A pile of crispy seasoned chickpeas, juicy bursts of roasted tomatoes, tender strands of chicken and the most amazing creamy tahini dressing tossed with ribbons of kale. Introducing – my Chicken Kale Salad. Now THIS is a kale salad I crave!
A chicken kale salad to crave
This is a fully loaded kale salad that was intentionally designed to be satisfying to have as a meal. It has great variety of textures and flavours – crunch and saltiness from chickpeas, (soft) chewiness of the kale leaves, fresh juiciness from the tomatoes, tender meaty bits of chicken all tossed with a rich, cream tahini dressing. It’s incredibly filling. And the high delicious factor goes without saying!
But really, the absolute star here is the tahini dressing which is so creamy, it’s hard to believe there’s not a drop of mayonnaise in it. The richness is natural, from tahini, enriched with olive oil, balanced with the fresh tang of lemon and a good hit of savouriness from parmesan.
You could actually skip all the add-ins and just make this salad with kale and that creamy tahini dressing, and it would still be scoff-worthy. But I really hope you try this recipe in its entirety too, because it’s something else!
Ingredients in this chicken kale salad
I’m not going to lie – the ingredients list is longer than 95% of the recipes on my website. Because there’s a number of components to this salad. But it’s worth it! And we’re just making a salad here. It’s perfectly straight forward. 🙂
The kale (& onion)
First up, the kale!
Tuscan kale – This is the first recipe I’m sharing using tuscan kale, ordinarily I use the more common curly kale. Also known as also known as cavolo nero, black or lacinato kale, the leaves are shaped like silverbeet/chard and not as bushy/curly as regular kale (curly kale) so it’s more suitable to cut into slaw-like strips like I do in this recipe. The leaf is also softer than curly kale.
If using regular curly kale (which you totally can), don’t try to cut it into strips (it gets all crumbly). Just chop or tear into small bite size pieces.
Onion – Just a quarter of a red onion which we sliced very finely so it flops throughout the salad. I like the freshness if adds into this salad.
creamy tahini dressing INGREDIENTS
Tahini – This is plain pureed sesame and it’s the star player here, providing richness and creaminess in the dressing so it clings to every bit of the kale (and everything else it touches). Be sure to get hulled tahini which is the more common variety here in Australia (pale beige colour) not unhulled tahini (darker in colour and bitter). Tahini is typically found in the health food aisle in grocery stores, else alongside spreads.
Extra virgin olive oil – The oil in this dressing, rather than using just tahini which makes the dressing too thick.
Parmesan – For a good hit of savoury flavour. It’s best to grate your own but even pre-grated is fine because we blitz it smooth. Alternative – Anchovies. Oh yes! Use as many as you dare to add flavour and salt without the sauce tasting fishy.
Lemon – The tang in this dressing, to balance out the richness of the tahini and olive oil. Fresher than vinegar, though you can substituted with apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar.
Garlic – Just one clove, else the raw garlic flavour is a little too full on (blitzing really brings out the flavour of raw garlic!).
Water to thin the sauce to a toss-able consistency. Don’t worry, it doesn’t dilute the dressing flavour, there’s loads of flavour in the dressing!
burst roast tomatoes
Named as such because they burst in your mouth! Literally just cherry tomatoes (or grape tomatoes, as I seem to use more often these days) roasted in a little oil, salt and pepper until they are a little wrinkled which means in the inside is beautifully soft.
THE CHICKEN
To keep things easy, I just use a store bought roast chicken and shred it myself. If you poach and shred your own, toss the chicken in a pinch of salt and pepper before using in this recipe (because store bought chicken is brined so the flesh has salt).
crispy seasoned chickpeas
And last but certainly not least, the crispy chickpeas! I’m using my go-to spice mix for chickpeas here, recently featured in the Spicy maple roast carrots recipe. It adds great crunch into this salad and nice little salty seasoned pops, as well as adding a starch to fill the meal out. And it’s a “good starch” too, that will keep you feeling fuller for longer. 🙂
How to make this chicken kale salad
While there are a few components to this salad, there’s a nice workflow to it:
Get those bursty tomatoes and crispy chickpeas in the oven (30 minutes)
While they are baking, chop and “marinate” the kale leaves to soften them (20 minutes)
Make the dressing, shred the chicken and slice the onion.
Assemble and eat!
1. Burst roast tomatoes & crispy chickpeas
Bake together – Toss the tomatoes in oil, salt and pepper. Then drain the chickpeas and put them, still wet, onto a separate tray. We’re going to oven dry them before tossing in the seasonings (less effort and more effective to get them crispy than towel or air drying!). Bake both for 12 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft and wrinkly, by which time the chickpeas will be thoroughly dried.
Toss the chickpeas in a little oil which will make the spice mix stick, then pop them back in the oven for another 20 to 25 minutes or until the chickpeas are crispy (you’ll know, they clatter).
Burst tomatoes – Let them cool on the tray until you’re ready to use them. Don’t handle them, they are delicate and prone to, well, bursting!
Crispy chickpeas – Once the chickpeas are ready, just set them aside to cool slightly before using. Nobody wants a third degree mouth burn from hot little crispy balls of chickpeas!
2. STRIPPING KALE LEAVES
Because the stem of kale leaves are quite tough and fibrous, I remove the leafy part from the stem. I just rip it off – quick, easy, effective!
Separate the leaves then work one leaf at a time.
Grab the stem and then grab the leafy part with your other hand and pull it up the stem which will rip the leafy part cleanly off the stem. Don’t worry about crushing the kale leaves, they are hardy and can take it. In fact, we crush them deliberately to soften them!
Said leafy part. 🙂
Stem – Discard or throw into your next batch of vegetable stock.
3. Making the kale salad
Soften kale – Kale is a little chewy when eaten raw. So I like to soften it before using in salads. To do this, just massage / scrunch the chopped kale with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Not much is needed – a little goes a long way, you will be surprised! About 10 seconds of enthusiastic scrunching is all that’s needed to disperse the oil onto each bit of kale. Then set it aside for 20 minutes which will soften the kale leaves. In fact, the kale can keep like this overnight, it won’t go soggy like other leafy greens.
If you don’t mind the chew, feel free to skip this step!
Blitz dressing – Use a stick blender to blitz the dressing until smooth. A stick blender works best. If you use a blender, you’ll need to really scrape the sides / blades well. For a food processor, you’d have to use a small one. To make it by hand, finely grate the garlic using a microplane or fine grater and mix very well until smooth. You will have some little parmesan lumps but the dressing will still be tasty.
Toss the kale with about two thirds of the dressing (we drizzle the rest on at the end). No need to be exact here, just eye ball it.
Add ins – Add the chicken, red onion and cherry tomatoes then toss again just to disperse them.
Crispy chickpeas next! Just pile them on.
Finish by drizzling with the remaining dressing and a big shower of freshly grated parmesan. Then DIG IN!
I forgot the egg 🙂
As I was writing up this post, I realised I forgot to include the soft boiled egg in the recipe video. It is an optional extra and something I added as a last minute addition to dial up the good-for-you substantial-ness of this salad even more.
But it doesn’t need it.
In fact, as I said in the opening, it doesn’t need all the extras. You could skip the chicken, the chickpeas, the onion and tomatoes, and just make a giant bowl of kale tossed in this dressing and it will be a great kale salad side dish.
But if you want to make a statement meal-worthy salad, I urge you to go all in, at least once, to experience the greatness of this kale salad! And I hope you become obsessed with it as I have. 🙂 – Nagi x
PS Great one for making ahead up to 2 days. Even the “marinated kale” keeps perfectly and won’t go limp like regular leafy greens once they come into contact with oil.
Watch how to make it
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The most amazing Chicken Kale Salad
Ingredients
SOFTENED KALE:
- 5 very tightly packed cups Tuscan kale (cavolo nero) , leafy part stripped off stem, sliced into 1 cm / 1/2" ribbons (Note 1)
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 tsp salt and pepper
SALAD:
- 1/4 red onion , very finely sliced
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken , I use store bought (else poach your own, Note 2)
- 2 soft boiled eggs , halved (optional)
BURST TOMATOES
- 1 1/2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 tsp cooking salt/kosher salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
CRISPY SEASONED CHICKPEAS
- 400 g/ 14 oz can chickpeas , drained but not dried
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp EACH garlic powder , onion powder
- 1/4 tsp EACH cooking salt / kosher salt & black pepper
CREAMY PARMESAN TAHINI DRESSING
- 4 tbsp (60 g) tahini , hulled (Note 3)
- 2 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup parmesan finely grated (pack the cup tight), plus extra for serving
- 1/2 tsp cooking salt/kosher salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 1 large garlic clove , peeled
- 4 tbsp water (plus more, if needed)
Instructions
SHORTFORM RECIPE:
- Oven – Roast tomatoes 12 min at 200°C/425°F (180°C fan). Roast plain chickpeas 10 min, toss with oil & seasonings, roast 20 min until crispy (same temp).
- Salad – Massage kale, leave 20 min. Blitz dressing. Toss kale, chicken, tomatoes, onion with half. Pile on chickpeas, drizzle with remaining dressing, shower with parmesan. EAT!
FULL RECIPE:
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/425°F (180°C fan).
- Roast tomatoes – Toss the tomatoes with the oil, salt and pepper on a small tray. Roast 12 minutes, then cool on the tray.
- Crispy chickpeas – Drain the chickpeas then spread on a tray (still wet). Bake 10 minutes (same time as tomatoes). Push the oven dried chickpeas to one side of the tray. Drizzle with the oil and sprinkle with the chickpea spices, salt and pepper. Toss well using a rubber spatula, then return to the oven for a further 20 – 25 minutes until they're crispy (They should clatter! Note 4).
- Soften kale – Rub/scrunch the kale with the oil, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Put the kale in a large bowl then drizzle with the oil and add the salt and pepper. Set aside for 20 minutes (softens leaves).
- Tahini dressing – Put the ingredients in a jug just large enough to fit the head of a stick blender. Blitz until smooth, using extra water if needed to loosen into a thick but pourable consistency (see video).
- Toss – Pour half the dressing over the kale and toss. Add onion, chicken and most of the tomatoes (save a few for decoration). Toss again.
- Serve – Transfer into a serving bowl or individual bowls. Top with remaining tomatoes, all the chickpeas and eggs if using. Drizzle with remaining sauce then sprinkle with extra parmesan. DIG IN. SWOON!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
In exciting news – the RTM sign reveal! Yes, a giant life-size Dozer sticker on the front of RTM.
It is actually quite worrying what a thrill I got to slap a giant Dozer sticker on the RTM window. 😂
And in other news, Dozer was visiting RTM for a shoot day with a professional photographer (Rob Palmer). It’s been bothering me that I still don’t have an RTM website (one of the reasons I haven’t started a volunteer program and public donations yet) and really great photos to provide to media and for other uses. So we had a big shoot day yesterday to capture great photos of the team at work, and what we do. 🙂
And I’m explaining all of that so I can share that sadly, Dozer was restricted to the office area for hygiene and food safety reasons. You’d think he’d realise he can barge past that stool and bolt into the kitchen to get to the 480 meals we were making that day, but he’s too good a boy for that! Instead, he just stood there and barked all day. 😂
OFFICIAL PROGRESS REPORT – And on a serious note, his rehab post surgery is continuing though I feel like over the past week noticeable progress stalled somewhat. I’m hoping he hasn’t peaked yet and has more improvements to come.
Also, I think he picked up a stomach bug or gastro on the weekend so he hasn’t been himself this week with some pretty serious bouts of nausea and hyper salivating. I’m a little worried because vomiting / regurgitation poses a lung infection risk for him because of his medical condition which is serious, scary and can be deadly. He’s been to the vet and has another visit scheduled for tomorrow. Fingers crossed he gets over it soon so we can re-commence his strength training!
Mind you, he wouldn’t have been bustling around me in the kitchen to try today’s dish anyway because Dozer’s disregard for kale is pretty well documented:
That was the chapter opener photo from my cookbook. I love that photo so much, it just captures his attitude perfectly! 😂
On a more cheerful note though, he did get out to the beach again on the weekend (Bayview in the Northern Beaches of Sydney where I lived until a year ago). It takes me 40 minutes to drive there and it’s worth every minute because honestly, I can’t tell you how happy it makes him. His personality completely changes, he perks up and has more energy. I think it’s great for his muscle rehab so I’m going to keep taking him.
Woah, that was a much longer Dozer update than expected! I’ll sign off here and hope to bring more happy news with the next recipe! – Nagi x
J-Mom says
Put together the kale, dressing, and burst tomatoes. This was a really nice salad. Next time I will make time to do the chickpeas. Thank you for the recipe!
Debbie says
Thank you so much for the update about Dozer—so glad that he is doing well 😍 Our Furbabies are so special 💕🦮💕
And, thank you for all your wonderful recipes—you are my number-one source for cooking inspirations 😋👍🏻😋
Wendy says
Nagi, sorry for posting here, please remove when you see this. I think you intended to link your poached chicken technique page based on your wording, but the imbedded link is missing under the “Recipe Notes” chicken section. I’m looking forward to trying this recipe. Thanks
Alice says
So glad that Dozer is doing well and hopefully with your move, you will be closer to his swimming hole 😄
Marble says
Really love this one. Had to use regular kale, and popped in some cucumber and bell pepper that needed to be used. Anyone else notice that the chick pea seasoning is pretty much a base in a lot of recipes? I just mixed up a bunch of it and modify if necessary, but I find myself reaching for it a lot!
Jan says
Just made this salad for my lunch today and next two days. It is so delicious. The only thing I changed was that I used leftover roast pork (another fantastic Nagi recipe!) instead of the chicken. Lots of different steps but the end result is gorgeous.
I’ve not had Cavalo Nero before but I’m sure even Dozer would love it with the tahini dressing.
Tina says
This is a super delicious salad! I’m not a huge fan of kale or tahini but both ingredients are elevated in this delicious mixture! Worth the effort!
Imogen says
This looks delicious! I want to sub the chicken for pan fried salmon, just because I’m in the mood for salmon – can you think of any reason that wouldn’t work?
Nagi says
So funny you mention that! I’ve also made this with pan fried salmon and it’s so good, that was the version I almost published 🙂 I just flake into large chunks and plonk on top. The dressing is delicious with salmon too – I’ve had beautiful tahini sauce on salmon dishes at Middle Eastern restaurants. 🙂 – N x
Imogen says
Thanks so much! I actually did it for dinner last night and can confirm it was delicious – I did a soft-boiled egg too because I love them. I’m cooking for one this week so I’ll get a couple more meals out of the leftovers, and hopefully will be able to convince my kale-averse husband to try this sometime!
Linda Grimes says
Dozer is looking so good. Thanks for keeping all of us in the loop on his progress. One of our fur kids was diagnosed with congestive heart failure 7 months ago, but he’s doing great on 3 different meds….and he sure loves getting that little piece of turkey 4 times a day!
I plan to make this recipe very soon..looks delicious. My husband is not a big fan of kale unless it’s cooked down in soups, so I’m going to sub romaine lettuce…do you have that in Australia?
Big hugs from San Diego and extra belly rubs for Dozer
Kris Denning says
I have to say that I am on Dozer’s side and he knows best. Even without kale this is delicious.
Tracey Martin says
Oh my goodness Nagi! I’ve made this for my lunches for the next couple of days (keeping seperate as advised) the dressing is sublime! I’m doing a roast tonight but going to trying it with falafel on Tuesday (which I’m sure will be delicious!) thank you so much
Sandra says
Hello Nagi,
I am praying that Dozer is better and I am happy he was able to enjoy the beach!!
Sandra
Carole Coushaine says
We love hearing updates about Dozer’s progress. Thank you for that. Prayers continue.
Laura says
We were having a snap decision bbq last night and what do you know? I had all the ingredients for this salad (minus chicken and egg) in the fridge already!
This salad was so totally perfect. I absolutely loved the Parmesan and crunchy chickpeas. Definitely not a light salad but the most tasty salad I’ve made in a long time. Thanks Nagi for yet another delicious recipe!
Lynne says
Easy recipe!
Trish says
I’m with Dozer on the kale. You know when you do get around to donations etc that pic would be a great money spinner on some merch. I would love it hanging on my lounge room wall then I could tell everyone about RTM and more donations 💋💐
Karin says
Does anyone know what I can substitute for the tahini as I’m in the road and don’t want to buy a jar
Pat says
Sending love to you and Dozer. Made the zucchini slab..so good reheated..the cheese gets all melty. He is a good boy..all good wishes for more recovery for your furball.
Edie C says
Yum! Definitely making this since it has all the stuff I love in a salad including that yummy dressing. I’m going to be pouring that on many other salads I make.
I will call this salad Not For Dozer Salad. Lol
Carol says
💛💛🤞🙏🏼💛💛