Nutritious and Delicious
Salads can easily be overlooked because they’re seen as healthy and boring. There definitely are some lackluster salads out there, but you will never find a boring salad recipe on here. For me, I feel like what makes a salad exciting are the toppings. If you can find salad toppings that compliment each other and have a variety of texture, you have a salad recipe for success! This Fall Harvest Kale Salad is one of my favorite recipes to make this time of year because it’s so fresh and uses the seasonal fall produce. We have kale salad topped with roasted butternut squash, pomegranate seeds, goat cheese, currants, sunflower seeds, sliced apples, and quinoa. Then it’s served with a sweet and tangy Lemon Thyme Honey Vinaigrette! This is a delicious and nutritious salad that you’ll be making on repeat throughout the Fall.
Top it Off
To get this salad started, we’ll make the honey roasted butternut squash. Preheat the oven to 400℉ and line a baking sheet with foil. Add the butternut squash to the baking sheet then drizzle the olive oil, honey, salt, and pepper on top. Toss the butternut squash together with the seasonings until evenly coated then roast it in the oven for 23-25 minutes until tender. When the butternut squash has finished cooking, remove it from the oven and set aside to cool.
While the butternut squash roasts, we can make the Lemon Honey Thyme Vinaigrette. Add the olive oil, lemon juice, dijon mustard, honey, thyme, salt and pepper into a bowl. Whisk the ingredients together until combined and emulsified. Set it aside.
Cutting to The Kale
Moving onto the kale, we’ll start with massaging it. When kale is used for salads, the leaves can be a little tough and hard to break down. Massaging the kale will help the leaves soften so that it makes it easier to chew and digest. Place the chopped kale into the serving bowl. Add the olive oil and salt on top. Use your hands to scrunch the kale together, massaging it with the oil and salt until slightly wilted.
Now, we can layer on all the toppings! Add the roasted butternut squash, quinoa, sliced apples, pomegranate seeds, goat cheese, zante currants, and sunflower seeds on top. Serve with the Lemon Honey Thyme Vinaigrette and enjoy!
Taste the Rainbow
This Fall Harvest Kale Salad is so colorful that it’s sure to catch people’s eyes. The most magical part about it is that it tastes just as good as it looks. This salad is filled with a variety of textures from the crunch of the apples to the creaminess of the goat cheese. Not to mention that all the sweet and tangy flavors go so well together. So if you’re looking for a new salad recipe to switch things up, this Fall Harvest Kale Salad should be next on your list!
Fall Harvest Kale Salad
Ingredients
For the Honey Roasted Butternut Squash:
- 2 cups Diced Butternut Squash (½ inch dice)
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Tbsp Honey
- ½ tsp Kosher Salt
- ¼ tsp Black Pepper
For the Lemon Thyme Honey Vinaigrette:
- ¼ cup Olive Oil
- Juice from 1 Lemon
- 2 tsp Honey
- 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
- ½ tsp Dried Thyme
- ¼ tsp Kosher Salt
- Pinch of Black Pepper
For the Kale Salad:
- 1 Bunch Curly Kale (de-stemmed and chopped)
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- Pinch of Kosher Salt
- ½ cup Cooked Tri Color Quinoa
- ½ Honeycrisp Apple (thinly sliced)
- ¼ cup Pomegranate Seeds
- 2 oz. Goat Cheese (crumbled)
- 3 Tbsp Zante Currants
- 2 Tbsp Sunflower Seeds
Instructions
For the Honey Roasted Butternut Squash:
- Preheat the oven to 400℉ and line a baking sheet with foil. Add the butternut squash to the baking sheet then drizzle the olive oil, honey, salt, and pepper on top. Toss the butternut squash together with the seasonings until evenly coated then roast it in the oven for 23-25 minutes until tender. Remove it from the oven and set aside to cool.
For the Lemon Thyme Honey Vinaigrette:
- Combine all of the ingredients into a bowl and whisk until combined. Set it aside.
For the Kale Salad:
- Place the chopped kale into the serving bowl. Add the olive oil and salt on top. Use your hands to scrunch the kale together, massaging it with the oil and salt until slightly wilted.
- Then layer the roasted butternut squash, quinoa, sliced apples, pomegranate seeds, goat cheese, zante currants, and sunflower seeds on top. Serve with the Lemon Honey Thyme Vinaigrette and enjoy!
