good about eating my veggies. Now that I’m mom, I try my best to feed my family nutritious food and serve them all kinds of veggies.
Why is Kale Good for You
Kale, also known as borecole, is one of the healthiest vegetables. One cup of chopped kale contains just 33 calories and 9% of the daily value of calcium, 206% of vitamin A, 134% of vitamin C, and 684% of vitamin K (source). It also has cancer fighting Phytonutrients and sulforaphane, lutein for healthy eyes, fibers, carotenoids, and a good source of copper, potassium, iron, manganese and phosphorus (source). Kale is a super powerful green food!
But how about the flavor? This leafy green vegetable is a bit bitter and has a mild earthy flavor, but not as pungent as mustard greens. Even if you have a doubt, I think it’s worth giving it a try for the sake of good nutritious value. You may actually enjoy eating it, like my husband who was pleasantly surprised how delicious it was.
Softening Kale Leaves
When I saw this kale salad recipe, I knew this was my next kale recipe that I wanted to try. Eating raw kale was a new idea to me and I was very intrigued. I actually like kale in salad the best among all the kale recipes I tried; it’s the easiest and quickest kale recipe, and it is really yummy! By massaging the kale with seasonings, it loses the hard leafy texture and becomes silky smooth.
I’m really happy to share a recipe with wonderful nutritious value that I enjoy. I am hoping that I inspire you to try kale and that you will enjoy it as much as I do!
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- 3 cups kale (stalks removed and discarded, thinly sliced leaves)
- ½ lemon (squeezed, save juice)
- 2 Tbsp blood orange infused olive oil* (or replace with extra virgin olive oil, see Notes)
- kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; Use half for table salt)
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 champagne mango (diced small)
-
Gather all the ingredients.
- Combine all ingredients except for mango in a large bowl.
- Using your hands massage the kale until soft, about 1 minute.
- Add chopped mango, toss all together, and serve.
Blood orange infused olive oil: For this recipe, I use blood orange fused olive oil. You can use extra virgin olive oil and squeeze a bit of orange juice for similar flavor.
Adapted from Jeanette’s Healthy Living, originally from Food Network
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This looks like such a fun, summery salad!! I’m always a fan of mango, and the colors look absolutely stunning. =) Thanks very much for sharing this recipe; looking forward to when the local grocery starts offering a good stock of mangoes~~
Hi Kimmi! Mangoes are here already and I’m fully taking advantage of delicious mangoes before leaving for Japan (it will be hard to find or very expensive). I made mango lassi popsicles too, which are super delicious (will share the recipe). Hope you find good mangoes in market soon! 🙂
Hi Nami sounds interesting and easy to make what brand of blood orange infused olive oil did you use is it the Trio Carmet that I see on the picture? Kirkland I believe is a Costco brand I have never use this type of olive oil before I know I use the plain one but always use the one you prefer on the recipe. Champage mango I can get from Filipino store np. Cannot wait to try this recipe..have a great day!
Hi Tina! Yes, the olive oil is this.
http://www.triocarmel.com/shop/product/19-blood-orange-whole-fruit-fused
I have several kinds of infused oil and they are all great. For salad, I like to use fruity olive oil for flavor. Plain one works for the salad too (I’ve tried it with this recipe). Hope you enjoy this recipe, Tina! 🙂
Hi Nami,
I made this salad on Wednesday 6/19 and thought it was delicious. I have just discovered kale in the last 4 months as it was always a very unfamiliar green to me. I first was introduced to it by it being a garnish on dishes and then had delicious kale chips flavored with ground pistachios. I was officially addicted. This salad was so easy, and I knew eating it would be healthy so it reinforced the flavors. Thanks for sharing. I hope you have a wonderful trip to Japan. My husband and I are going to Japan in September. Our first trip, my first time to my ancestral homeland and I’m so thrilled to finally get over there. Thank you!
Hi Randy! Me too, I only started to eat kale after I started blogging and saw many recipes on other food blogs. It’s fun to try new ingredients and they are surprisingly good. I love kale chips too, and should try with ground pistachios. Glad to hear you enjoyed this salad, and thank you so much for your feedback. Thank you for the well wishes. You must be very excited to visit Japan for the first time. September could be still warm but definitely better than visiting during the summer like we do… 🙂
Hi Nami,
thank you so much for sharing your recipes. try the massage kale mango salad.
very nice family love it also introduce this recipe to friends.
Hi Margaret! So glad to hear you liked this recipe! Thank you for introducing this recipe to your friends too! xoxo