Apple Pomegranate Kale Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

I‘ve been mourning the lack of produce at the farmers market in the last couple weeks.

It seems as if overnight the overflowing stalls of tomatoes and carrots disappeared, packing up their tables and baskets for the season and leaving a selection of local meat vendors and a few farmers that have access to hoop houses and green houses or specialize in winter squash and root vegetables. Long live the root vegetable.

At home, my garden is in the final days. Just this week we pulled the last bits of ever-hardy kale from the ground, cleaned them, and tucked them into the refrigerator alongside a collection of celeriac, daikon, and turnips. There the pile of evergreen leaves sat on the shelf just above the pomegranates, meeting me multiple times a day under the glaring bare bulb as I pulled breakfast, lunch, and dinner from the depths of the refrigerator.

Finally, after lamenting again over the lack of fresh-from-the-garden lettuces, I spotted the red and green and inspiration hit. It’s time to embrace fully the winter salad season.

apple-pomegranate-kale-salad-foodformyfamilyPhotos by Shaina Olmanson | FoodforMyFamily.com

It’s a season full of citrus and heartier greens, of strong flavors paired with fruit and salty, pungent cheeses, and an overwhelming amount of candied nuts.

While these salads are different in taste and texture from their summer counterparts, they’re every bit as fresh and fulfilling when you’re looking for a salad side. They’re also perfect for entertaining in the holiday season because you can and should dress kale salads and let them marinate for a bit before serving.

This particular salad pairs Lacinato kale with its nearly blue dark green leaves with crisp apples, tangy pomegranate, slightly sweet shallots, and a good, salty feta. It’s topped with a honey-sweetened champagne and lemon vinaigrette that brings all the flavors together seamlessly.

Apple Pomegranate Kale Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

Lacinato kale with crisp apples, tangy pomegranate, slightly sweet shallots, and salty feta. It's topped with a honey-sweetened champagne and lemon vinaigrette that brings all the flavours together seamlessly.
5 from 3 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Salads
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 8 people
Calories: 143kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 Tablespoons champagne vinegar
  • 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 Tablespoon honey
  • 1 small shallot minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 pound lacinato kale washed and dried

Toppings

  • 1 honeycrisp apple thinly sliced
  • 1 cup pomegranate arils
  • 1/4 cup feta cheese
  • 1 small shallot thinly sliced

Instructions

  • In a medium bowl or cup, whisk together the champagne vinegar, lemon juice, honey, shallot, salt, and pepper. Slowly drizzle the olive oil into the mixture while whisking to emulsify. Set aside.
  • Remove the rib of each piece of kale. Cut the kale into thin strips, 1/4" wide. Using your hands, squeeze the strips tightly to bruise. Pour the dressing over the kale and toss to coat. Allow to sit for at least 10 minutes before topping.
  • When the kale has marinated, add in the apple slices, pomegranate arils, feta, and shallot. Toss to combine and serve immediately.

Nutrition

Calories: 143kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 221mg | Potassium: 371mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 5695IU | Vitamin C: 73.1mg | Calcium: 112mg | Iron: 1.1mg

Are you enjoying the textures and flavours of winter salads yet?

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29 Comments

  1. Looks yummy.. I’ve got kale in my fridge right now and was looking for an idea for how to use it.. We only have it in Stockholm for several weeks of the year, apparently.

  2. This looks tasty but I’d love some uses for those daikons! We have tons from our fall CSA share and I am coming up short.

  3. Love this! How simple, nutritious and perfectly easy, not to mention gorgeous! We’re going to feature this on our Facebook page and link here so people can see how you made it, and your lovely photography. Please come LIKE us on Facebook for more recipes and tips on super healthy greens like kale, chard, beet, mustard, turnip, collard and other green leafies. https://www.facebook.com/Cut.n.Clean.Greens

    –Your friendly Southern California farmers at Cut ‘N Clean Greens

  4. 5 stars
    Wow, this salad achieved the most unthinkable thing: My husband ate kale – and loved it! We’re going to have this more often during the winter. It’s such a yummy way to eat seasonal fruit and veg!

  5. 5 stars
    Love this salad. Have made it many times and always get compliments. I also use the dressing on other salads. I made myself a kale, chard, spinach, quinoa salad with apples, celery, parmesan, pecans today for lunch (it was really a toss in what I could find before work kind of day). It was really delicious but I think it was all thanks to the dressing that just tied everything together and made it taste fresh 🙂 Thanks for sharing this! My kids love the original salad (I sold them on it initially by telling them I made them “lemonade dressing” (they tend to be picky and I knew if they tried it they’d love it!

  6. 5 stars
    LOVED this!! I didn’t have champagne vinegar so I just used white wine vinegar and it turned out great 🙂 Thanks so much for the awesome recipe!