Kale with Pomegranate & Walnuts

Method

1. 1

   Step 1

   Toast the walnuts in a dry frying pan over medium-low heat for 4–6 minutes, stirring often, until fragrant and a shade darker. Tip them onto a plate straight away so they don’t keep cooking, let them cool, then chop roughly.

   Tip: Walnuts burn quickly, so don’t walk away from the pan.

2. 2

   Step 2

   Cut the pomegranate in half across its middle. Hold one half cut side down over a bowl and tap the skin firmly with a wooden spoon so the seeds fall out, then pick out any white pith. Measure out 120 g of seeds.

3. 3

   Step 3

   Wash the kale and mint under clean, cool running water, gently rubbing the kale leaves in their curly folds where soil can hide. Dry both thoroughly in a salad spinner or with clean towels.

4. 4

   Step 4

   Strip the kale leaves from the thick stems and slice them into ribbons about 1 cm wide. Keep the stems for a soup or a sauté.

5. 5

   Step 5

   If using the red onion, soak the slices in cold water for 5 minutes to soften their bite, then drain. In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil with the pomegranate molasses, lemon juice and a pinch of salt.

6. 6

   Step 6

   Put the kale in the large bowl, pour over half the dressing and massage it with your hands for about 2 minutes, until the leaves turn darker and feel tender.

7. 7

   Step 7

   Add most of the pomegranate seeds and walnuts, the mint leaves, the onion and the rest of the dressing. Toss gently, then taste and add salt or a little more lemon if needed.

8. 8

   Step 8

   Pile the salad onto a platter, scatter over the remaining pomegranate seeds and walnuts and dust with sumac, if using. Serve straight away, while the walnuts are still crunchy.

Cooking tips

• Toasting the walnuts takes away their raw, slightly astringent taste and brings out their flavor.
• The sweet-sour pomegranate molasses balances kale’s gentle bitterness.
• Pomegranate juice stains, so wear an apron and seed the fruit over a deep bowl.
• Tear the mint just before serving so it doesn’t darken.

Storage & leftovers

For crunchy walnuts, serve the salad as soon as it is dressed. Keep extra pomegranate seeds covered in the fridge and the cooled toasted walnuts in an airtight container. Refrigerate leftover salad in a covered container within 2 hours and eat within 3–4 days; the walnuts will soften over time. Keep any unused kale unwashed, in its bag, in the crisper drawer at 0–4 °C.