Butternut Squash Apple Kale Salad is a delicious healthy Fall harvest salad that is perfect for the holiday season. Sponsored by Peapod.
I created this festive fall harvest salad for Peapod’s holiday entertaining theme. Butternut Squash Apple Kale Salad is perfect for the holiday season. Hearty kale is dressed in a light maple apple cider vinaigrette, then topped with thyme rosemary-scented roasted butternut squash, a sweet and savory warm apple date almond compote topping, and jewels of pomegranate seeds.
Butternut squash is one of my favorite winter squashes. It’s sweet and mild, and not starchy like sweet potatoes. Butternut squash is a wonderful source of carotenes, vitamin C, potassium and magnesium too.
If you’re intimidated by buying a whole butternut squash to roast, don’t be. It’s easier to prepare than you think.
How To Prepare and Roast Butternut Squash
There are several ways to roast butternut squash. I’ve roasted butternut squash whole for pureed soups, roasted halved butternut squash, and roasted butternut squash cut-up.
First, there’s roasting a whole butternut squash. Roasting butternut squash whole has the great advantage of zero prep. You literally roast the entire butternut squash in the oven for about an hour at 400 degrees. This works particularly well for pureed butternut squash soup.
Second, there’s roasting a halved butternut squash. If you want a little more caramelization, roasting halved butternut squash is a middle-of-the-ground approach. Peel the butternut squash (Tip: microwaving the whole butternut squash for 2-3 minutes makes peeling it easier),
cut it in half
scoop out the seeds, and lay with flat side down on an oiled baking sheet.
Roast for about half an hour at 400 degrees. The flat side ends up with a little caramelization, which adds extra flavor. I like this for soups and mashed butternut squash dishes.
Third, there’s roasting cut up butternut squash. This requires a little more work, but ensures even roasting and more caramelization.
Roasting butternut squash with herbs is an excellent way to infuse flavor into this winter squash, and yields a nice balance of sweet and savory flavors.
Roasted butternut squash and kale go together nicely. To add finishing touches to this fall salad, I made a light maple apple cider vinaigrette, then topped the salad with a sweet and savory warm apple date almond compote topping, and jewels of pomegranate seeds.
I suggest letting the kale salad marinade in the maple apple cider dressing for a little bit to soften the leaves before serving.
Enjoy this Butternut Squash Apple Kale Salad during the holiday season.
Butternut Squash Apple Kale Salad
Ingredients
- 12 cups kale leaves shredded
- 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
Roasted butternut squash
- 3 cups butternut squash cut into 1/2" pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Apple Compote
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 cups apple diced (~ 2 1/2 )
- 6 dates pitted, diced
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole roasted almonds coarsely chopped
- 3 tablespoons red onion diced
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
Maple Dressing
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt and pepper taste
Instructions
Roasted Butternut Squash
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
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Toss butternut squash, thyme, rosemary and olive oil together; season with salt and pepper. Spread in a single layer on a foil or parchment paper-lined baking sheet.Bake squash until tender, about 15 minutes.
Apple Compote
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Melt butter in a saucepan. Add apples, dates, almonds, and onion. Saute a few minutes until apples start to just soften. Sprinkle with lemon juice and turn off heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Maple Dressing
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In a small bowl, whisk together maple syrup, apple cider vinegar and olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
To Serve
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Toss kale with salad dressing. Divide kale among six salad bowls. Divide roasted butternut squash and apple compote among salad bowls. Sprinkle pomegranate seeds on top.
More holiday recipes From The Pod:
15-Minute Homemade Orange Cranberry Sauce
Butternut Squash Coconut Soup
Maple Thyme Dry Brined Turkey
Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Sweet Potatoes
Light Pumpkin Pie Gingersnap Parfaits
Disclosure: This blog post was sponsored by Peapod as part of my participation in their Ambassador program. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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Haha, so since I’m away at school, by mom is left to her own devices and she told me she bought a spaghetti squash and tried to scrap it out and it was a mess. She later found out that no….what she had was a butternut squash 😛 Bahaha! She needs me cooking for her!
That’s so funny! You mom needs you to show her all the different kinds of winter squash 🙂
This is the kind of salad that I can eat every day!
This looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it! Thanks for the fabulous recipe.