In 2012, while publishing my magazine, I was invited into Louisa Shafia’s kitchen. She shared this kale salad from Lucid Food, a recipe that combines creamy avocado with crisp apple and carrot, toasted almonds and delicate ribbons of nori.
The recipe was first published in my magazine that year with Louisa’s permission. Revisiting it for The Gentle Kitchen archive, it still feels fresh and generous—a salad built around contrast, texture and flavour as much as good green leaves.
From the archive: First published in 2012. Recipe by Louisa Shafia, reproduced with permission. Photography by Linnea Covington.
Courtesy of Lucid Food, by Louisa Shafia.
Ingredients
- 1 bunch kale, thick stems removed and coarsely chopped
- 1 ripe avocado, diced
- 1 carrot, peeled and sliced into thin half-moons
- 1 small, sweet, crisp apple, thinly sliced
- 1 scallion, green part only, thinly sliced
- 1 large handful toasted almonds
- ½ sheet nori
- ½ clove garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Place the kale in a large bowl with the avocado.
Add a dash of salt, the garlic and olive oil. Gently massage together for about three minutes, or until the kale shrinks, becomes darker and becomes more pliable.
Reserve a small handful of carrot and apple slices for garnish, then gently fold the remaining carrot and apple into the kale mixture. Taste and season with salt.
Divide the salad among four plates. Top each with sliced carrot, apple and scallions. Season with pepper and scatter the almonds on top.
Turn a burner on to medium heat. Pick up the sheet of nori with tongs and pass it over the flame three or four times. Let it cool briefly, fold it in half lengthwise and cut along the crease. Stack the two pieces and cut them into thin ribbons over each plate.
Serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to a day.
