INGREDIENTS

CROUTONS

– ½ loaf good rustic bread, torn into chunks

– 3 cloves garlic, minced

– salt and fresh ground black pepper

– Olive oil

SALAD

– 1/3 cup good quality olive oil

– 3 cloves garlic, minced

– Juice of one lemon (or diced Preserved Lemon, 1 T)

– A few good shakes of both red wine vinegar and sherry vinegar

– 1 squirt of anchovy paste (or one anchovy rinsed and diced fine)

– Dijon mustard

– Worcestershire sauce

– Salt and pepper

– 1 egg

– 1 small red chili or ¼ Serrano pepper diced fine (use a few seeds to get the spice… the more seeds, the more spice)

– 1 bag of chopped kale or a few large bunches rinsed and torn into bite sized pieces… dark, more leafy kale, rather than curly, works best.

– pecorino cheese, grated

– parmesan cheese, shaved

– Pancetta (optional)

MAKE THE CROUTONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Toss the bread pieces with the minced garlic and a lot of salt and freshly ground pepper. Then toss again with two glugs of olive oil. You want the bread moist but not soaked. If parts of the bread are dry, that is ok.

Bake on a cookie sheet at 400 until the bread is toasted and crispy. Toss a couple of times. Start watching at 10 minutes, you could end up going to 20. You can always stick them under the broiler at 10 minutes to speed it up but be careful not to burn…although a little crisp black spot here and there can taste really good.

Set aside to cool.

PREP

Put the 1/3 cup olive oil in a large bowl in which you will make the salad. Add the minced garlic.  Let set 15 min or so.

MAKE THE SALAD

Add to the olive oil and garlic in the bowl:

Nice healthy spoonful of mustard, Juice of one lemon, Anchovy, Vinegars, A couple of shakes of Worcestershire sauce, 1 raw egg, diced chilies, and salt.

Whisk dressing until everything is nice and mixed and it emulsifies. Taste! Add any ingredient you think you may need more of. Whisk and taste again.

Add your kale and fresh ground black pepper. Toss to coat the kale. Some chefs say you need 36 tosses minimum to correctly toss a salad. Go for it.

Add the croutons and pecorino cheese. Toss to coat again.

Plate the salad and top with shaved parmesan cheese.

NOTES: You can eliminate the croutons if you want it healthier and gluten free.  You can add diced, pan-fried pancetta, drained and patted dry, to the salad as well.