The perfect winter kale salad with apples and pecans, tossed with an orange balsamic vinaigrette dressing and topped with dried cranberries.

Winter Kale Salad with Apples and Pecans this recipe

Is everyone else still in a food coma from the Super Bowl yesterday? Good. Glad it’s not just me. I watched it with my family, and if you saw how much food we made to snack on you would assume we were hosting 30 people. No, just the 6 of us. We will have leftovers for days.

While we’re not that in to football, we bet $20 a person using one of those Super Bowl Square betting grids. Having some money riding on the game made it much more interesting. After every score we would check to see who was slated to win that quarter. Brother-in-law won one quarter, and my mom won 2 quarters, and my sister won the last quarter. Shawn and I were out of luck.

Between the food and the betting, it was a fun Sunday night.

Winter Kale Salad with Apples and Pecans

Knowing how many game day foods we would be eating, I made us a weeks worth of salads in a mason jar to have for lunch. Having healthy lunches for a week negates a plate full of chicken wings, right?

My favorite salad of the moment is this winter kale salad with apples and pecans. This is my go-to starter salad for dinner parties. I made this kale salad for Thanksgiving, and everyone loved it. I even saw people putting a second helping of this salad on their plates when going back for round 2 of Thanksgiving food. That is just about the best compliment you can get when it comes to salads.

{recipe video!}

I love kale salads because of the crunchy firm leaves. I can’t stand a soggy salad.

For even more crunch, this winter kale salad has broccoli slaw, sliced apples, toasted pecans and sweet dried cranberries. I toss it with a variation of my favorite balsamic vinaigrette, but this time I left out the honey and sweetened it with fresh squeezed orange juice.

Winter Kale Salad with Apples and Pecans

This winter kale salad is vegan, paleo and Whole30. If you’re eating dairy, this salad would be great with some goat cheese crumbles too. If I have some leftover chicken, I’ll throw that in for some protein.

Winter Kale Salad with Apples and Pecans

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
The perfect winter kale salad with apples and pecans, tossed with an orange balsamic vinaigrette dressing and topped with dried cranberries.
4.75 from 4 ratings
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Ingredients 
 

Salad

  • 1 bunch kale, stems removed (I prefer Tuscan kale, but any will do)
  • 1 cup broccoli slaw
  • 1 apple, cored and sliced
  • 1/4 cup roasted, unsalted pecans
  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries

Dressing

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons good quality balsamic vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
  • juice from half an orange, about 2 tablespoons
  • pinch of salt and pepper

Instructions 

  • In a small mason jar (or in the bottom or the serving bowl), make the salad dressing by combining all the ingredients and whisking to combine.
  • In a large salad bowl, combine the kale and broccoli slaw, and top with desired amount of dressing. Toss to combine. Divide onto plates, and top with sliced apples, pecans and cranberries. Serve.
Cuisine: American
Course: Salad
Author: Natalie
Calories: 598, Total Carbs: 37.5g, Protein: 2.6g, Fat: 52g, Fiber: 4.9g, Net Carbs: 33g
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