Massaged Kale Salad with Pomegranate & Delicata Squash

Update: I added new photos of this recipe on 11/13/2017. The recipe is the same and still delicious! Original photo is at the bottom. 

Pomegranate seeds are the sweet taste of winter on it's way. They're a little burst of tart juice, a spot of brightness in the otherwise dreary winter season. Pomegranates were the hallmark of the winter season at my dad house -- the minute I came home to pomegranates, I knew that the holidays weren't far off. We always just ate them plain, straight out of the rind, while sitting on the porch (the deep red juice was too dangerous to mess with inside). This was before you could buy pomegranates pre-deseeded, and it was sweeter that way: every little gem had to be worked for. 

I still buy my pomegranates whole, and I still think they taste better when you do the deseeding for yourself. Most of the time, I still eat them plain, too. When I do add them to dishes, they're simple, like this salad. 

I have been sooooo ready for salads this week-- hearty, nourishing, big bowl salads. Maybe it to counteract the pie? All I know is that I can't get enough brightly colored produce in my life right now.  And let me tell you, the pomegranate seeds make this salad taste like a big holiday treat to me! (Not to mention the delicata squash, which is also pretty high on my end-of-fall list of favorites). 

And the contrast between the creamy goat cheese and those tart pomegranate seeds? Now that's where it's at.  

Massaged Kale Salad with Pomegranate & Delicata Squash

Paleo, Primal, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free    |   Caitlin Sherwood    

This salad gets a burst of freshness from the pomegranate, creaminess from the squash, and bitter bite from the greens.

Serves: 5   |    Total Time: 45 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1 delicata squash
• 1 tablespoon avocado oil, for roasting squash
• Salt & pepper
• 1 bunch red kale
• Juice from 1/2 orange
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, for dressing
• 1/2 cup pomegranate perils
• 2 tablespoons minced red onion
• 1/3 cup goat cheese crumbles (optional, use hazelnuts instead)
• A few cracks of black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 450°F. Slice the delicata squash in half, and remove the seeds. Cut into 1/2-inch thick crescents, and toss in avocado oil. Spread out on baking pan, and season with salt & pepper. Bake for 20-25 minutes until squash is cooked through and golden. Once cooked, set aside to cool.
2. Meanwhile, massage the kale: remove the stems from the kale, and set aside. Place the leafy bits in a salad bowl, and squeeze orange juice over the leaves. Sprinkle with salt. Using your hands, massage the kale until it begins to soften. Drizzle with olive oil.
3. Top with red onion, pomegranate perils, cooked delicata squash, and goat cheese crumbles. Season with freshly cracked pepper. Serve.

Cranberry Waldorf Slaw with Poppy Seed Dressing

CRUNCH. That’s what you get with this salad. Cabbage adds far more body and crunch and to salads than most greens, but this recipe doesn’t stop there. Crisp apples are cut into match sticks, sweet and bright. Celery and fresh fennel add their own types of crunch to the bowl (is celery the crunchiest vegetable of them all, or what?). And, walnuts. Also crunchy, but with a nutty, rich side that contracts well with the raw vegetables. In fact, the only two ingredients in this salad that aren’t crunch are dried cranberries—which add a nice contrast and keep the fall parade going—and the salad dressing, which brings everything together.

Potluck-ready or delicious as a side to your favorite sandwich. The other win? This salad keeps really well, so you can each fresh veggies effortlessly all week, if you want.

Cranberry Waldorf Slaw with Poppy Seed Dressing

Published September 21, 2015 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 6   |    Active Time: 15 minutes

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Ingredients:

1/2 head of green cabbage, shaved thin

1 bulb of fennel, green parts removed, and sliced thin

2-3 stalks of celery, diced

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup toasted walnut pieces

1 apple, cored and sliced into matchsticks

Poppy Seed dressing, to taste

Directions:

1. Combine sliced vegetables in a large salad bowl.
2. Just before serving, drizzle with dressing to taste, and toss. Serve.
3. Note: This salad keeps well as left overs — if you anticipate having leftovers, only dress the amount you’re going to eat now. Store the slaw in an airtight container. Dress leftovers when ready to eat, and toss.

Arugula, Peach & Piquillo Pepper Salad with Goat Cheese

This time of year, just walking by the peaches at the market is enough to get my mouth watering, their sweet scent wafting yards away. Their flesh is tender -- almost too tender, you can't pack them away- and their juice is sweeter than pie. My favorite peaches are those grown on the Western Slope of Colorado. Palisade Peaches are worth every penny and the wait all summer for their peak season. 

Have you heard the saying "what grows together goes together?" This salad is further proof it's true: peppers are also a late-summer crop, and in this salad piquillo peppers are a perfect "pop" of flavor. Piquillo peppers are a little bit sweet but with a smokey, spicy edge. They match the brightness of peaches, with out overshadowing them. 

The combination of peaches and sweet peppers is pretty much begging for a bed of arugula. Arugula is a tad bitter, which balances out the other sweet ingredients. It keeps this salad from getting too sweet. It's delicate and leafy.

The final touch is goat cheese, which adds a streak of richness that makes this salad oh so satisfying. It's soft enough that it just barely begins to melt away as you pour the dressing in, emulsifying and cream-ify-ing the entire thing. It also cuts through the pepperiness of the arugula, and is the ingredient in this salad that brings it all together. 

Arugula, Peach & Piquillo Pepper Salad with Goat Cheese

Published August 24, 2015 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 4   |    Total Time: 20 minutes

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Ingredients:

1 pound baby arugula

2 ripe peaches, sliced thin

1/2 cup roasted piquillo peppers, diced (find these with the olives & pickles in the store)

1/3 cup soft goat cheese, crumbled

1/4 cup red onion, finely diced

Creamy Balsamic Dressing (try this recipe)

Directions:

1. In a large salad, bowl, combine arugula, sliced peaches, peppers, and onion. Sprinkle goat cheese over top.
2. Just before serving, drizzle with balsamic dressing to taste.