Kale Cranberry Apple Salad

This salad is full of good stuff and perfect for the Holiday season. Apples, cranberries, pecans and a melange of crispy veggies balance nicely with the robust kale. If you are looking for a great holiday salad for your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, this is it!

Kale is a very robust salad green and can handle a lot more dressing than the typical salad. Massaging some of the dressing into the kale takes away some of the harshness that kale can have and the longer it sits with the dressing on it the better it tastes. Another great trick to make kale salad even better is to warm the vinaigrette and let it slightly cook the kale and take some of the rough edge out of it. This salad has a nice sweetness, a little tartness, crunch and lots of flavors that blend well together.

 Start with fresh kale and chop the leaves as small and thin as possible

Red Cabbage adds some flavor and texture

Carrots add more color and a little sweetness

Dried cranberries add so much flavor and more sweetness that balances well with the kale

Apple marries well with all of the other ingredients. My favorite apple to use in salads is granny smith or pink lady, but your favorite one will work perfectly

Pecans add that delicious crunchiness that we love in a good salad

This is so good, you will want to eat it all the time. Try making this for the holidays

Ingredients

1/2 cup pecans

8 ounces of kale 

1 carrot

1/2 cup chopped red cabbage

1 granny smith apple

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Dressing Ingredients

6 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

3 tablespoons honey

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 and spread on a cookie sheet or baking pan and bake for about 5-7 minutes. Wash kale and remove the stems. Chop the kale into bite size pieces/  Sprinkle a dash of sea salt over the kale and massage by the handful by scrunching with your hands gently. Set aside.

Grate the carrot and chop the red cabbage into thin shreds. In a small bowl, whisk the salad ingredients together. Take a couple of tablespoons of dressing and massage it into the kale. Add the carrots, red cabbage, apple, and cranberries. Toss the ingredients and let sit for 20 minutes. Add the pecans and toss once before serving.

The apples are so good in this salad and you can swap the apples for pears and it works beautifully

 

This is a great way to get your fruits and veggies in one meal

What are you waiting for? 

Bon Appetit!