OK. Thanksgiving is heavy on my brain right now. Monday was all about the sinfully delicious Chocolate Pumpkin Pie. After the brief intermission where you met my new little fur ball yesterday, now I am afraid it is going to be all Thanksgiving all the time here for a while!
In our family we are salad eaters. (I mean the family I was born into). I finally realized this later in life when I would make twice as much salad as anyone eats at every social event- except for when my family comes- than there is never enough. My mom must have done something right, because I have a life long love affair with salads, and I get obsessed with what a blank canvas they can be for delicious seasonal flavors.
Without a doubt we always have at least 2 salads on the Thanksgiving buffet. This is an idea for a salad you could either have on Thanksgiving, or honestly as an amazing “dinner salad” (that means salad for dinner) any night.
It is my favorite shredded curly kale as a base, with wonderful buttery roasted sugar pumpkin, a little creamy goat cheese, sour cranberries, sweet candied pecans and a shallot vinaigrette. It is do perfect bit by bite, and I hope you enjoy it!
Recipe: Kale Salad with Roasted Pumpkin, Cranberries and Goat Cheese
Ingredients
- 8 cups shredded curly kale
- 2 cups roasted pumpkin, cut into bite sized pieces,
- 2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
- ½ cup candied pecans, rough chopped
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- Shallot Vinaigrette
- 1 shallot thinly minced
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- On a platter, Pile the curly kale at the base, and then sprinkle the pumpkin, goat cheese, pecans and cranberries over the top of the kale.
- In a small bowl, combine all of the vinaigrette ingredients and whisk them together.
- Pour over the salad and toss to combine. Serve immediately.
Preparation time: 10 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 6
This is so pretty, Heather!! I would love it on my Thanksgiving table!
I just made a similar salad:) Great fall flavors!
Super duper yum! Will have to make this after Thanksgiving too and throw in some leftover turkey 🙂
omg this salad is to die for!!! i would eat my entire week’s worth of fiber and nutrients in this!! and it tastes amazing so i wouldn’t mind eating it! haha
what a gorgeous salad, and it will definitely be on our Thanksgiving menu
You are the queen of beautiful food, Heather!!
I’m obsessed with salads too, what a beauty!
This salad sounds amazing–so hearty & perfectly seasonal. Must eat! 🙂
This is pretty much my go-to kale salad, but I use a different vinaigrette…I can’t wait to try the shallot version!
Pinned!! Love fall salads and this combination is irresistible.
Such a tempting looking salad – wish I could have some right now!
When I saw the photo of that salad, I swooned. It looks so yummy and healthy. My son, who is taking culinary classes in high school took one look at it and asked, “yeah, but does it have bacon in it?” We bought him a shirt that says ‘runs on bacon’.
What a salad!! Love the pumpkin + goat cheese combo! Thanks for sharing, Heather!
Ohhhhh. LOVE the look of this creative salad!
Oh my! I wish I was coming to your house for Thanksgiving!
Thanks for this! My 11 YO and I just baked the candied pecans for this and we’re excited about making it for Thanksgiving!
awesome Shelley- thank you!!
Heather,
I stumbled on your site looking for Thanksgiving recipes and I was so in love with this kale salad I wanted to hug you! Thanks for sharing–this is definitely a new favorite of mine! It was a huge hit and I’m still enjoying leftovers. I substituted butternut squash for pumpkin (because I was already roasting some) and it turned out wonderful. It was the perfect side dish to our Thanksgiving. Full menu and some pictures if you’re interested: <a href="http://loveonasheetpan.com/2013/11/29/happy-turkey-day/"
Love your blog! Excited to add it to my list 🙂
Love this! Any day I can get a refreshing high nutrient salad into my body- I am all for it! Thank you!
I took a chance and made this to take to a church function and it was amazing!! I added just a tick of honey to the dressing just to reduce the bite from the mustard and vinegar. Delicious!!