With the holiday season fast approaching, it seemed like a good idea to make a healthy, fall-inspired salad. Since the holidays are known for their rich, sugary foods, I thought it might be nice to have a festive salad recipe to balance things out. If you make and eat this Roasted Butternut Squash and Kale Salad it means you can also eat ten frosted Christmas cookies. I don’t make the rules.
While this salad is completely delicious in every way, it is also:
- vegan
- 100% oil-free
- easily made gluten-free
- vitamin, calcium, and potassium-loaded
Where Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas food may put you in a food coma, this salad will leave you feeling light and satisfied. It’s all about balance right?
Salads = Fun
I would be lying if I told you I was a huge fan of salads. While I do enjoy them, they are never my first choice. However, since I graduated college I have made it a mission to start incorporating more salads into my diet. As we get older it only gets more and more important to get in the dark, leafy greens. If eating more salads means I get to eat cake every now and again, sign me up!
I learned very quickly that if I was actually going to stick to this resolution I was going to have to make salads more fun and convenient to eat. This meant making my own oil-free dressings and preparing ingredients in advance. I find that if I do these two things I never have any problem with choosing the salad for lunch or dinner.
So Festive They Won’t Know it’s Kale
To keep with that very theme, this salad is also fun and festive. In fact it is so festive that anyone you make it for may not even realize they are eating kale. They will be so mesmerized by the pretty colors and tangy flavors that the whole thing will be gone before they have a chance to truly take stock. So do yourself and your friends and family a favor and make this Roasted Butternut Squash and Kale Salad throughout the fall and winter season. You won’t regret it.
Roasted Butternut Squash and Kale Salad
This is the perfect healthy salad for fall! Bright green kale, roasted butternut squash and farro tossed in a light balsamic dressing.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: salad, side
- Cuisine: vegan
Ingredients
For the Salad
12 oz butternut squash cut into 1/2 inch cubes
6 c shredded kale
1 c cooked farro, cooled
1/4 c pomegranate seeds
1/4 c chopped pecans (optional)
For the Dressing
3 tbsp mustard
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp water
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400 F (205 C) and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread butternut squash across baking sheet and lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on center rack of oven and dry roast squash for 30 minutes or until fork tender.
2. While squash is baking, place kale in a large bowl. Using your hands, massage the kale for a couple minutes by periodically squeezing the leaves. This will help break down the kale and make it more tasty and digestible. Set aside.
3. To assemble the salad, add the roasted butternut squash to the massaged kale along with the cooked farro, pomegranate seeds and chopped pecans if using. Toss to combine. To make the dressing, whisk all of the ingredients together in a small bowl until smooth. Pour over the salad and toss until all of the ingredients are well-coated. Prepared salad can keep up to two days in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
Notes
*To make this recipe gluten-free, simply swap out the farro with your favorite GF grain.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 cups
- Calories: 199
- Sugar: 11.5g
- Sodium: 309.6mg
- Fat: 5.5
- Saturated Fat: 0.5
- Carbohydrates: 34.2g
- Fiber: 5.1g
- Protein: 3.6g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
Keywords: vegan, salad, sides
Looking for more salad recipes? Be sure to check out:
Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad w/Tangy Vinaigrette // Raw Detox Salad // Mexican Caesar Salad // Vegan Macaroni Salad
Leave a Reply