Well, here we are! It is officially fall.
I woke up the other morning and noticed a handful of golden yellow leaves falling to the ground. Do you remember collecting those when you were younger? I do. Anyway, the morning air has been brisk and wonderful. I’ve been opening our sunroom windows and letting in the afternoon breeze while I work on editing photo for the blog.
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Since fall has finally arrived, I’m enjoying all of the seasonal produce. Just the other day I busted into the grocery store after my workout and noticed giant butternuts begging to be added to my shopping cart. A few loops (okay probably 10) around the aisles and I had everything I needed to create this beautiful butternut squash and kale salad. I call it my fall in love with fall salad.
Because fall in love you certainly will.
Can we talk about turmeric for a quick sec?
Doesn’t it seem that turmeric is showing up everywhere? I kind of LOVE it because turmeric is being increasingly researched for its anti-inflammatory properties. A few of you have even asked me if I have any recipes with turmeric and so here we are: A big bomb ass salad with all the goodies.
This salad is an EASY way to include more turmeric in your life. The butternut squash is roasted with garlic and McCormick’s Ground Turmeric — think about the fabulous flavors of yellow rice wrapped around slightly sweet squash. It’s SO good and could easily stand alone as a side dish too.
This salad is all about flavor
While the turmeric roasted butternut squash might just be my favorite thing about the salad, there’s also plenty of other flavors happening thanks to pomegranate, toasted crunchy almonds and tangy, creamy goat cheese. The dressing is one of my favorites because you can make it with pantry staples (apple cider vinegar, olive oil, dijon mustard, etc); it’s slightly milder because of how flavorful the salad itself is, which I think you’ll appreciate.
As always, I’ve got a few notes for you in the recipe section pertaining how to toast almonds and when to add the garnishes. (Don’t worry, I’m setting you up for a successful salad situation!)
Bottom line: This salad NEEDS to be made by YOU! I already know that I’m 100% making it for Thanksgiving this year. So I hope you chop it up and show me your amazing creations by following me on Instagram and tagging #ambitiouskitchen!
Butternut Squash and Kale Salad with Pomegranate, Toasted Almonds + Goat Cheese
Ingredients
- For the salad:
- 1 1/2 pound butternut squash, cubed (about 4 cups cubed)
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon McCormick Ground Turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 large bunch of Tuscan kale, stemmed and finely chopped (about 6 cups chopped kale)
- 1/3 cup pomegranate seeds
- For the dressing:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoons honey
- Freshly ground salt and pepper, to taste
- For the topping:
- 1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds (can also use a mix of pumpkin & almonds seeds)
- 1/4 cup goat cheese crumbles
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place cubed butternut squash on baking sheet, drizzle 1 teaspoon olive oil over the top then add garlic, turmeric and salt. Toss to evenly coat the butternut squash with oil and spices. Spread butternut cubes evenly around pan and roast for 20-25 minutes until squash is fork tender.
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While the butternut squash is cooking, chop your kale if you haven’t already and add it to a large bowl.
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Next prepare your dressing: In a small bowl add the following: olive oil, orange juice, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard and honey; whisk until smooth.
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Pour dressing all over the chopped kale and use your (clean) hands to gently massage the dressing into the kale for a few minutes. This helps removed any bitterness from the kale and adds flavor the the leafy green.
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Once butternut squash is done cooking, add it to the kale along with the pomegranate seeds; toss to combine.
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Pour into 4 salad bowls, or 1 large bowl for sharing. Before you serve the salad, top with toasted almonds and goat cheese crumbles. (Tip: Don’t add the goat cheese or almonds until you are ready to eat.)
Recipe Notes
TO MAKE AHEAD OF TIME: Salad can be made a day ahead of time. Just top with almonds and goat cheese once ready to serve.
To make this a full meal: Add 4 oz grilled chicken (or protein of choice!). If you're really hungry and want to skip the meat, just divide the salad into two portions instead of four.
Not into kale? Try arugula or baby spinach!
How to toast sliced almonds: If you’re almonds aren’t already toasted, you can spread them on a small cookie sheet and bake them for 5-6 minutes at 350 degrees F.
TO MAKE VEGAN AND/OR PALEO: Simply leave off the goat cheese and use pure maple syrup instead of honey in the dressing.
Nutrition
This recipe is in partnership with McCormick, a brand I trust. All recipes, text and opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting AK and the brands that help make this site possible.
If you like this salad, you might also like:
Kale & Brussels Sprout Salad with Apple
26 comments
This salad photographs so beautifully! Can’t wait to make it
Such beautiful pictures and flavors!
i love salads with tons of textures and flavors, so this sounds perfect! especially the pomegranate seeds; normally i just snack on them plain, but i bet their super juicy and sweet/tart qualities would be great here (:
This looks beyond amazing! Pinned!
Oh god, this looks amazing. I’m so hungry right now! Danielle || missdanielle.com
I don’t think it could get better than this. The pictures alone are incredible, and I can only imagine what it tastes like. Can’t wait to try it!
This is a beautiful salad… and, I agree, would be great for the Thanksgiving table. Love the addition of turmeric.
Yep, just got added to Thanksgiving menu here as well.
oh how I love all the textures and flavors in this dish!!
I LIVE on roasted b.nut squash in the fall but have never thought to add turmeric. Such a great idea!
These photos! They are absolutely amazing! And there is nothing about this salad that I don’t love. Everything works perfectly together! I can’t wait to make it!
Made this over the weekend and it was amazing! YUMMMM
This recipe was a hit! I substituted the almonds with pecans. They go great with goat cheese!
Delicious!! I’ll have to try this with pecans next time 🙂
SO delicious! I added raspberries instead of orange juice and toasted pepita and almonds for mine. So quick too!
Love it! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Just made this as a trial for Thanksgiving and it’s delicious. Will be making more! I used roasted pecans, goji berries (didn’t have pom seeds) and left off the cheese and it’s still super yummy. I will make it the regular way for Thanksgiving 😉
Amazing! Hope everyone loves this at Thanksgiving 🙂
This delicious, light salad is so tasty and beautiful.
Yum! Thanks for a salad recipe that’s filling! I like to pulse my kale a couple times in the food processor to get it bite sized…the lazy method haha! The pomegranate seeds at my store didn’t look very fresh, so I subbed in dried cranberries instead. I think pomegranate would have been better, but they worked fine. I think next time I make it I might try using sweet potato instead of butternut squash cause it’s my fav 😋
Absolutely! And love that tip using your food processor 🙂 This one’s great for customizing, too!
Great salad! So delicious and left us feeling great the whole day. We added dates and replaced the goat cheese with Kite Hill dairy-free ricotta, which worked really well. We also made some falafel in the air fryer and had that on the side! Another killer recipe from Monique 🙂
Another great salad Monique! Our grocery stores pomegranates did not look good so we subbed dried cranberries instead— still delish! For me I’d add a little more Kale for volume. Definitely going to make again!
Perfect! Love that 🙂
Delicious – I used toasted hazelnuts instead of almonds because that’s what I had on hand. I threw in some grilled chicken from the Trader Joe’s refrigerated section for a protein boost, and some cranberry-cherry-apricot goat cheese also from TJ’s. The massaged kale was perfect with the dressing. Loved that the most involved part of this salad was peeling and roasting the squash. Would recommend!
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed!