Kale, Miso, and Soft Egg Salad

Somedays you just need a good salad. When these days come (and they do often), I’m talking about a salad that is filling, flavor packed, and hearty. I don’t want some wilty side salad that tastes just as bland as it looks. I think that’s the number one reason I didn’t get into salads for some time. I had too many bad ones so I didn’t realize how good they can really be. And man oh man, this is a good one.

This salad is simple. It’s really just three main ingredients for the salad and four ingredients for the dressing (not counting salt and pepper, as I think that’s a given). This is one of those meals that totally sneaks up on you in that it seems like there’s nothing to it, but it turns out to be wildly flavorful and quite filling.

I’m a big fan of simple and delicious. That’s usually code for “easy to make but surprisingly good”, which is pretty much the perfect blend for at-home cooking.

If you don’t like soft boiled (or hard boiled) eggs, you could swap that out for more nuts, baked tofu, sautéed tempeh, or even some cooked meat if that’s what you’re into. But if you do like runny yolk eggs, then you’ll be happy to know that the bright, lemony miso dressing goes SO well with them. They are food soul mates for sure. 🙂

Kale, Miso, and Soft Egg Salad, serves two

For the salad:
4-5 oz. kale
1/4 cup sliced almonds
2-3 soft boiled eggs

For the dressing:
2-3 tablespoons oil (I used olive but you can use any kind)
juice from one lemon (approx. 2 tablespoons)
1 cloves of garlic, well minced
1 tablespoon miso (yellow or white)
salt + pepper

First, get your eggs going. For the egg you see in my photos here, I cooked it for 5 minutes. Place three eggs in a small pot and fill it with water to cover the eggs. Bring the water to a rolling boil (really, wait until it’s really boiling here!). Then remove the pot from the heat, cover with a lid, and let the eggs sit in there and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Then drain them and place the eggs in a bowl of cold water to cool (and also stop cooking) while you prepare the other elements of this salad. Generally, if you want your soft boiled egg to have a mostly or completely set white but still a gooey or runny yolk, then you’ll want to boil it for 4 to 5 minutes. I err on the side of boiling for a bit more time (5 minutes) because I’d rather slightly more cooked yolks than undercooked whites. But that’s just me. You could also continue to cook for 9 to 10 minutes if you want them hard boiled. It’s totally up to you here; this is just what I prefer.

For the dressing, stir together the lemon juice, miso, minced garlic, and oil. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Remove any large veins from the kale; you just want the leaves. Finely chop and toss in the dressing. Divide onto two plates and top with almonds and any other veggies you’d like to add (I added a little tomato, but I’ve eaten this with just kale, almonds, eggs, and it’s great on its own as well). Top with the soft boiled egg.

That’s it – super simple! This makes a fantastic quick lunch or dinner, and you’ll feel great eating this.

Also, quick random note. Guys, thank you so much for allowing me to share recipes with you for years and years now. I LOVE it. It’s one of my very favorite things to do, truly. So thank you for reading! xx. Emma

Credits // Author and Photography: Emma Chapman. Photos edited with A Beautiful Mess actions.