Crispy Kale Salad.
I like to call this the calm before the storm.
The clouds before the rain.
The “like” before almost all of my words.
The salad before dinner.
The balanced dish before the cupcakes. And cake. And brownies. And cupcakes
The last, oh… MONTH of my life and the lives of those around me.
As I simultaneously lost my mind and remained relatively calm when I decided that no, I would not have an I-like-to-think-I-am-Kim-Kardashian-style birthday party because I am a normal person and not a participant on My Super Sweet Sixteen.
Otherwise known as my last day in my twenties.
I’m just gonna let that marinate for a bit and eat a lot of green stuff for 12 hours or so to make up for the copious amounts of sugar and booze I will be consuming for the next four (five?) days. I.can’t.wait.
Crispy Autumn Kale Salad
Ingredients
- 1 large bunch of kale, torn from stems and torn into pieces
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons fresh apple cider
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
- 1 shallot, diced
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1 small sweet potato, diced
- 1 honeycrisp apple, diced
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 1/4 cup pomegranate arils
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place kale in a large bowl and massage olive oil, apple cider, 1/8 teaspoon salt, nutmeg and pepper into for 1-2 minutes. Spread on a baking sheet in a single layer and roast for 10 minutes. Toss well and roast for 5-10 minutes more, until slightly crispy but not golden.
- While kale is roasting, heat a skillet over medium heat and add bacon. Cook until crispy and fat is rendered (about 2 minutes), then remove with a slotted spoon and let drain on a paper towel. Add the shallot, garlic, sweet potatoes and apples to the skillet, tossing with remaining salt and cinnamon. You want the sweet potato and apple finely diced, about the same size as the bacon bits and only slightly larger than the pom arils and pine nuts. Cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft.
- In a small saucepan, add pine nuts and toast over low heat for 5-6 minutes, until golden and fragrant. Set aside.
- Combine kale with apples and sweet potatoes, pine nuts, goat cheese and pom arils. I don’t find this needs any sort of additional dressing (the kale will not stay crispy) but feel free to add some if you’d like.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
Oh wait… maybe I can. P.S. if I like this salad, you probably will too.
146 Comments on “Crispy Kale Salad.”
I’m making this right now! And while the flavors and textures are fantastic, I really think you should add that the sweet potatoes will take forever to cook if you don’t bake or boil them beforehand. Thanks for the delicious recipe!
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I just had to leave a comment because I thought this was too coincidental!
I saw your delicious kale salad pinned by someone on Pinterest and had to check out the ingredients.
So I was reading and you mentioned your birthday, happy belated by the way. Then I looked at the date of your post and saw that you posted it on my 30th birthday! So, you know what that means Scorpio SIster? Our moms were verrrry prego with us at the same time! Yay to us :)
Hope the first few days of your 30’s have been wonderful!
Xo
I made this today as a side for a brunch…it was a hit! Thank you for creating the perfect recipe to go with short rib hash!
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Would it be possible to make this with frozen kale?
Do you mean roast as in the roasting pan at the bottom of the oven, or bake? I want to try this…
Um wow. I just made this tonight *almost* as written. I didn’t have sweet potatoes on hand so I used blue potatoes from the market. Made for some nice colors — I might even try blue AND sweet potatoes next time to get a rainbow salad next time. Anyways, this salad was probably the best I’ve ever had. Just saying. Try it, you will like it! I know it’s going to be staying in my (virtual) recipe box for a long time.
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I made this for Christmas – wanted to do something different! I have a small kitchen and tried doubling the recipe…it took me many hours to make in shifts. I am not a good cook so had issues with the following:
-mushy apples and butternut squash (substitute for sweet potatoes)
-“crispy” kale was wilted and not crispy
-I am a veg so left had bacon bits on the side
-couldnt get to costco for the pomegranite seeds so used dried poms
I will keep you posted on what the crowd says. But what did i do wrong with the mushy kale and apple/butternut squash mix???
Seriously obsessed with this salad. I’ve made it so many times over the past 2 months, I just keep forgetting to comment.
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I love kale salad and have been eating a ton of it this week while I was doing a vegan juice cleanse. This looks delish!
I would run into trouble right after toasting the kale, those chips tend to disappear quickly in my kitchen! Looks delicious though, I will try to resist my kale loving urges and make this happen!
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By far the best salad ive ever eaten, thanks Jessica!
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Thanks for this amazing salmon recipe.
Be featuring it on http://nutritionrealm.com later this week :)
This sounds really nice. gonna make this for tea tonight. Thanks. Simon
This looks absolutely delicious! It looks like it would make a really yummy lunch for me to take to school and show off in the teacher’s lounge:)
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Totally worth the read! A lot of things I’ve been doing already, but just never gave much thought to the greeting… probably because I don’t see a lot of others doing it. Good work there!
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