Kale, cherry and goat cheese salad with apples and toasted almonds

Kale, cherry and goat cheese salad with toasted almonds on eatlivetravelwrite.comKale made an appearance in my Front Door Organics Small Fry box last week  and while I typically associate “kale” with “chips” (because, well, that is how most of my kale ends up!!), it’s still a little warm to be firing up the oven for making chips.  The heat that has made a re-appearance here in Toronto this week calls for salads and the recipe I am sharing with you today combines sweet with savoury – salty goat cheese with sweet apples – with a touch of tartness from dried cherries for good measure. I’ve used both salad greens and kale leaves and added toasted almonds for crunch. It’s a satisfying salad that really only requires some good bread to make it into a lunch or light dinner.

Kale, cherry and goat cheese salad with apples and toasted almonds
 
Prep time
Total time
 
A colourful salad combining sweet, savoury and tart flavours with some crunch for good measure.
Author:
Recipe type: Salad
Serves: 2-4
Ingredients
  • ⅓ cup sliced almonds
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon grainy Dijon mustard
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • pinch (1/8 teaspoon) sea salt
  • 2 bunches kale, ribs and stems removed, roughly torn into small pieces
  • 2 cups (2 good handsful) fresh salad mix
  • ⅓ cup dried cherries, snipped in half with scissors
  • 1 small apple, cubed
  • 125g soft, fresh goat cheese, crumbled
Instructions
  1. Heat a small skillet over medium heat.
  2. Add the sliced almonds and move around the pan constantly with a wooden spoon until the almonds start to brown a little around the edges (around 10 minutes). Make sure to keep an eye on these - they can burn very quickly.
  3. Remove almonds from heat and allow to cool.
  4. Whisk the oil, vinegar, mustard, garlic, honey and salt together (or shake in a jam jar).
  5. In a large bowl, toss the kale and salad leaves with the dressing. Let the salad sit for about 10 minutes, then re-toss with tongs.
  6. Add the cherries, apple and almonds and mix through the salad leaves.
  7. Add the goat cheese and gently mix through.
  8. Serve immediately.

What’s your favourite “big salad”?

Recipe shared with permission, originally published on Front Door Organics.

4 thoughts on “Kale, cherry and goat cheese salad with apples and toasted almonds”

  1. Kale + goat cheese + dried cherries is one of my favorite fall combos. I never thought to add apples (says the girl who lives in apple country).

    This looks wonderful.

    Reply

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