Ok so I’m going to need you to stop what you are doing and make this salad. Now before you get your panties in a twist because there is not one but TWO foods that aren’t paleo in this recipe…just breathe. We will get through this together. Don’t want to eat farro? Make it with cauliflower rice! Don’t want to eat dairy? Make it with a dairy-free soft cheese. The salad is your oyster, you can make it whatever you need based off your dietary restrictions. I personally like to eat farro sometimes because it tickles my butthole (not in the negative poor digestion way) so I thought I would share that recipe with you. If you experience the negative tickles, pivot, and be happy! You got this.
Have you been here long enough to remember the days when I HATED salads? Despised them. I couldn’t understand why anyone would waste their time eating a salad. But I also couldn’t fathom having a child. Now I type this as fast as I can as she calmly sits next to me, wondering how many words I can get in before she needs a snuggle. So far so good. Just kidding, she’s freaking out. But that’s not the point. The point is that we all grow and change. And my growth has shown itself in the way I put salads together. No need for lil bitch lettuce leaves. No no, my friend. My salads are now hearty, filled with sweet and savory bits, and crunchy textures that make it way more exciting to eat. My salads have grown as big as my heart has. Awwwww that line was cute.
But even though my heart has grown and I’m no longer as grinch-like, I’m still not into the holidays. Holidays stress me out. So much pressure to make the perfect meal, buy the perfect gift, spend the best quality time, put up the cutest decorations…I’m mostly just trying to keep my head above water. Luckily the family is cool with spending out Thanksgiving dinner at a steakhouse. We did it last year and they offer Thanksgiving dinner or their regular, delicious steak dinners. So at least one holiday is a tad less stressful. All I gotta think about is making my Apple Dump Cake for the family since we will all come home for dessert afterwards. I’m hoping that this year, filled with new traditions, helps me like the holidays a tad more. But we will see. Maybe the grinch will live on inside me. That sounded weird. Hopefully the grinch-salad loving-apple dump cake making-Juli will have an even bigger heart this year. We will see.
Fall Harvest Kale Salad
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Ingredients
- 2 sweet potatoes, cubed*
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 cup farro
- 1 head of kale, thinly chopped and massaged
- 2 honey crisp apples, chopped
- 1/3 cup dried cherries
- 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
- 2oz feta cheese
For the maple dijon dressing
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
- pinch of salt
- pinch of black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss the diced sweet potatoes in avocado oil, chili powder, salt, and garlic powder. Place in the oven to roast for 25-30 minutes, until crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. This time will range depending on the size of the sweet potato cubes.
- Rinse farro. Place 1/2 cup of farro and 2 cups of water with a pinch of salt in a saucepan, cover, and place over medium heat. Bring to boil for 15 minutes or until farro is al dente.
- Thinly slice kale and place in a bowl then massage with your hands to break down the fibers. Chop apple and add to salad. Then add cherries, walnuts, and feta cheese.
- In a resealable jar, add ingredients for the maple dijon dressing and shake to combine.
- Once the farro is done cooking, add farro to the salad, as well. Top with desired amount of dressing (I use all of it because it’s a huge salad) then toss before serving. Top with a little black pepper because black pepper makes everything a little better.
Notes
*The smaller you dice the sweet potatoes, the less time it will take to roast them
What I Used To Make This Recipe:
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Do you think this would hold for a few hours in the fridge, say if I made ahead for Thanksgiving? Or is it best enjoyed immediately? Thanks!
This salad is delicious! I used goat cheese and swapped walnuts for pumpkin seeds.
I made this salad for a lunch meeting with friends and it was a total SUCCESS! They were asking for the recipe and they were impressed how good the kale mixed with everything was.
I used barley instead of farro (couldn’t find it here. I am in the chilean Patagonia) and put the dressing on the side. There was no leftovers…. And you know how big this salad is!!! Thanks Juli!
Delicious! I hope it’s just as good cold as it is warm. It would be a great thanksgiving salad.
Hey Juli, this salad looks amazing!
Do you think it would keep for a few days? Thinking about making it for meal prep.
Let me know, thanks!
yes, it keeps for a while!!
By far the best salad I have made (transparency, I suck at making salads). This was easy to put together, satiating, and filling. And do I need to say delicious because duh it obvi is! Make this asap. Even double or triple the recipe and bring it to your next potluck or family dinner.
Can’t wait to try this. Lettuce salads feel like eating paper to me.
I feel similarly with regard to Christmas, so I thought I’d share a book I heard of recently: Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year by Beth Kempton https://bethkempton.com/calmchristmas/. It provides you with a way to think through what about the season is meaningful to you so you can prioritize it while letting the rest go. It also suggests learning what your partner prioritizes, so you can be more mindful of why you might have competing visions for how you’ll spend the month. I’ve found it helpful and, as the title suggests, calming.
I made this for dinner last night with two swaps based on what I had in my pantry – dried cranberries for cherries and wild rice instead of farro. It was so good! It’s very filling, too; we didn’t eat anything else with it and I was full all evening. My four-year-old said it was “disgusting” but he ate all of it. The kid’s just a liar. I had leftovers cold for breakfast this morning and I’m happy there’s still some left for me to eat tomorrow.
hahahahahaha that’s hilarious
Love this salad. Its easy to make variations too such as goat cheese vs feta, etc. This dressing is so good I make it all the time for other types of salads too. One of my fav salads of all time. Sometimes I even make it without sweet potatoes or add red onions. It’s so tasty!
Awesome!! So glad you love it!