We love the taco and kale salads at ByChloe a trendy "fast casual" place started by all vegan chef Chloe Coscarelli who rose to fame after being the first vegan chef to win the Food Network's Cupcake wars. Currently, byChloe has two locations in NYC (with several more in the works including expansions in Rhode Island, LA and Boston) and you really have to time it right to avoid the long lines at both the MacDougal Street spot and the Flatiron location. Though I'm not strictly vegan, having this place around would make life very easy and enjoyable for anyone. Their soups, sides, veggie burgers and salads lack no flavor. Their Mac ' "cheese" could use some work. Their desserts are pretty good too. One critique is that there really is no ingredient and calorie information to be found.
Their kale caesar salad seems to have two varieties of kale. The leaves are tender and they use crumbled seasoned almond "parm". The avocado is perfect, the dressing is just right, but what really makes it special is the crispy shiitake mushrooms as the "bacon" and the maple-wheat croutons. This brings the salad to an almost decadent level.
Our Kale Salad
We used lacinato kale cut into thin ribbons and then massaged it with olive oil so it is not tough. The tofu cubes were baked and act as croutons adding flavor and protein to make it a more substantial dish. This also keeps it vegan but makes it gluten-free. The recipe is under Kale Salad on our site.
