This kale and beet salad is a healthy vegetarian fall salad with dried cranberries, pecans, and a tangy balsamic vinaigrette dressing.
Prep Time 10 minutes | Cook Time 35 minutes | Inactive time: 30 minutes | Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 4 small beets peeled & quartered
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 2 bunches kale tough stems removed & torn into small pieces
- 1/4 medium red onion chopped finely
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup halved or chopped pecans
Dressing:
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic minced
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F and move the rack to the middle position.
- Prep beets. Add the beets to a baking dish along with 1 tbsp of olive oil and some salt & pepper. Toss until they’re coated and roast for 35 minutes or until they’re cooked through.
- Meanwhile, prep the other ingredients and add them to a large salad bowl. Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Once the beets are done, let them cool for a few minutes then add them to the salad and toss everything together until coated.
- You can serve immediately, but I like to let the salad dressing sit on the kale for about 30 minutes – it helps soften it a bit.
Recipe Notes
- I don’t massage my kale, and I don’t really think it’s necessary if you remove all the tough stems [ but if you normally massage your kale for salads, go ahead 🙂 ]. With that said, kale is pretty tough in general, so I like to let the dressing sit on it for a while prior to serving. You can prep this salad up to an hour ahead and nothing in here will wilt. I suggest covering it and storing it in the fridge if you do make it ahead.
- I used one bunch of “normal” kale, and one bunch of red kale.
- Serves 4-6.
