Maple-Roasted Squash Kale Salad – Sally’s Baking Habit

October 14, 2024

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Stuffed with fall and winter’s finest produce and tossed with a maple French dressing, this maple-roasted squash kale salad can be your new favourite. It’s full of tasty add-ins together with generously seasoned toasted chickpeas, apples, goat cheese, pecans, and dried cherries. This colourful, healthful salad feeds a crowd, is make-ahead pleasant, and makes for a stunning lighter Thanksgiving aspect dish.

butternut squash and kale salad in bowl with apples, dried cherries, goat cheese, and pecans.

Salad tends to be included on the menu of huge vacation meals like Thanksgiving simply to supply just a little steadiness, however finally ends up being a background dish nobody actually cares about. Subsequent to the turkey, herbed stuffing, candied candy potatoes, inexperienced bean casserole, and selfmade rolls, salad is white noise. (Or is that inexperienced noise?)

But when the host requested you to “carry a salad,” you’re about to have the final snort. As a result of this maple-roasted squash kale salad can stand as much as some other aspect dish. My kitchen assistant, Beth, and I dreamed this up, performed round with completely different seasonings, add-ins, and dressings, and determined it was good… no… FANTASTIC sufficient to publish on my baking web site.

Prepare to listen to what you by no means thought you’ll: “Are you able to ship me the recipe for that salad?”

Right here’s Why This Will Be Your New Favourite Salad

Makes an enormous salad that serves a crowd
Tastes nice chilly, room temp, and even heat
Nonetheless tastes fabulous the subsequent day!
Could make every thing forward after which merely assemble earlier than serving
Colourful and nutritious
A wholesome aspect dish, or a vegetarian foremost
Could make it vegan by merely omitting the cheese
Customizable—see beneath for urged swaps

butternut squash and apple fall kale salad on small plate with orange gingham linen next to it.

Right here’s What You’ll Style in This Butternut Squash Kale Salad

Maple-roasted butternut squash
Seasoned, toasted chickpeas
Hearty, wholesome curly kale
Crisp, candy apple (select a great consuming selection, reminiscent of Honeycrisp or Fuji)
Nutty pecans
Chewy, sweet-tart dried cherries (or dried cranberries)
Creamy goat cheese
Fast and straightforward maple cider French dressing dressing

You want the next:

ingredients on beige surface including butternut squash, apple, dried cherries, pecans, goat cheese, and chickpeas.

Begin by Roasting the Squash & Chickpeas

Start by mixing just a few seasonings collectively. Cumin, coriander, garlic powder, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. If you happen to’ve made this 1-pan apple cider rooster earlier than, you have already got most of those spices in your kitchen!

Subsequent, slice a peeled and deseeded butternut squash into skinny half-moons. Place them, together with some drained and rinsed chickpeas, in a big bowl. Sprinkle with the seasoning combine, then drizzle every thing with maple syrup and olive oil. Stir/toss every thing collectively till the squash and chickpeas are properly coated. Unfold out in a single layer on a lined baking sheet.

sliced butternut squash with chickpeas in glass bowl and shown again spread onto a lined baking pan.

After roasting, the squash can be smooth with caramelized edges, and the chickpeas can be toasted and have an virtually nutty texture.

Easy Maple Cider French dressing

For this you want olive oil, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, salt, and pepper. (Most of which you used for the roasted squash.)

maple vinaigrette dressing in small glass gravy boat.

Therapeutic massage the dressing into the kale together with your palms. Sure, therapeutic massage the kale leaves—it tenderizes the uncooked kale, making it infinitely extra nice to chew.

As soon as the squash and chickpeas have cooled for a bit, gently toss with the kale and the remaining components.

roasted sliced squash being spooned on top of kale.

Advised Substitutions

Customise it: Attempt pepitas as a substitute of pecans; dried cranberries or chopped dried apricots as a substitute of cherries; blue cheese as a substitute of goat cheese (or depart the cheese out to make it vegan). Use delicata squash as a substitute of butternut (bonus: no have to peel!); or slice up a pear as a substitute of an apple.

You might additionally add a cooked grain, reminiscent of quinoa, farro, or wheatberries, for some added heartiness and chewy texture.

Make-Forward Recommendations

There are just a few methods to get forward with this salad, so that you merely must assemble it within the serving dish the day you intend to serve it—very useful for large vacation meals!

You may roast the squash and chickpeas and retailer them (as soon as cooled) in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 3 days. You can even make the dressing upfront and retailer in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 1 week. Give it a great whisk once more earlier than utilizing.

maple-roasted and seasoned butternut squash and chickpeas on fall kale salad.

My staff and I can not cease consuming this salad. With all of the style testing we do right here at Sally’s Baking HQ, we now have realized to restrict ourselves… however then got here alongside this scrumptious and nutritious dish. Good factor this recipe makes an enormous bowl, and that it nonetheless tastes nice the subsequent day!!

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