Kale salad with feta and pomegranate is loaded with superfoods and other flavorful ingredients like sweet pomegranate arils, finely shredded kale, salty feta, red onion, maple salted almonds, and a simple homemade vinaigrette. Enjoy this healthy and fresh salad all winter long!
If you're looking for a little healthy holiday salad action in between treats, or just something fresh and crunchy to eat in winter, I've got you covered with this kale salad with feta and pomegranates.
Topped with salted maple butter almonds, this salad has the perfect combination of salty, sweet, crunchy, and tangy (similar to our other favorite wild rice and pomegranate salad!).
It's great as a side salad to some pumpkin sage pasta, creamy butternut squash and apple soup, roasted chicken, or any protein. Let's make it!
Ingredients
For this recipe, you'll need:
- Kale - I prefer any variety of curly kale in this case.
- Pomegranate - This winter fruit adds a juicy sweetness and crunch to this salad.
- Feta
- Red onion
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Balsamic vinegar
- Honey
- Slivered almonds - We'll use raw slivered almonds to make some salt maple butter almonds to go on top of this salad. These are so fun and delicious, plus they add a ton of flavor and crunch!
- Butter
- Maple syrup
- Salt
Substitutions & Variations
If you know how to make the recipe fit a certain diet, let the reader know here. Don't fake it - only provide guidance on topics you have actual experience with.
- Add more veggies - I love roasted butternut or roasted delicata squash in the recipe! You could also add some avocado for a buttery richness, or add thinly shredded Brussels sprouts for some more crunch.
- Add grains - Make this salad recipe heartier by adding in grains like wheat berries, farro, or short grain brown rice. All of these grains have a nice texture and chew to them, giving this salad awesome texture.
- Orange - Add a bit of fresh-squeeze orange juice to the balsamic vinaigrette for a lovely citrus component and additional sweetness to balance the vinaigrette.
Two Tips for Kale, Feta, and Pomegranate Salad
- Kale. Finely shredding kale can be a HUGE pain... unless you use a kitchen shears or scissors. I'm serious on this one -- I like to place all the kale in a large bowl, and then, holding the kitchen shears handles with the scissors pointing into the bowl of kale, just start snipping away. Be sure to get all those kale pieces chopped up nice and fine. I find that this makes kale more pleasant tasting (more surface area to absorb the dressing) and easier to eat.
- Pomegranates. Lucky for you, I have a post ALL about deseeding these beauts. You can certainly buy the arils already deseeded -- paying for convenience is SO worth it sometimes -- but if you're interested, just click over to my post on how to deseed a pomegranate and be on your merry way to some kale, feta, and pomegranate salad.
The Salted Maple Butter Almonds
Now for a really important part: the salted maple butter almonds. They're ridiculously easy, and they add so much flavor! Try not to eat all of them before they make it to the salad, because I did that, and I was a little sad when I my salad didn't have any on top. And because of my lack of self-control. Oy. Need to work on that.
Anyway, these babies are easy. Simply heat a couple tablespoons of butter over medium heat, drizzle a couple teaspoons of maple syrup in there, along with a generous dash of salt. Swirl that around in the pan for a minute or two until the butter is completely melted and the mixture is hot (but not boiling). Toss on about ¾ cup of slivered almonds, and sauté until fragrant, stirring occasionally and making sure they're evenly coated by the maple-butter-salt mixture. Once the almonds are done (a few minutes), remove them from heat and let them cool for a few minutes. This allows them to crisp up before they go into the salad, and you'll end up with that salty, maple-y, buttery crunch.
Other than that, this salad is incredibly simple and versatile. The dressing is all-purpose and would be good with anything -- I like to shake up the dressing ingredients in a mason jar or throw them into a blender to really emulsify it.
As always, the amount of ingredients I list in the recipe are suggestions, so you should feel free to adjust the ratios to your liking, and totally add ingredients that seem like they would taste good to you. Cooking is about being creative and getting inspired! When I make this salad again, I think I'll add some finely shredded cabbage or chopped apples for more sweetness and additional crunch.
Print📖 Recipe
Kale Salad with Feta and Pomegranate
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 2-3 1x
Description
This kale salad with feta and pomegranate is loaded with superfoods and other flavorful ingredients: sweet pomegranate arils, finely shredded kale, salty feta, red onion, salted maple butter almonds, and a simple homemade vinaigrette. Bring as a dish to pass over the holidays, or start the New Year with something healthy and fresh!
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tsp maple syrup
- A generous pinch of salt
- ¾ cup slivered almonds
- 6 cups curly leaf kale, finely shredded and tough stems removed
- 1 pomegranate's worth of arils (use this tutorial to deseed your pomegranate or use 1 cup of prepared arils from the store)
- ¾ cup crumbled feta cheese
- ½ cup red onion, finely diced
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 2-4 teaspoon honey (to taste)
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- For the salted maple butter almonds: Melt butter and maple syrup over medium heat in a skillet, swirling it around with a spatula to combine. Before it starts to boil, add almonds and salt and stir with spatula to coat. Sauté the almonds until fragrant. Remove from heat and allow to cool while you assemble the salad.
- For the salad: Place shredded kale in a large bowl and top with pomegranate arils, red onion, feta, and salted maple butter almonds.
- For the dressing: Combine extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, and a pinch each of salt and pepper in a small mason jar. Place lid on jar and shake well, until completely combined. Test to see if it's sweet enough, and if not, add more honey.
- Pour dressing over salad and toss well.
Notes
*Easily double or triple recipe if you're serving more than two or three people. Increase protein content with chicken, salmon, grains, or whatever sounds good to you.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 5
- Category: Salad
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