Kale Salad with Snap Peas, Shaved Fennel & Carrot and Toasted Walnuts

Snap peas just arrived at my local farmer's market. Fennel is in season and the kale and carrots are still very good. Adding them together was the inspiration for this recipe. A tasty meyer lemon vinaigrette ties the whole thing together very nicely. Enjoy with something like the nice savory, gluten-free buckwheat ~ oat ~pumpkin muffin seen in this image. (Recipe for muffin to follow soon).IMG_0707

Ingredients:

Shaving fennel

Salad:

  • 1 bunch of kale, very finely cut
  • 2 small carrots (choose the fresh ones with the greens on them), shaved
  • 1 small fennel, shaved
  • 1/2 cup of snap peas cut into small chunks
  • 1/4 cup of walnuts, toasted

Use a swiss potato peeler (by Kuhn-Rikon) to shave fennel and carrots; available at Sur La Table for under $5.00. This is a fabulous tool that you will use over and over again. Works great to peep pumpkins too! See image.

Dressing:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

    Toasting Walnuts

  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 table spoon of meyer lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon of dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon of meyer lemon zest
  • salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

  1. Mix all the dressing ingredients in a bowl, whisk well.

    Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette

  2. Toast walnuts in a non-stick pan (preferably cast iron), do not use oil, just slowly warm over low heat and stir to avoid burning them.
  3. Add salad ingredients, mix well, enjoy!

Serves 4, makes for a nice lunch salad, almost too much for a side dinner salad.