The cool weather means it’s salad time again! This tasty kale salad utilizes several early fall veggies and then rounds out the flavors with sweet dates, salty blue cheese, and a zippy mustard dressing. You will find baby kale, radishes, and salad turnips at the market this week!
- 1 cup walnuts or pecans
- 6 cups baby kale, roughly chopped and well packed, OR 1 bunch kale, ribs removed and very thinly sliced
- 3-4 salad turnips
- 1 bunch radishes, greens removed and thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup pitted and roughly chopped dates (or dried cranberries or cherries)
- 2-3 scallions, sliced
- 2 ounces favorite blue cheese or crumbly goat cheese
Mustard Dressing:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1-1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt (or favorite sea salt)
- 6 twists freshly ground black pepper (or 1/4 teaspoon regular black pepper)
Toast the nuts on a baking sheet in a preheated 400 degree oven. This should take 8-12 minutes, but check them often. They should smell very fragrant but not at all blackened when they are done.
Combine all dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until smooth and creamy. Toss with kale in a large bowl and set in the fridge to rest while you matchstick, shred and slice your other vegetables. This will soften the kale ever so slightly and make it better salad green.
When ready to serve, top kale with turnips, radishes, dates, scallions, cheese, and cooled toasted nuts.
