Kale Avocado Salad with Seasoned Tempeh & Mango

Summer and salads are a delightful, and logical match, whether you're at the office or exploring the great outdoors. They're light, refreshing and won't weigh you down. A well-crafted salad will also keep you satiated and give you a good amount of energy. This Kale Avocado Salad with Seasoned Tempeh & Mango accomplishes just that!

This time of year is abundant with fresh, flavorful, in-season produce, which makes a salad the perfect summer dish. Tomatoes, avocados, cucumber, berries... you name it, during the sunny season your go-to salad fixings taste better than ever!

This salad highlights avocado and mango—two fruits that are especially delicious as the summer season kicks in!

Surprisingly, mangos are the topmost consumed fruit in the world! In India, offering a basket of mangoes symbolizes friendship. In the U.S., however, most of us still view this 4,000 year-old-fruit as an exotic novelty. Not to worry though, this salad will get you two acquainted

The smooth and creamy avocado is a perfect "dressing" for salads. Their flavor is rich and buttery with a hint of nuts. It truly pairs well with every taste: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami. Pairing avocados with other fruit, as I do here, is especially heavenly!

I chose kale as the base, partly for it's dark color to contrast the bright mango, but also for its heartiness. When you want a filling and nutrient-dense salad, kale is the green of choice, and it's basically "in season" all year round, which makes it a convenient go-to option.

And finally the plant-protein of the hour:

T - E - M - P - E - H!

Honestly, I think the meaty texture of flavor of tempeh in this dish is what makes this salad so satisfying. It's prepared in a way that makes it chewy and slightly crispy, but still moist and tender.

To top it all off, the tempeh has a smokey seasoning that's always a hit!

Trust me when I say, you're going to love this salad!

Kale Avocado Salad with Tempeh & Mango

By Chef Katie Mae

Makes 2–4 servings | Ready in 20 minutes | Stores 3 days in fridge

INGREDIENTS

• 8 oz tempeh, thinly sliced
• ½ tablespoon black pepper
• ½ tablespoon no-salt seasoning (i.e. Benson’s Table Tasty)
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1-2 bunches kale, de-stemmed and chopped*
• 1 avocado
• 2 tablespoons rice or apple cider vinegar
• 1 mango, peeled and thinly sliced

DIRECTIONS

1. Turn the oven on broil. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
   Fill a small sauté pan with about an inch of water and place over medium heat. Bring the water to a simmer, add the tempeh, and cover. Let the tempeh cook for about 3 minutes. Use tongs or a spatula to gently transfer the tempeh to the baking sheet. This step is optional but recommended if you sense any bitterness in baked tempeh.
2. In a small bowl, mix the paprika, black pepper, and no-salt seasoning.
3. Dip the steamed tempeh strips into the spice mix, so both sides are more or less coated, and place them back on the baking sheet. Put the tempeh on the top rack in the oven and broil for 5 minutes, or until crispy to your liking.
4. In a large bowl, combine the kale, avocado, and vinegar. Use clean hands to massage the avocado into the kale until the kale is coated well and softened to your liking.
5. Add the seasoned tempeh and sliced mango to the salad just before serving.

CHEF'S NOTES

Use 1 or 2 bunches of kale depending on how much salad you want to make. One avocado will be enough to cover 2 bunches, but the greens will have a thinner avocado coat. Also, if you use 2 bunches, keep in mind you’ll have more greens in proportion to the tempeh and mango.

The longer the kale is massaged for, the more tender it is and the easier it is to digest.

If you don’t want to use avocado, you could just leave it out or use ½ cup of hummus as a substitute.