Kale Salad with Apples & Cheddar

I made this for Christmas dinner with 1 head green and 1 head red curly kale."They" say curly kale is more tender than Lacinto. I used a different dressing because I had that on hand. I massaged the kale with about 1 tsp salt and 1-2 teaspoons olive oil (you can do this the day before or the morning of). It is adapted from Martha Rose Shulman's recipe.

SALAD

4 cups very finely chopped or slivered curly kale or Russian kale (about 6 ounces on the stem, or half of a ¾-pound bunch, stemmed and washed in two rinses of water)

1 tsp salt

1-2 tsp olive oil
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped toasted almonds or slivered almonds
1 apple (I use Cosmic Crisp), in thin slices or cut it ¼-inch dice 

Sharp Cheddar cheese, cut in ¼-inch dice (¼ to 1/2 cup)
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

¼ to 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese 

DRESSING
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 very small garlic clove, puréed
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan

I used Samin Nosrat's House Dressing instead of the dressing from the recipe because I had it on hand. 

DIRECTIONS

1. Massage the slivered kale with salt and olive oil. Literally that means rubbing the salt and oil over all of the kale for a few minutes.
2. Combine the kale, parmesan, almonds, apple and Cheddar in a large bowl.
3. Whisk together the lemon juice, salt, garlic and olive oil. Add to the salad, and toss well. Sprinkle the Parmesan over the top, and serve.

Tip for advance preparation: This salad benefits from tossing with the dressing about 15 minutes before you serve it. The kale will soften in the dressing.