Winter Harvest Kale Salad

By Barbara Murphy on December 19, 2019 in Dinner, Salad, Uncategorized, Vegetarian

I love a good salad. During the winter months, I love making sturdy kale salads that are good for the week. With the holiday season in full swing, we don’t want to forget about eating our greens. This vibrant winter harvest kale salad will be making regular appearances at our holiday dinner table.

Let’s talk about kale! Kale is packed with healthy nutrients such as fibre, vitamin C, vitamin K, B vitamins, potassium, calcium and of course antioxidants. There are many varieties of kale such as curly kale. In this recipe we used curly kale and the trick to kale is to devein the salad, chop it into small pieces and massage it. This does add some extra prep time but I highly recommend you do not skip this step.

The thing I love about this salad is I can make this on my Sunday meal prep day and it can last for 3-4 days without wilting. While kale may be the main ingredient, this salad is a nutrition powerhouse with a variety of colourful ingredients as well as quinoa. Quinoa is also packed with fibre and protein to help you feel full and satisfied. I added pumpkin and sunflower seed to this winter harvest kale salad, they give a good crunch. Nuts and seeds are packed with healthy fats, protein, fibre and vitamins and minerals. Finally, I like to add color to my salads and added roasted butternut squash, pomegrantee and topped it with fresh feta cheese. You can easily substitute any of these ingredients to meet your own food preferences.

Winter Harvest Kale salad

4 cups chopped kale
1 cup quinoa, cooked
1/2 cup butternutsquash, roasted and chopped into 1 inch
1 apple, chopped into 1 inch pieces
1/4 cup dill, chopped
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted
1/4 cup feta, crumbled

Salad dressing

1/4 cup oilive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp dijoin mustard
1 tsp honey
salt and pepper to taste

Chop and devein kale into small pieces.

Combine salad dressing ingridents in a small jar and shake until well combined.

Massage kale with salad dressing. I like toleave the dressing on the kale overnight but if your in a pinch I would let it sit for 2 hours.

In a large bowl combine kale, quinoa, squash, apple, dill, pumpkin and sesame seeds. Toss ingredeints with salad dressing.

Sprinkle pomegrantee seeds and fata cheese.

Place in fridge until ready to serve.