Zesty Kale & Citrus Salad

Why This Zesty Kale & Citrus Salad Works

Once the kale goes into the bowl with the citrus, the salad starts to change even before anyone eats it. The orange and grapefruit segments are juicy, and their liquid starts to coat the kale. As the leaves sit with that juice, they relax a bit and lose some of their tough, squeaky feel. Tossing spreads the citrus around so more of the kale touches the juice and softens.

While the kale is softening, the dressing slides over everything and clings to the rough surface of the leaves. The salt in the dressing pulls out a little more moisture from the kale and the fruit, so the salad gets a bit more juicy as it rests. Roasted almonds stay crunchy because they don’t soak up much liquid, so they give a firm bite against the softer leaves and fruit. Fresh mint doesn’t need heat; it just sits in the dressing and spreads through the salad as it’s tossed, so every forkful has some brightness without cooking anything.

Mistakes To Avoid

Skipping the step of really chopping the kale small enough leaves big, tough pieces in the bowl. The dressing then slides off instead of clinging to the leaves, and the salad ends up hard to chew with wet fruit and nuts sitting loose around it.

Adding the citrus segments without draining off extra juice first can water down the dressing. The olive oil and vinegar get thinned out, so they don’t coat the kale well, and the salad turns a bit soupy at the bottom of the bowl.

Pouring in way too much dressing at once often leads to soggy kale and limp mint. The leaves lose their slight crunch, and the nuts soften faster, so the salad feels heavy instead of crisp.

Tossing the salad too roughly breaks up the orange and grapefruit segments. Their juice leaks out, the pieces turn mushy, and the nuts and mint clump together instead of staying evenly spread.