Apple and Cheddar salad

This is an apple and cheddar salad and I would humbly argue an excellent one, the best I’ve ever made, but this recipe is also an excuse for me to share a few of the best tricks I keep up my sleeve (I always wanted to be a cook who said things like that, when what you might actually find is a lost piece of popcorn) to make the kinds of complex salads I can never resist on a cafe menu at home as simply as possible. Because we deserve to have fancy, cool, crunchy, dynamic, and gorgeous salads at home, even if we do not live a life that allows us to afford fancy salads made by others on a regular basis.

This will make almost double the crispy stuff you need for this salad, but I think you’ll be glad for leftovers. An an 8-10 ounce bundle of curly or lacinato/Tuscan/dinosaur kale with the woody stems and rib removed will yield the 5 ounces of leaves used here. I usually cut the apple right before serving, just in case it’s prone to browning (but not all are). 

Ingredients:

1 small shallot, minced

3 tablespoons (45 grams) apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon smooth dijon mustard

1 tablespoon (15 grams) mayonnaise or Greek-style plain yogurt

6 tablespoons (80 grams) olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

CRISPY STUFF

1 cup (115 grams or 4 ounces) sharp cheddar, coarsely grated

1 cup (85 grams) sliced almonds

2 tablespoons (15 grams) powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne

ASSEMBLY

5 ounces (140 grams) kale leaves, any variety, cut into thin ribbons [see Note]

1 large crisp apple, halved, cored, and cut thin