I love a good kale salad, and this is the perfect time of year to be buying kale! Either from your grocery store or local farmers market or farmstand, kale is in season right now because it can grow in cooler temperatures. It may seem like a less delicious candidate for a salad due to its tough leaves, but if you remove the stems and chop it into bite-sized pieces, it’s the perfect vehicle for a delicious dressing. This fall kale salad uses a maple Dijon vinaigrette that would be delicious on anything. Filled with fall ingredients like kale, butternut squash, and pomegranate arils, it’s a recipe you’ll want to make as a healthy lunch or even a holiday side dish as a Thanksgiving salad!
The first step in making a kale salad is to remove the stems from the kale leaves and then chop the kale into bite-sized pieces. That’s actually a tip of mine to make all salads better: chopping everything into small pieces. It’s especially important for a kale salad because you’ll want smaller pieces of kale for massaging in the dressing. Whenever I make a kale salad, I add all the kale to a large bowl and drizzle with half the dressing. Roll up your sleeves and get in there, massaging the dressing to ensure every bit of kale is coated. Then you’ll add the rest of the ingredients. In this recipe, that’s roasted butternut squash, pomegranate arils, toasted pecans and pepitas, and gorgonzola cheese. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss to combine. Then serve!
You can peel and cube your own butternut squash or buy it already cubed to make life easy. I usually buy a whole large butternut squash and use about half of it for this recipe and half of it I will steam and puree to add to baked goods, smoothies, or use as baby food for our littlest. When you’ve got 10 minutes left on the cooking time for your butternut squash, add the pecans and pepitas to allow them to toast as well. Toasting the nuts really brings out their flavor and adds even more crunch! I love the crunchy additions to this salad of the toasted pecans and pepitas as well as the sweet crunch of the pomegranate arils.
I have already had this fall kale salad for lunch three times and because you’re using a more hardy green like kale instead of lettuce, you can enjoy leftover the next day as well. I wouldn’t recommend storing the leftovers more than 24 hours but they are just as delicious one day after you make the salad! If you enjoy using ingredients in your salads like kale that hold up well the next day, my spicy cashew crunch salad is also a good option for you because its main ingredient is cabbage!
Whether as a healthy lunch, light dinner, or holiday side dish, this harvest salad is perfect to enjoy over the next few months!
- 3-4 cups cubed butternut squash
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup pecans
- ⅓ cup pepitas
- 1 large bunch of kale
- 1cup pomegranate arils (from about 1 pomegranate)
- 4 oz. gorgonzola cheese
- 4 tbsp. olive oil
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp. maple syrup
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Spread the butternut squash onto a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Use your hands to combine and evenly coat squash.
- Roast for 25 minutes. After 15 minutes of cooking time, add the pecans and pepitas and toss to combine before returning to the oven.
- While the squash is roasting, remove the stems from your kale and cut into bite-sized pieces. Place in a large bowl.
- in a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, mustard, maple syrup, salt, and pepper. Drizzle half the dressing over the kale. Use your hands to massage the dressing into the kale.
- Add the the butternut squash, pecans, pepitas, pomegranate arils, and gorgonzola cheese to the bowl. Drizzle with the remainder of the dressing and toss to combine.
- Enjoy! Leftovers can be kept for up to 24 hours.
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