Kale Salad with Roasted Pumpkin Seed Vinaigrette

This is my version of a Kale Salad that I recently had at Agricola Eatery in Princeton, NJ. I don’t normally build a menu around a salad, but this was the foundation of a Thanksgiving Dinner that I cooked with my daughter at her house. The salad at Agricola had roasted cauliflower, pickled pumpkin, shaved radish and pumpkin seed vinaigrette. I would have liked to include pickled pumpkin, but since mine were at home I opted for roasted butternut squash. In place of cauliflower and radish, I used apples and dried cranberries and topped the salad with croutons and roasted pumpkin seeds.

I left the skin on the apples. That is where much of the taste and vitamins are. You can peel them, if you wish. I used Honey Crisps, but any tart apple will work.

For the croutons, I used a hearty artisan bread. I was thinking of an ancient grain bread that Wegman’s makes, but, alas, they have not yet expanded into North Carolina. I did find some Omega-3 Seed bread with whole wheat and flax, sunflower and sesame seeds from Ninth Street Bakery in Durham, NC that worked great. I made the croutons the day before Thanksgiving. I reserved the crusts from the bread for the artisan bread dressing I was making.

I used a Pumpkin Seed Vinaigrette recipe from the New York Times. I am not replicating the recipe here. Just follow the link. I did find that I needed to add significantly more Olive Oil than called for in the recipe to achieve the proper consistency. I also made the vinaigrette a day in advance and then reheated it. When doing so, I had to work hard to restore the emulsification. I would suggest making it as needed.

The amounts below are approximate. It is a salad, after all. Adjust amounts to taste.

Ingredients:

Artisan Bread Croutons:
1/2 Loaf of Artisan Bread, cubed
Olive Oil Spray
Garlic Powder

Roasted Butternut Squash:
1/2 Butternut Squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
Olive Oil Spray
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon, ground
1/4 tsp. Cumin, ground

Kale Salad:
Two bunches of Kale, washed and shredded into fork size pieces
2 Honey Crisp Apples, cored and cubed
3/4 cup Dried Cranberries
1 cup Roasted Butternut Squash
Roasted Pumpkin Seed Vinaigrette
Salt and Pepper, to taste
1 cup Artisan Bread Croutons
1/2 cup Roasted Pumkin Seeds

Directions:

Artisan Bread Croutons:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2) Remove crust from slices of Artisan Bread. Cut remaining bread into 3/4 inch cubes.
3) Line cookie sheet with parchment paper and place bread cubes in a single layer on the pan.
4) Spray bread cubes lightly with Olive Oil on all sides and sprinkle lightly with Garlic Powder.
5) Bake until browned, 10-15 minutes, turning 1/2 way through.

Roasted Butternut Squash:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2) Cut squash into 1/2 inch cubes.
3) Line cookie sheet with parchment paper and place squash in a single layer on the pan.
4) Spray bread cubes lightly with Olive Oil on all sides and sprinkle lightly with Cinnamon and Cumin.
5) Bake until lightly browned and cooked through, but still firm, about 30 minutes, turning 1/2 way through.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2) Line cookie sheet with parchment paper and place Pumpkin Seeds in a single layer on the pan.
3) Bake until lightly browned, about 10 minutes, turning 1/2 way through.

Kale Salad:
1) In a large bowl, toss Kale, Apples, Cranberries and Squash
2) Add Vinaigrette, Salt and Pepper. Toss, coating salad well.
3) Top with Croutons and Pumpkin Seeds and serve.