Kale and Cucumber Salad with Roasted Ginger Dressing

This ended up being really tasty! I also was getting uneven cooking with the broil so just ended up roasting it, and for longer than 40 minutes to get it all soft. Once it was soft it was peeling away from the skin so I took most of the skin off with a paring knife before blending. I fried my own shallots for the topping, and used the shallot oil in the dressing. I also fried up some tofu with the oil to make this a main course salad. I thought the dressing was delicious, the roasted garlic definitely added a delicious flavor. I also seeded my chile and was glad I did, perfect amount of heat. I didn't need all of the dressing so am saving the rest to top some roast veg or meat later this week, since it was very flavorful.

• sizarah

• Berkeley, CA

• 8/17/2018

Interesting salad. I was looking for something using kale and happened to have a good size piece of ginger. First off I kept the ginger in the oven for the full time and then at 350 for another 40 minutes. It was nice and soft and blended up nicely in the food processor. Next time I would use less fish sauce maybe 1 tablespoon. Lastly the Thai chili gave the dressing heat, but not over powering. I did remove the seeds.

• lindavince

• Honolulu

• 1/23/2018

I tried this recipe because I like trying new techniques, and the broiled ginger sounded different. It was altogether a disaster. The ginger was charred in 20 min. No amount of food-processing was ever going to turn it into a smooth paste. Softening the cucumbers made them mushy and unpleasant. The intensity of the ginger completely overwhelmed the veggie flavor. There are so many good kale salad recipes in the world . . . . . leave this one alone.

• ffran

• VT

• 11/13/2017

I finally tried this recipe. Despite what I said previously, I did follow the instructions regarding the broiling of the ginger. Lo and behold, after about 45 minutes, sure enough the outer skin was charred and I could easily insert a knife! I had originally thought of peeling the ginger after the broiling process but this did not appear to be possible. I followed the remaining directions. I did get more of a paste (as recipe says) than a dressing, but I thought it worked just fine for massaging vigorously into the kale. The end product turned out pretty well and it was an interesting experiment but I am undecided as to whether or not I liked it well enough to make it again in the future.

• blondoverblue

• Sacramento, CA

• 8/20/2017

Kale is fine, but dressing would go great with any kind of greens. Broiling the ginger worked out fine for me, but it did take the whole time.

• bbornstein2

• 4/22/2017

I wasn't so sure about broiling the ginger either but I thought I would try it in my toaster oven. My toaster oven "broiled" for 40 min and all it did was dry out the skin and it wasn't tender at all so I switched it to roast for another 30 min or so until it was soft. The skins were so dry and the ginger just seemed shriveled up so I peeled the skins off and blended the ginger. The flavor was fantastic and we have made this a few times this week (lots of kale to eat up from our garden). My husband and I both thought a little goes a long way. Worth a try for sure!

• erindegloria

• Las Vegas

• 3/14/2017

*和*……我读了配方和所有的评论d not gon' lie broiling the ginger is a challenge. After broiling it on medium for about 40 minutes the smaller bits were "knife tender" but the regular size bits were still hard, and it was all fairly charred by then. I switched to roasting in a 425 oven for about 45 more minutes, by which point the soft smaller bits were dry as sticks and the regular size bits were barely softer. Nonetheless after whirring it all in a blender it was still good. I wonder if it's easier to just roast at 425-450+ until it's soft, rather than broiling, but the short story is that even though it looked mostly charred and was dry as tinder in some parts, once you cut off those bits and processed the rest it was still very good. If anyone has better luck let me know how you did it! I'd definitely try it again, probably roasting it like a carrot or cauliflower

• trent880

• Denver, CO

• 3/8/2017

The recipe said leave the peel on the ginger. I followed this instruction and the dressing was very fibrous. It was inedible. I would not make this recipe again unless I turn into an animal that can digest woody fiber.

• Anonymous

• San Ysidro

• 3/6/2017

roasted the ginger in a toaster oven and blended into the salad dressing, however, it was a bit chunky. May roast less and add fresh ginger and rice vinegar for a little more acid. Paired with lime marinated sirloin steak for a main dish - very well recieved by all who ate it. probably would use fried wontons wrappers instead of fried onions just to keep with the asian theme.

• wprior

• oceanside, CA

• 3/5/2017

Dear HappyCamper: Thanx for having the courage to try to follow the instructions. I, too, thought that broiling the ginger for 45 minutes HAD to be a misprint. Maybe there is more than one kind of broiler? To me, broiling something means to put it in the oven, on "Broil" setting, which involves placing the food close to the super-hot broiling element and for only a few minutes. How could a person "move (the ginger) to the oven" if it was already there? I think that I will try the recipe but broil the ginger a significantly shorter length of time, or possibly roast it, rather than broil. I'll check in again if/when I do with the results

• blondoverblue

• Sacramento

• 3/4/2017

Dear happycamper223: The instructions read: (if skin is getting too dark before flesh is tender, turn down the heat or move to the oven). Just sayin....

• loisdw

• Calgary, AB

• 3/3/2017

Dear happycamper223.... The instructions read :(if skin is getting too dark before flesh is tender, turn down the heat or move to the oven). Just sayin...

• loisdw

• Calgary

• 3/3/2017

The idea of broiling a piece of vegetable for 45 minutes a ridiculously courageous idea, but I thought I'd give a try anyway since a couple of the reviews stated they followed it to the tee and had a success. This is a method that'd totally get an F on any test. The ginger pieces came out black and dry, and inedible. I didn't proceed with the rest of the recipe once the ginger piece got me scratching my head (actually scratching my nose)

• happycamper223

• Portland, OR

• 3/3/2017

This was really good. I made it exactly per the recipe. Broiling and not peeling the ginger took a leap of faith, but it was great. The one little Thai chili made it pretty spicy, but everyone loved it. I had some of the dressing left over and used it in a vegetable tofu stir fry. I would definitely make this again.

• Anonymous

• Oakland, CA

• 11/28/2016

Really good salad, even if you don't particularly love kale. Roasted ginger worth it, gives it all a nice depth. Would def be good for entertaining as it shows off a very different flavor profile than most people would expect from a kale cucumber salad.

• adelka

• 11/23/2016