Kale, Cranberry, caramelized onion salad

I cook kale many ways - it sneaks into my lentil soups (daal) quite often, and sometimes is included in pasta dishes. Only rarely is the kale front and center, dominating the dish, because it seems almost too strong. So when my friend served kale salad as a side with steak, I wanted to get the recipe and give it a shot. So here was my kale salad, which I thought was pretty good.

 Ingredients

• I bunch kale - de-stemmed and deveined and cut into thin strips. Thoroughly washed and VERY well dried.

• 2 shallots or one small onion, thinly sliced

• 4 rashers of bacon, cooked till soft but not crispy

• 1/4 C Cranberries (or raisins)

• 1/4 C coarsest shredded Parmesan or feta or blue cheese

• Dressing of choice (see below for what I used)

• 2 Tbsp olive oil (or avocado or oil of your choice)

Method

• Gently cook the shallots or onions in the oil (use a wide shallow pan, not a narrow deep one) - you want them softening and browning, not getting crispy. When they are a soft golden brown, add the bacon in little pieces (diced, to be more technical!). Add the cranberries.

• When the berries are warmed up add the kale.

• Cook until the kale is just barely beginning to wilt. Don’t cover and don’t over cook. Under-cooked is better than over-cooked because you want to avoid any sogginess (which is why the kale should be well washed and very well dried before you start, and also why the pan should be wide and shallow)

• Sprinkle cheese over.

• Add dressing just before serving (to avoid sogginess)

Dressing suggestion-

I used a balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, mustard and olive oil combo. Add salt pepper and dash of chili flakes. Typically I try to make sure there is enough oil so the vinegar and syrup combo doesn’t make the dressing too watery (thereby threatening the dreaded result of a soggy salad). Any recipe for a vinaigrette will work.

My friend M gave me a great tip - use your almost-empty condiment jar to shake the vinaigrette ingredients together. My jar of mustard was almost empty but I put my vinegar and syrup and oil into the mustard jar and shook it up and presto - the dregs of the mustard were not wasted and I got a nice flavor boost to the dressing. Simple, frugal and effective.

Other suggestions and variations- next time I will add some nuts - probably pine nuts. I also felt that adding an orange bell pepper (cut in thin strips, lightly sautéed) would make the salad visually appealing, countering the dark green of the kale with a pop of colour. If you have roasted bell peppers, those would be just the thing.

-Seema