The first time I made this salad was the 4th of July. I’d nearly forgotten the holiday because my husband was at work and I was cleaning and paying bills.
The most festive thing that happened before the salad, was a Raising Hope marathon.
If there’s any show that makes me laugh harder than Raising Hope, I can’t think of it. The show is so funny that I woke myself up laughing one morning while sleep-remembering this dialogue:
Burt Chance: “If she’s scared of spiders she’s sleeping in the wrong house. We have so many spiders that I’ve named a few. Speaking of that, I ran into Arlo in the hallway the other day along with 3 of his kids and his wife. What’s her name? I can never remember.”
Here’s another classic line: “I put my harmonica in the freezer because I thought it would be more refreshing to play that way.”
The show is pretty genius. However, once I had the house and finances in order I remembered the date – and I thought I should make something appropriately festive. Which this salad is. It’s spicy and crunchy, and the aroma of the sesame oil was magical. And my husband and I politely fought over the last few bites.
Spicy Sesame Kale Slaw
Serves 4.
Ingredients:
- 10 pieces of kale, removed from the stalk
- 2 medium carrots, shredded
- 4 scallions (white and green parts) diced
- 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar, divided
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon of sesame oil (depending on your preference)
- 1 teaspoon of Mongolian fire oil (or ¼ teaspoon of cayenne)
Instructions:
Roll the kale leaves up in batches and slice them finely. In a large bowl, mix the kale, half of the vinegar and the kosher salt together. Mix with your hands for 3-5 minutes or until the kale is softened. Add the carrots, scallions, sesame oil and Mongolian fire oil to the bowl and mix together. Refrigerate the salad for 1 hour to let the flavors meld.
(If you can wait that long. I had a difficult time not eating the whole salad by myself before it was even chilled.)
(Photo by Launie K.)
