Chili Garlic Shredded Kale Salad… with Fried Chicken. Yep.
{pittsburgh friends! i’m signing books tomorrow, 9/23, at penguin bookshop in sewickley at 6PM. come hang out!}
Helllllllllo balance.
Let’s talk about it.
Like salad and French fries.
Dark chocolate and almonds.
Veggie burgers with bacon.
Kale and fried chicken.
It works.
It’s my favorite subject. My favorite way to eat!
You miiiiiight have noticed that it looks like I’m back on the chicken train. I finally am cool with eating it again after months of not even wanting to be near it. And while I don’t want it more than once every two weeks or so, I’ve actually been able to throw together some decent flavorful recipes when it comes to poultry. I’d like to keep my chicken game up because there is NOTHING worse than another boring chicken meal. Am I right?
For years I’ve been making the oven-crisp chicken fingers and those are awesome. I’m never one to gravitate towards fried chicken, but I speculate that’s only because I’ve never really had it done right. I’ve had delicious bites at a restaurant or two but my most frequent memory of it includes graduation parties or buffets where it’s all soggy and sad. I was just not into it.
BUT. Eddie loves fried chicken in a way that only a serious carnivore can. I mean… yesterday he devoured an ENTIRE fried chicken (like the whole chicken, yes) on top of a waffle to cap off his birthday weekend.
It was serious business.
A few weeks before the book tour started is when chicken and I picked up where we’d left off. In the span of one week I made the BBQ chicken French breads and then I wanted to surprise Eddie with this fried chicken because I knew he’d be soooo excited when he got home from work. It was Monday and well, I’m a little partial to Monday meals, so salad had to be included.
I know you know what a Monday meal is. Sometimes they’re the worst.
Today, they’re the best.
I also like to think of this meal as the perfect bridge between summer and fall. Or autumn. Should we call it autumn? It’s so much prettier. Duh.
Anyhoo, it’s like summer with a cold and crunchy kale salad. And autumn with a crispy-coated comforting piece of fried chicken. I think that kale is technically in season now? But it sure seems like a combo of the two seasons to me. Again, the perfect balance. For those moments when it’s sweltering in the car during the day in hot sunlight but freezing at night when it dips into the 40s and you leave the AC on. You get it.
So first, I’m totally in love with the kale salad because of the flavor. We have sesame oil and some chili garlic paste and even honey and then you MASSAGE your kale because that’s what we do in 2014 and apparently we’re all freaks. Who would have thought that in order to be palatable, kale really just needed a little rub down?
If only all things were that simple to figure out.
Note: it’s seriously fantastic. It has some crunchy peanuts on top! I die.
And second, this chicken is melt-in-your-mouth worthy. I used boneless, skinless thighs and double dipped them in buttermilk and it was just crazy decadent and delicious. Not something I will do super often since I’m fairly lazy but we went nuts over it. It was SO worth the extra time and effort for frying. It wasn’t a special occasion… but you can definitely make today one? Because I say so.
Shredded Kale Salad with Fried Chicken
Ingredients
kale salad
- 2 large heads of kale, I used curly green kale
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons golden balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon chili garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons chopped peanuts
buttermilk fried chicken
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1 quart buttermilk
- vegetable oil for frying
- 4 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
kale salad
- Remove the thick center stems from each leaf of kale, then run your knife through the kale until it is shredded. Place the kale in a bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the olive oil, sesame oil, vinegar, chili garlic paste and honey. Pour it over the kale and massage the kale with your hands, tossing and flipping for a good 5 minutes. Place the bowl of kale in the fridge until ready to use.
buttermilk fried chicken
- A few hours or even the night before, place the chicken in a baking dish and cover with about 2 cups of buttermilk. Flip to coat, then flip the chicken occasionally to keep the buttermilk coating even. When you’re ready to fry, add about 4 inches of vegetable oil to a large pot fitted with a candy thermometer over medium heat. You want the oil to reach 350 degrees F – no higher!
- Add 2 cups of flour in one bowl and 2 cups of flour in another bowl. Add half of the salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder to bowl, stirring well to coat. Place third bowl in the center of the bowls of flour and fill it with the remaining buttermilk.
- Once the oil is hot, take a piece of chicken from the buttermilk. Dredge it in the flour. Dip it in the bowl of buttermilk, then in the second bowl of flour, coating well. You can use your fingers and add a few drops of milk to the chicken in the flour to give it that flakey coating. Add the chicken to the oil. I fry 1 to 2 pieces at a time – for about 10 minutes each. Depending on the side of your chicken thighs you may need to adjust the time. Most likely, it needs to be fried for at least 8 minutes to cook the inside. I flip it once or twice while frying. After frying, place the chicken on a cooling rack with a paper towel underneath.
- When ready to serve, toss the salad with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the peanuts on top. Slice the fried chicken and add it on top of the kale. Eat away!
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
soooo balanced.
65 Comments on “Chili Garlic Shredded Kale Salad… with Fried Chicken. Yep.”
I’m really having trouble jumping on the kale bandwagon, but I have been wanting to since I’m supposed to be a healthier food blogger and all. Topping it with fried chicken goodness? Now I’m all over it! Pinned!
Man, I could eat so much of this. It’s basically the best balanced meal ever!
I love your photos of this recipe!! Your kale comments made me laugh this morning… I swear, if my feet were massaged as frequently as I massage kale, I’d feel totally on top of the world! ;) Happy Belated Birthday to Mr How Sweet, and have fun at your book signing!
I can handle Mondays if they come with this! Double crunchy fried chicken over kale? Omg yes!
I love your thought process. Fried chicken + Kale = Healthy Balance
Balance achieved! Who knew fried chicken could make me feel so zen.
I’m loving your photography here. i need to up my game.
If Eddie is ever in Downtown Memphis (or actually any of these locations http://gusfriedchicken.com/locations/) he needs to check out Gus’s Fried Chicken. When my company sent me to TN for work, I probably gained 10 lbs just because of Gus’s. So amazing. Don’t bother with anything else on their menu. Chicken. That’s all you order there. Maybe some slaw beans and a 40. That’s it. They serve it on foam plates with plastic silverware on a cafeteria tray. There are bars on the windows. There’s a security guard at the door at night. Don’t be afraid. The chicken is worth it.
Dear “Other” Stephanie (that I met at Whisk in NYC).
Click my name.
The other other Stephanie
Thank you for highlighting the fact that kale needs some TLC. I need to come back as kale in my next life time.
This looks so delicious. Desperately searching for a special occasion in the near future to make this salad. Yumm!!
Looks like you got the photography down in the new house Jess :)
Sounds delicious – I made fried chicken this weekend ( my husband, has coined it friken … he thinks he’s a genius). I don’t make it very often either … mostly because I’m dead scared of popping oil – I need to try this recipe, definitely bookmarked!
The healthy balance thing is pretty much at the heart of all of my salads. If I’m eating foliage, it’s getting smothered with tasty things.
How am i supposed to keep up? Lately all of your recipes are with my favorite products x
http://www.wild-cherrytree.com
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Haha now I can have fried chicken on my detox. I am fan of both leafy greens and fried food; so i think I have meal for the next week planned out. Thanks Jess!
Def my favorite way of eating as well. We are on a “no bread” diet for the next 7 days. Its going to be hard but this recipe makes it so much more easier. xoxo
OMG, delish!!! Now to go buy some buttermilk…..
Philly
http://togetherinitaly.com/about-our-family/
http://togetherinitaly.com
If only all Monday meals looked this good I might actually like Mondays!!!
Ooooh, I’m so loving this recipe! I’m with you, chicken get’s boring REAL fast since it’s the meat we eat the most. Definitely making this, this week! :)
I make the SAME kale salad every week for work lunches so this is recipe is very much appreciated – YUM! Plus, this may just be the trick that gets my husband to eat kale more often. ;)
I don’t eat chicken but if I did, I bet this would be the chicken to eat. Fried anything, hello, yes. :) And just wanted to say I’ve been reading your book like a novel and yesterday I was on a page about Eddie and needing a hot lunch. Like an average sandwich just won’t cut it. And that he needs a full lunch that rivals dinner, and then a dinner. At least you write a food blog and there’s no food shortage in your house :) I just love all these little stories!
That looks amazing. And would be amazing after a Sunday Funday kinda situation…
This salad is fantastic! I am completely on board with pairing something healthy with something decadent. Totally my fave way to eat! Yummers!
Oh no you didn’t! That said, I love the wy your brain works, Jessica!
way, not wy!
need this asap … mmmmmmm!
This is a totally a classed up version of a Pittsburgh Salad. Only it looks amazing and doesn’t involve soggy french fries and dry shredded cheese…so yeah. Totally different. I may have to get over my personal fear of frying foods myself (I just feel like I would screw it up..) to make this. Plus, it has kale, so it’s healthy, right?!
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Looks amazing! I want that like right now hahaha
Much love from
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Ha! Balance, indeed. Love it. This dressing looks just so darn good! It would really perk up the kale. Yummm. And the chopped peanuts! I’m drooling :)
Jessica – what do you do with the other half of the seasonings? Do they go in the second bowl of flour? Also, can you explain a little better what you mean about adding milk to the flour to give it the “flakyness”? Thanks!
Dear goodness this look amazing!
If only this existed when I was in my I-hate-chicken-(actually all meat!)-while-pregnant phase! My dear husband came to my 24wk appt and when the Dr asked if I was eating a balanced diet, I was mid-nod when he blurted “She’s not eating any protein!”. It was all I could do not to put him out via the wall. Fast foward to me promising to eat my weight in greek yogurt…
The sheer thought of going to a grocery store made me feel faint after a bad experience during the first trimester – when a fellow customer was wearing enough Old Spice to rival a whole fleet of pirates! I had to hide in the coffee aisle & breathe deeply for 5minutes before I could muster the courage to make a dash for the check-out!
Looks nice and healthy!
This sounds sooooo super amazing! Want to try it like right now!
Love the veggie burger with bacon lawl
Life is definitely all about balance. And I’m all about this salad. Looks SO good!!
I like the chili-garlic dressing on your kale salad here — I’m going to try it. Hold the fried chicken though.
Excuse my language, but fuck me that looks good!
This is probably the best way to serve kale.
First, i’ll admit, I did blinked a little at the word “kale”… then a halo-encrusted banner of “FRIED CHICKEN” moved slowly into view, and I thought, “That’s my jess”.
OMG this fried chicken looks amazing!
http://www.eatwearwander.com
Fried chicken—-yum. A favorite that I never seem to have anymore. What a fun way to highlight the chicken and the salad.
Hi, another great recipe! Love your blog, and I’ve included this recipe in our midweek food and cooking inspiration blog too. Here’s a link https://www.corrchilled.co.uk/index.php?route=pavblog/blog&id=104 :)
This seriously sounds like the best combo ever. I’d be down for this on a Monday..or any day really
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Hi. I’m reading all of your posts and want to help you massage this kale.
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