The only thing your Thanksgiving menu is missing is this kale and apple salad with wild rice and a simple dijon dressing. It’s easy to make and adds a beautiful pop of color to any dining table! It’s gluten free, and can easily be made vegan.
Call me basic, but Fall is the best time of year. The weather is perfect, it’s my birthday, and the food is just incredible.
Apple pie bars, pumpkin bread, butternut squash risotto, it’s no wonder people gain weight this time of year lol.
This kale apple salad is the perfect fresh salad that is full of flavor, color, antioxidants, and is so easy to make. It just got a major face lift in time for Fall, including a new dressing recipe.
This new and improved honey dijon vinaigrette is so easy to make (especially if you use a salad dressing shaker) and pairs so well with the rest of the flavors in this salad.
How to prep kale
Kale is one of those things that you either love or you hate. The first time I tried kale, I spat it out. It tasted funky and I couldn’t get over the tough texture.
But then I learned how to properly prepare kale (something salad bars don’t quite understand) and I was hooked!
Removing the stems, washing and massaging the kale and chopping it very finely are all key. You can read about all of these tips in my butternut squash and kale salad post, but for today we’re going to focus on chopping it finely.
I find the very finely chopped kale, wild rice, and apples all pair really well together and make this salad actually enjoyable to eat! I like using a good pair of kitchen shears (basically a fancy pair of scissors) to chop it really finely. For whatever reason, it’s much easier than using a knife!
Making it less bitter
Massaging the kale really well should work to get rid of any bitterness in the leaves, but this dressing has a hint of sweetness from the honey so it should work to mask any bitter flavor anyway.
However, long story short, the best way to remove the bitter flavor from kale is massage it really well!
Any variety of kale can be used for this salad, I personally think curly kale works best and has the best flavor.
How to make a kale apple salad
De-stem the kale and add to acolander. While warm water is running over it, massage the kale gently to break it down to make it less tough.
After about 1 minute, transfer to a cutting board and pat dry with a towel.
Chop into small, bite size pieces and transfer to a large bowl.Chop the apple into small piece or thin strips (I used amandolinto get them thin).
To make the dressing, add all ingredients to a bowl and whisk together or add to a small mason jar and shake until well combined.
Toss the kale with the dressing and massage with your hands to make sure every leaf is well coated.
Add in the rice, pomegranate, apple, and walnuts and toss together.
How to store
If the dressing and apple are stored separately, these ingredients will keep for about 5 days. Once everything is tossed together, it will keep for 2 days in the fridge.
The vinegar in the dressing should help to prevent the apples from browning too quickly!
Prep it ahead!
If making this salad ahead of time, I recommend storing the dressing separately to prevent the salad from getting soggy. The apple will turn brown once it is cut, so add this just before serving as well.
The wild rice can be subbed for any type of rice or even quinoa if desired. You will need 1 1/2 cups cooked rice, which is equal to about 1/2 cup uncooked.
Pro tip: I like to dress the kale before adding any of the other ingredients, but you can also add the dressing after the salad is fully assembled.
Try these next!
Roasted Butternut Squash and Kale Salad
Summer Peach Salad
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5 from 7 votes
Apple and Kale Salad with Honey Dijon Dressing
by: claire cary
The only thing your Thanksgiving menu is missing is this kale and apple salad with wild rice and a simple dijon dressing. It’s easy to make and adds a beautiful pop of color to any dining table! It’s gluten free, and can easily be made vegan.
The beans are a good source of disease-fighting antioxidants, and they have protein and fiber, as well as energy-boosting iron. Avocado adds creaminess and fiber. Plus, its fats help your body take in nutrients, including heart-healthy lycopene.
Often labeled as a superfood, kale is one of the healthiest and most nutrient-dense foods you can eat. This leafy green comes in a variety of colors, shapes, and textures. It's often eaten raw in salads and smoothies but can also be enjoyed steamed, sautéed, boiled, or baked.
Cook it: Cooking kale helps ease its bitterness and softens tough fibers that can hamper digestion. You'll still get the benefits of the fiber — after all, plant-based fibers don't suddenly disintegrate even if you boil them (you'd have to blast them at 300 degrees Celsius or higher to do that).
Kale is a popular substitute for lettuce and can be grown all year round in many climates. Kale comes in many varieties some are better than others for salads and sandwiches. My favourite is the Tuscan Kale as it has a softer texture. Choose the smaller leaves and chop Kale up finely to add to salads and sandwiches.
“Crunchy noodles are like eating chips,” says Bonnie Taub-Dix, R.D.N., creator of BetterThanDieting.com and author of Read It Before You Eat It. All they add to your salad are calories (around 120 per half cup) and fat (half of those calories, at around 60 grams).
Is it OK to eat kale every day? As kale contains a variety of nutrients, a person can consume it regularly as part of a balanced diet. However, some people may need to limit how much kale they consume. These include people taking beta blockers and blood thinners, as well as people with kidney disease.
Steaming is a better option than boiling because you don't lose as many nutrients with this cooking method, according to Gray. “You're not giving it heat treatment for very long, so it's closest to raw that you can get and you still are cooking it to some degree,” she said.
Any type of kale will work here. I especially like to use curly kale, but feel free to swap in Tuscan kale (aka lacinato kale) if you prefer. Extra-virgin olive oil and fresh lemon juice – You'll massage them into the raw kale to help the leaves soften.
Fiber from kale leaves can get stuck in the intestines. As a result, you will feel bloated and pass gas more often. Not only that, kale leaves also contain a sugar called raffinose. This type of sugar is difficult to digest by the stomach.
Kale is a nutritious food rich in antioxidants, vitamin C, vitamin K, and beta-carotene. It also contains nutrients that can support eye health, weight management, heart health, and more.
The findings suggest that kale intake could be beneficial for alleviating mild constipation by increasing stool bulk with dietary fiber and leading to an increase in stool frequency. Correlation analysis showed that several gut microbes and fecal metabolites correlate with the subjects' responses to kale intake.
It's great for your body, and I love kale both raw and cooked.” Some research points to eating raw kale instead of cooking it for the most nutritional boost. Cooking kale may lower its antioxidant content and vitamin C content, but that isn't to say cooked kale isn't healthy for you too.
2. Slice kale stems thin for texture. You might not want to toss kale stems right into your salad bowl, but that doesn't mean they don't belong. Add more heft to your lunch by slicing the stems thinly—or even shaving them on a mandoline.
No surprises here… kale is a nutritional powerhouse, packed with nutritional benefits. Just one cup of kale contains more than your daily requirement for vitamins A, C and K – and comes with over 3 grams of protein, making it a super smart choice for people following a plant-based diet.
There is concern that the body does not easily absorb raw fruits and vegetables. Generally speaking, this has proved false. People who eat salad regularly are much more likely to fulfill their recommended intake of nutrients. Eating a salad every day is healthy because you get vital nutrients, fiber, and good fats.
In general, dressings with fewer ingredients tend to be healthier. And it doesn't get any simpler than oil and vinegar. “This is a great option, because it won't have any added sugar or salt,” says Allers.
Bright Farms Mediterranean Crunch Kit includes heart-healthy ingredients such as feta cheese, roasted lentils, herbed flatbread, leafy greens, and a feta vinaigrette. Bright Farms salads are all pesticide-free and greenhouse-grown.
While spring mix, spinach, and kale are often hailed as the salad bar's nutritional powerhouses, the truth is that romaine is, as far as vitamins and minerals and all that good stuff is concerned, actually very comparable (and in some ways better) than its supposedly-so-much-more-virtuous cousins.
Introduction: My name is Arline Emard IV, I am a cheerful, gorgeous, colorful, joyous, excited, super, inquisitive person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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