kale

Harvest Salad

I have embraced all that is butternut squash of late. Bake it and make it into soup, roast it as a side dish, or use it in this autumnal salad.

I have not loved kale, however, ever. But chop it up, use it as a base with some delicious ingredients, and use a little lemon dressing…I find, I look forward to my kale-based lunch. No, seriously, I am slowly falling in love with this vegetable. (Does anyone else think of the chard solicitation in the Farmer’s Market episode of Parks and Recreation? No?) Well, maybe I’m falling in like with this vegetable…

This salad is a full-course meal in that it incorporates a lot of vegetables, quinoa (I like tricolored for the visual) and crunchy apples, cranberries, and creamy goat cheese. It is also sort of weight watcher’s friendly as it is veggie based and if you only use a little cheese/cranberries you get a solid meal for not a lot of points.

The beauty of this kind of salad is it is interchangeable. As in, you don’t like dried cranberries or goat cheese you can eliminate or swap them out. You don’t have quinoa but have farro on hand, same deal. You make the meal unique in what makes you happy and is available in your pantry.

For this recipe, I cubed up butternut squash, tossed it in a little maple syrup and olive oil, roasted it up for an hour or so (Think glorious orange cubes of tastiness). While that is happening, I am first cooking a quinoa in a little butter on the stove top, then adding chicken stock to cook. In my research, I read that browning the quinoa adds depth of flavor and “sets” the protein. While I like quinoa as is, even cooked in water, I definitely like the flavors of the butter and the stock. (Again, you do you). Meanwhile I am tearing up kale, dicing apple, red peppers, and even this time, raw thin asparagus stalks, and getting ready to combine.

I have made this where I do the squash and quinoa the night before, and assemble the rest the next day, and I have made it when the quinoa is still slightly warm when assembling. Both turn out great. I also like that in a land of meal prepping on Sunday, this salad holds up, unlike the regular lettuce or baby spinach salad, which can’t really be made too many days in advance (nothing is worse than the smell of spinach turning…blah).

For the dressing, I combined lemon juice, olive oil (I used blood orange olive oil but any will do), salt, pepper, and a little bit of maple syrup (can also leave it out). I shake it up in a mason jar and keep it on hand for when it’s time to serve. I am not a fan of pre-dressed salad, but you could certainly dress the salad prior to serving and it will hold up.

If you are like myself in that you try to pack healthy lunches ahead of time and stay on track during the day (I won’t pack the halloween candy so I can’t be tempted and then around two I am asking myself why…) this is a salad for you. If you don’t love kale, this is the salad for you. My children aren’t fans but I make it anyway. It’s a recipe for Chrissy. And we need those in our lives. Recipes that make us healthier and stronger and happier, right?

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

Click below for a printable recipe.

 

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Harvest Salad

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Other options of this delicious fall salad could include chopped raw asparagus, pecans or walnuts (raw or roasted) or any additional seasonal vegetable/fruit. It is hearty, healthy, and versatile!

  • Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 Butternut Squash, Cubed
  • 2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup
  • 2 Tablespoons Oil
  • Salt and Pepper
  • 1 Cup Tri-Color Quinoa
  • 2 Tablespoons Butter
  • 2 Cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
  • 1 Diced Granny Smith Apple
  • ½ Cups Craisins (Dried Cranberries)
  • 1 Diced Red Pepper
  • 2 Cups Kale, Washed and Chopped
  • 2 Ounces Crumbled Goat Cheese

Dressing:

  • 1/3 Cup Olive Oil
  • Juice of 1 Lemon
  • 1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup
  • Lemon Zest

Instructions

  1. Toss Butternut Squash Cubes in maple syrup and oil, season with salt and pepper.
  2. Spread out Squash on a sheet pan and bake for 375* until roasted. (45-60 Minutes).
  3. In a pan, melt butter and add quinoa, stirring until slightly toasted.
  4. Add Two cups chicken broth and simmer until quinoa is cooked.
  5. Wash and roughly chop Kale, add remaining ingredients to the salad and toss.
  6. Combine dressing ingredients and add to salad (I put mine in a mason jar on the side).

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Pesto with Kale and Avocado Oil

Pesto with Kale and Avocado Oil

This has been a bumper year for basil in my garden. I can’t explain it, because we have had a lot of rain, and days when we are wearing sweatshirts in July, but I am literally on my fourth or fifth batch of Pesto and there is more basil out there waiting to be picked…

Pesto is a beautiful sauce that I use on cheese tortellini, zuchinni “zoodles”, on top of salmon, even on an egg sandwich, you name it…if you are a fan of Pesto you can just about use it in ANYTHING. It is also an amazing way to hide some additional greens, such as spinach or kale.

So here’s where my typically hard core rule follower mindset goes off the path…when I make Pesto, I almost NEVER measure. I pick basil until I have “enough,” I use the leftover baby spinach I picked up at the market and used some for a salad…I drizzle in the oil until it “looks right.” UGH. Why did I choose this recipe to kick off my blog? Because I love it. Because it is versatile and both of my children eat it. Because it reminds me of my Dad, and he would be so proud to see me do this. So, I am making my best effort to give the quantities as I do them…and you too will amend it to suit your style.

Traditionally, I make this with a good olive oil, fresh garlic, Pignoli nuts, and Romano cheese. I choose Romano over Parmesean – it’s a personal choice. But here is the beauty of Pesto…If you want to substitute walnuts instead of pine nuts, avocado oil instead of olive oil…it changes-and yet, it doesn’t. Pesto is still this amazing vibrant green bold sauce whether my My mom makes it with no nuts and one garlic clove, or I throw in the whole head of garlic.

Have I mentioned it freezes? Oh yes, throw that miracle sauce into a container and pop it in the freezer. That Christmas party you need to make a side dish for? Just get yourself some frozen cheese tortellini, thaw that pesto, and yeah, you will impress. (Important to note- after freezing and heating up, the pesto does tend to lose the vibrancy, but not the flavor).

For this batch I switched out the oil and added frozen kale to the mix, and no one was the wiser. Here is a trick regarding Pesto I stick to- I don’t add the grated cheese until the entire sauce is combined and I am finished with the food processor. The cheese gets mixed in by hand at the end. I find this way, the heat of the processor doesn’t melt the cheese and make the sauce too oily.

Thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

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Pesto with Kale and Avocado Oil

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The perfect way to capture fresh basil and sneak in a few healthy ingredients!

  • Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients

Scale

 

  • 4 Cups of Basil
  • 2 Cups frozen Kale
  • 1/2 – 3/4 C Pine (Pignoli) Nuts (depending on personal taste – my mom doesn’t
  • even use nuts in hers…)
  • 3 cloves of peeled Garlic (again, feel free to add more or less depending on taste)
  • 1/2 –1 Cup Avocado Oil, slowly drizzled until the right consistency
  • 2 C shredded Romano Cheese (Truth: I usually add more right before I serve it…don’t judge)

 

Instructions

Place basil, kale, garlic, and nuts into food processor (your food processor will be full), pulse and slowly drizzle oil into the mixture until all of the ingredients are combined.

I tend to like my pesto thicker- as it thins out when warmed up – but this recipe is all about what works for you.

Once the whole mixture is blended into a beautiful bright green sauce, empty out of the food processor and into a bowl. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the cheese until it is well combined. You want less cheese? More cheese? It is all good.

Serve over your favorite pasta, zoodle, use on top of salmon, or as a base for a fantastic pizza…the possibilities are endless.

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