• About
  • Work with Me
  • Contact

Chef Janet

So good, they'll never know it's gluten-free.

  • Gluten-Free Recipes
    • Appetizers and Snacks
    • Baked Goods
    • Breakfast
    • Dessert
    • Main Course
    • Salads
    • Sauces and Dressings
    • Side Dishes
    • Soup
    • Vegan
    • Vegetarian
  • Cooking Basics
  • Gluten-Free Diet Tips
Home » Salads » Kale Strawberry Salad

July 16, 2020

Kale Strawberry Salad

Jump to Recipe
white bowl of strawberry kale salad with small glass pitcher above pouring lemon mint vinaigrette onto salad

This kale strawberry salad was inspired by my friend Lahle who is in need of getting some extra iron into her diet. Personally, I never want to feel that I have to eat something just “because it’s good for me.” If I’m going to bother to make any dish, the standard must be that I can’t wait to take the first bite. This means add sweet and rich ingredients.

Kale especially needs a sweet element to balance it’s bitterness. I used strawberries as the sweet but, I recommend using whichever fruit is in season. This means it will be sweeter and more flavorful. In the winter, orange slices or red apple would be a great substitute for the strawberries. The avocado makes this a rich and satisfying salad. Top it with my Gluten-Free Baguette Croutons and you have the perfect salad in my opinion!

Plant-Based Iron

So back to the healthy . . . Kale and pumpkin seeds are great sources of iron, but iron from plants is not as easily absorbed as it is from animal sources. So if you pair plant based iron with vitamin C, the body is better able to absorb the iron. So I’ve added red cabbage and strawberries which also add some nice sweetness and beautiful color. The lemon-mint vinaigrette pulls this kale strawberry salad all together with a sweet and tangy brightness.

Salad Ingredients

  • Kale can be pretty tough uncooked. So you’ll marinate it in the lemon-mint dressing for a few minutes before plating. This will tenderize it and the flavor of the dressing will help balance the slight bitterness in kale.
  • Mint oxidizes (turns brown) quickly. To retain the bright green color of the dressing, keep it refrigerated. If you are making the dressing ahead of time, I recommend waiting until the last minute to blend in the mint.
  • Lemon Zest is the colorful outer layer of the peel. It has all the wonderful pop of lemon flavor. If you haven’t used lemon zest before, here is a quick tutorial on How to Zest a Lemon.
Kale strawberry salad being served onto small white plate with large bowl of salad on left
Continue to Content
overhead view of white bowl with kale-strawberry salad topped with avocado slices, red cabbage, sliced strawberries. serving spoons on left, whole strawberries, cut lemon, jar of dressing above

Kale Strawberry Salad

Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes

This kale strawberry salad includes a lemon mint vinaigrette dressing making this salad a perfect spring or summer dish.

Ingredients

Lemon Mint Vinaigrette

  • 1 bunch of fresh mint leaves (about 1 ounce)
  • 1 garlic clove
  • zest of one lemon
  • 3 Tbsps lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp white wine or apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp agave, honey or any other sweetener
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 pinches black pepper
  • 1 cup olive oil

Salad

  • 1 bunch of Tuscan Kale (about 3 cups chopped)
  • 6 strawberries
  • 1 small-medium sized avocado
  • 1/3 cup chopped red cabbage
  • 1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds

Instructions

Make the dressing

  1. Place all of the ingredients in the blender and run for 20 seconds.
  2. Taste. If it's bland add a pinch or two of salt and a tsp more of vinegar. If it's too sour add a tbsp more of oil and a tsp of sweetener. Not sour enough, add more vinegar. Get the idea? Taste and adjust by adding a little at a time of balancing ingredients.

Make the salad

  1. Remove the stems form the kale and chop it into bite sized pieces. Place in a bowl and toss with 3 Tbsps of the dressing. Let it sit for 15-30 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients. This will marinate the kale and wilt it just enough to make it more tender.
  2. Rinse and slice the strawberries.
  3. Slice the avocado.
  4. Shave the cabbage and cut into bite sized pieces.
  5. Arrange the salad on the serving plate and top with the pumpkin seeds.

Notes

Did you make this recipe? Tag @chefjanetk on Instagram

Did you make this recipe?

Share the yum!

© Janet Harlow
Cuisine: Mediterranean / Category: Salads
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email

Posted In: Salads · Tagged: kale, strawberries

Leave a Comment & Rate this Recipe Cancel reply

If you love this recipe, please consider leaving a star rating and review when you post a comment. Star ratings help people discover my recipes online. Your support means a great deal to me.

Thank you!
Janet

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Me
Hi, Welcome! I'm Chef Janet and I create gluten-free recipes that everyone will love, gluten-free or not.

Set up a customized lesson with me to learn basic cooking techniques, gluten-free, menu planning and kitchen tips to make your life easier. Follow me on instagram to keep up with my latest and let me know how I can help.

Follow along on Instagram

Spring is not here yet, but these Spring Rolls wil Spring is not here yet, but these Spring Rolls will brighten your day! Wrapped with cucumber strips instead of rice paper, they are gluten & grain-free. Link to the recipe in my profile.
🥒🥕🫑
Fill them with your favorite veggies or even fruits (apples are perfect) and mix up a 4 ingredient miso-cashew sauce (included in the recipe) for a snack, lunch or side.
🥕🥒🫑
#springrolls #glutenfreeappetizer #grainfreerecipes #eatyourveggies #misosauce #cashewbutter #miso #glutenfreechef #glutenfreerecipe #grainfree #cucumberwrap  #glutenfreeblog #beautifulfoods #cookingvideo #springrollrecipe
Quick, make these grain-free, dairy-free muffins B Quick, make these grain-free, dairy-free muffins Banana-Blueberry Muffins and you'll have a yummy breakfast you can feel good about eating! Top them with my lightly sweetened icing without powdered sugar. Link to the recipe in my profile @chefjanetk 
🍌🍌🍌
These muffins are mostly almond flour, banana, blueberries and eggs. Just a few other ingredients to make these moist and delicious!
🍌🍌🍌
#blueberrymuffins #grainfreerecipe
#glutenfreedairyfree #almondflourrecipes #almondflour #bananamuffins #blueberrybanana #glutenfreemuffins #dairyfreerecipes #glutenfreechef #foodphotography #glutenfreeblogger #featuremyfood @canonusa #grainfree #healthymuffins
You can't go wrong with a vanilla cupcake with cho You can't go wrong with a vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting. Am I right? Give me a 👍 or a 🙋‍♀️ if you agree. Link to the recipes in my profile.
🧁🧁🧁
This gluten-free vanilla cupcake recipe is one of my tried & true recipes. It never fails me and has been the base for many of my other cupcakes. Top them with a luscious, creamy chocolate frosting and you have a classic.  Some @colorkitchenfoods rainbow sprinkles never hurt too.
🧁🧁🧁
This is my contribution to the #baketobasics2021 hosted by the wonderful @prettydeliciouslife and @cook.like.a.tid. Thanks to them for the inspiration.  Check out the hashtag for more yummy basics.
🧁🧁🧁
#vanillacupcakes #chocolatefrosting #chocolatebuttercream #glutenfreecupcakes #cupcakerecipe #glutenfreechef #foodphotography #glutenfreerecipes #bakefromscratch #glutenfreeblogger #glutenfreebakes #classicrecipes #chocolateandvanilla #glutenfreebaker #glutenfreedessert #lachef
I LOVE LEMON in just about everything, especially I LOVE LEMON in just about everything, especially in this gluten-free chicken piccata. Link to the recipe for this classic Italian dish in my profile.
🍋🍋🍋
Lemon, capers olive oil, butter and wine make this a perfect savory, acidy dish. Chicken piccata is a one-pan dish that uses a pan reduction technique. This means getting all of your ingredients ready and waiting at the stove for this process. My recipe provides step by step instructions to keep you organized.
🍋🍋🍋
#chickenpiccata #lemonchicken #italianchicken #glutenfreechef #glutenfreerecipe #glutenfreechicken #chickenrecipe #onepanrecipe #lemon #foodphotography #glutenfreecooking #cookinglessons #glutenfreelife #glutenfreeliving #italiancooking #featuremyfood
This sesame teriyaki chicken is gluten-free, sweet This sesame teriyaki chicken is gluten-free, sweet, salty, tangy and savory with just a few ingredients. The key is to use toasted sesame oil which is the most yummy fragrant oil. Link to the recipe in my profile @chefjanetk 
🍜🍜🍜
I'm actually I'm more of a savory chef than a baker. But the holidays were upon us and y'all seemed to love the baked goods. I'll be mixing it up a little bit more for the next few weeks. I hope you enjoy this super quick and easy sauce that can flavor chicken, tofu, fish, rice, quinoa, noodles, veggies, stir fries oh, so many possibilities.

#teriyakisauce #sesameoil #glutenfreerecipe #chickenteriyaki #foodphotography #glutenfreeblogger #glutenfreerecipe #easyrecipe #cookingtipsandtricks #cookinglessons #glutenfreelife #foodblog #glutenfreesoysauce #sesamechicken
These fun cupcakes are gluten-free,  grain-free, These fun cupcakes are gluten-free,  grain-free, dairy-free but are still a crave-worthy dessert! Link to the new recipe in my profile. 
🧁🍌🧁
Almond flour, bananas & blueberries make up most of the ingredients. They're sweetened with agave and topped with a low/no-sugar ganache (using @lakanto chocolate chips) and my icing without powdered sugar (previous post).
🧁🍌🧁
This is my contribution to the #healthierdessertinspo hosted by the wonderful @elisetriestocook @prettydeliciouslife and @ourlovelanguageisfood. Thanks to them for hosting and providing the inspiration

#healthydesserts #grainfreerecipe #healthydessertrecipes #glutenfreecupcakes #bananacupcakes #veganganache #dairyfreeglutenfree #dairyfreecupcakes #dairyfreerecipes #grainfree #chocolateganache #foodphotography #glutenfreeblogger #foodblogger #glutenfreebaking #bananarecipes #lowsugardessert⁸
Starting off this new year on a slightly sweet not Starting off this new year on a slightly sweet note with a savory ingredient. These gluten-free sweet potato muffins are moist, fluffy and dairy-free too. They have no cane sugar, just sweetened with maple syrup (or agave). Link to the new recipe in my profile.
🍠🍠🍠
These muffins are topped with my no-powdered sugar icing. Yep, just slightly sweetened with a little agave. I'll tell you more about it tomorrow, but the recipe link is included with the muffins. 
🍠🍠🍠
#glutenfreemuffins #dairyfreerecipe #nocanesugar #maplesyrup #glutenfreebaking #sweetpotatomuffins #sweetpotatorecipe #glutenfreedairyfree #featuremyfood #foodphotography #muffinrecipe #glutenfreeblog #foodblogger #muffins #breakfastmuffins
It was one of my 2020 goals to learn photography. It was one of my 2020 goals to learn photography. Before March, I knew absolutely nothing about using a camera other than pushing the shutter button. Thanks to @foodtographyschool for getting me started 
 & to @annedsherwood for taking me to another level.
📷📷📷
Some of my fav photos. Thank you so much for following along with me these past 9 months. I appreciate all the support and hope to give you more amazing photos and gluten-free recipes in 2021.

#foodphotography #foodphotographer #glutenfreefood #recipeblog #glutenfreeblog #foodblogger #glutenfreerecipes #glutenfreediet #glutenfreeliving #glutenfreefoods

Copyright © 2021 Chef Janet · Theme by 17th Avenue · Privacy Policy