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Greek Kale Salad with Creamy Tahini Dressing

  • Author: Cookie and Kate
  • Prep Time: 20 mins
  • Cook Time: 5 mins
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 4 side servings
  • Diet: Vegetarian

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 78 reviews

This healthy Greek kale salad recipe is full of bold Mediterranean flavors. It packs great for lunch, too. Recipe yields 2 large meal-sized servings, or 4 medium side salads.

Greek kale salad with creamy tahini dressing - cookieandkate.com

Ingredients

Kale salad

  • 1 medium bunch of curly green kale (about 8 ounces)
  • Fine salt
  • 1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained, or 1 ½ cups cooked chickpeas
  • ½ cup thinly sliced Kalamata olives and/or roughly chopped pepper rings
  • ⅓ cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed and drained
  • ⅓ cup finely grated Parmesan (optional)
  • ⅓ cup raw sunflower seeds*
  • ¼ teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

Creamy tahini dressing

  • ¼ cup tahini
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice (from 1 to 1 ½ lemons)
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium clove garlic, pressed or minced
  • ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • ¼ teaspoon fine salt
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. To prepare the salad: Place the chopped kale in a large serving bowl. Sprinkle it lightly with salt and massage it with your hands by scrunching up large handfuls at a time until it’s darker and more fragrant (this makes the kale more tasty and easier to eat). Add the chickpeas, olives and/or pepper rings, sun-dried tomatoes, and Parmesan (if using). Set aside.
  2. To toast the sunflower seeds, combine the seeds with the olive oil and a few dashes of salt in a small skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until the seeds are fragrant and turning lightly golden at the edges, about 5 minutes. Pour the toasted seeds into the salad bowl.
  3. To prepare the salad dressing: In a small liquid measuring cup or bowl, combine the tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, mustard, and salt. Whisk until blended. Add the water and whisk until blended. Season generously with freshly black pepper, to taste.
  4. Pour the dressing into the salad (you might not need quite all of it, but I did). Toss until the salad is evenly coated with dressing. Serve immediately. This salad keeps well in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 3 days.

Notes

Make it dairy free/vegan: Omit the Parmesan. You might like a light sprinkle of nutritional yeast to make up for it.

*Sunflower seeds: I prefer to use freshly-toasted raw sunflower seeds and salt them myself to keep the salad from getting too salty. That said, if you can only find pre-roasted and salted sunflower seeds, skip step 2.

If you love this recipe: Check out more kale salads here.

Nutrition

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.