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A Sweet, Salty, Cinnamon Crunchy Kale Salad Delight
This Delicious Holiday Kale Salad with Cinnamon Thyme Vinaigrette is a very unusual mix of herbs and spices, but it is a wonderful surprise. This is truly a Holiday salad with roasted cinnamon, chili, cumin and maple syrup sweet potatoes, fresh kale, coconut sugar candied walnuts, dried cranberries, fresh oranges and feta cheese. Top it all off with a vinaigrette blend of cinnamon, fresh thyme, real maple syrup, olive oil, apple cider vinegar and salt and pepper. This is an amazing explosion of flavors all compiled for a beautiful Holiday banquet of pronounced flavor. Definitely a salad to have in your repertoire of holiday dishes.
A Little History On Holiday Salads
We all have our favorite green salads and special time of the year salads with much loved fresh rip ingredients. Green salads surprisingly go back to ancient cultures tracing back thousands of years. They consisted of Egyptians, Greeks, Babylonians and the Romans who have been consuming bright green salad mixtures with a combination of oils, salt and vinegar.
During different periods of time salad versions progressed and evolved. During the Middle Ages salads took a different turn and developed new versions of adding mixtures of raw vegetable to salads with cooked ingredients. Some of the most popular additions were fruits, nuts and herbs to pop with new flavor and nutrition. This was also inspired by whatever was in season. Of course lets not forget the Renaissance period where salads took on more of a bougie artsy presentation. Salad was decorative and stunning for appearances of adding vegetables, flowers and exotic fruits for a vibrant display.
Back in the 18th and 19th century salads took on an array of creamy facelifts from great French chefs with adding mayo and heavy creams. The 20th century of today the America’s have beefed up salads of adding meats, corn, salsa’s, dried fruit, seeds and a multitude of cheeses. Slowly these deliciously prepared combinations have wharfed into focusing in on health and consuming organic produce. People now consume what is best for them and adding in what works for each individuals diet. All being a personal bases on what works for them.
Being that we have come so far in developing these wonderful menageries of tasty greens. It is delightful to have special salads for special occasions such as this Delicious Holiday Kale Salad with Cinnamon Thyme Vinaigrette. Definitely a Holiday special add on. I hope you enjoy it!
Making Delicious Holiday Kale Salad with Cinnamon Thyme Vinaigrette
How To Make The Farrow And Roasted Sweet Potatoes
There are a couple of steps to making this incredible Delicious Holiday Kale Salad with Cinnamon Thyme Vinaigrette, but very worth it. Just make extra because this is a salad that is still very good the second day.
First clean and chop up your sweet potato to prepare to roast in the oven. Keep the skins on. Cut the sweet potato into about 1 inch or smaller cube sizes. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Set aside and prepare the farrow to cook on the stove top in a small sauce pan. You will need 1/2 cup of cooked farrow. Follow the instructions on the bag. I add 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the farrow to add some additional salt to the salad to round up the flavors. Add more if you think it needs more salt. When it is done set it aside (if it has extra water in it after cooking, drain it).
Prepare a sheet pan with lined parchment paper and add the sweet potatoes on lined baking sheet. In a small bowl mix together all the ingredients to cover the sweet potatoes with. After it is combined add it to the sweet potatoes. Mix and toss them around until they are covered. Separate the sweet potatoes so they are not touching so that they can roast on all sides. Roast in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes making sure to stir and flip half way through the roasting time. Remove from the oven and prepare the rest of the ingredients.
How To Make The Vegan Coconut Sugar Candied Walnuts
Being that I have made this recipe here on my website I will give you the link for the instructions. There are other ways in which to use these walnuts on the blog. They are so yummy so make extra. It is a very simple recipe of walnuts, water, coconut sugar, cinnamon, sea salt and vanilla extract. It is another roasting process for baking the walnuts for ten minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven to cool for ten minutes while you make the sugar candy.
In a medium sauce pan add the coconut sugar and water. Mix with a wooden spoon and keep stirring for about 4 minutes. After the sugar has dissolved add the vanilla, cinnamon and sea salt.
Mix into the dissolved sugar and let bubble for 1 minute. Quickly add the walnuts and stir quickly to coat.
Return the walnuts back to the parchment lined sheet pan and quickly separate them so as they are not touching each other. Let them completely cool before using.
For complete details and other foods to add these candied walnuts to go to Vegan Dark Coconut Sugar Candied Walnuts.
How To Make Cinnamon Thyme Vinaigrette
In a small bowl or jar add the apple cider vinegar, real maple syrup, olive oil, fresh thyme, minced garlic and salt and pepper. Shake or whisk it all together to combine ingredients and set aside or store in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Good to use for up to 1 week.
How To Prepare The Kale For This Holiday Kale Salad
I use one full bunch of kale for this Delicious Holiday Kale Salad with Cinnamon Thyme Vinaigrette. When picking out your kale for this salad make sure it is a dark green curly bunch of kale. There are more nutrients in the darker kale.
Wash and clean the kale very well. You will have to use your hands to separate the curly ends to check for dirt. When done shake out the kale to try to get rid of excess water. Then dry the kale with paper towels or a kitchen towel.
Rip the kale off of the stem all the way done the sides of the core. When done cut the kale into thin slices with a knife ( I use my Ninja Knives). Then add 2 tablespoons of the prepared dressing and message the kale with your hands. This will soften the kale and make it more palatable to eat.
How To Assemble Your Holiday Kale Salad
In a large wide shallow bowl or platter add your messaged cut kale. Top the kale with the farrow grain, Vegan Dark Coconut Candied Walnuts, roasted spiced sweet potatoes, wedges of oranges, dried cranberries and crumbled feta cheese. Drizzle the prepared cinnamon thyme vinaigrette on top of the salad. Leave the salad as is or mix it all together. Then serve immediately.
I love this salad! It is a wonderful inspiration from Plays Well With Butter recipe. Although, I have modified it and created my own version of this salad. I hope you like it as much as we do. Enjoy!
More Recipes You May Like:
Rich Decadent Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Walnut Cookies
Dairy Free Vegan Coconut Raspberry Pudding
Delicious Creamy Peas And Leeks – Dairy Free & Gluten Free
Print
Delicious Holiday Kale Salad with Cinnamon Thyme Vinaigrette
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 side dish servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Stove Top/Bake
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Delicious Holiday Kale Salad with Cinnamon Thyme Vinaigrette is a very unusual mix of herbs and spices but it is a wonderful tasty surprise. This is truly a Holiday salad with roasted cinnamon, chili, cumin and maple syrup sweet potatoes, fresh kale, coconut sugar candied walnuts, dried cranberries, fresh oranges and feta cheese. Top it all off with a vinaigrette blend of cinnamon, fresh thyme, maple syrup, olive oil, apple cider vinegar and salt and pepper. Truly a delight!
Ingredients
Delicious Holiday Kale Salad with Cinnamon Thyme Vinaigrette
- Farrow Grain
- 1/2 cup Cooked Farrow, follow instructions on bag. Drain any excess water after cooking.
- 1/4 or more of Sea Salt
- Roasted Spicy Sweet Potatoes
- 1 medium Sweet Potato, cut in 1 inch cubes
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Real Maple Syrup
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Chili Powder
- 3/4 tsp Cumin
- 3/4 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper (optional)
- Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste
- Vegan Dark Coconut Sugar Candied Walnuts (you will need 1 cup for the salad)
- 3 cups Walnuts or Pieces
- 1 cup Coconut Sugar
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Water
- 1 1/4 tsp ground Cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
- Cinnamon Thyme Vinaigrette
- 3 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Real Maple Syrup
- 1 Tbsp Water
- 1 Tbsp Fresh Thyme Leaves
- 1 1/4 tsp ground Cinnamon
- 2 cloves of Garlic, minced
- Sea Salt and Pepper to taste
- Salad Topper Ingredients
- 3 oz. Vegan Feta Cheese, crumbled
- 1/2 cup dried Cranberries
- 1 Organic Orange, wedged and chunked into thirds
- Sea Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
Delicious Holiday Kale Salad with Cinnamon Thyme Vinaigrette
- Making the Farrow Grain
- Cook the farrow grain according to the instruction on the bag to make 1/2 cup of cooked farrow. Add the salt to the farrow before cooking. After it is done cooking drain any excess water. Set aside with lid off to cool when done.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Making the Roasted Spicy Sweet Potatoes
- While the farrow is cooking clean and scrub the sweet potatoes and cut into 1 inch cubes. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Add the sweet potatoes on top of the parchment lined pan.
- In a small bowl mix together the olive oil, real maple syrup, chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, sea salt and ground black pepper to taste. Mix it all together and pour it on top of the sweet potatoes. Mix it all together to coat all sides of the sweet potato cubes. When done spread them out so that they are not touching each other. Give them room to roast.
- Put in the oven and roast for 25 to 30 minutes. Make sure to flip and toss the sweet potato cubes half way through.
- When done set aside. These roasted potatoes can be made a day ahead of time.
- The Vegan Dark Coconut Sugar Candied Walnuts can be made a week ahead of time so no worries about a big project. This can be segmented out to make it easier and you can use the extra walnuts on other recipes or desserts. You can find more recipe ideas for these walnuts on my website under this blog on this walnut recipe.
- Making the Vegan Dark Coconut Sugar Candied Walnuts
- Roast the walnuts for 10 minutes at 350 degrees on parchment lined sheet pan. Do not burn.
- Remove from oven to cool
- In a medium sauce pan on medium heat add the coconut sugar and water. Mix, and with a wooden spoon keep stirring for about 4 minutes.
- After the sugar has dissolved add the vanilla, cinnamon and sea salt. Mix into the dissolved sugar and let bubble for 1 minute.
- Quickly add the walnuts and stir and coat the walnuts quickly.
- When the walnuts are coated return the walnuts back to the lined sheet pan.
- Quickly separate the walnuts from each other and spread out onto the baking sheet. Let cool.
- Let the walnuts cool completely before storing.
- Making the Cinnamon Thyme Vinaigrette
- In a small bowl or jar combine the extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, real maple syrup, water, fresh thyme, cinnamon, minced fresh garlic and salt and pepper. Whisk it all together or shake in the jar.
- Making the Kale For The Salad
- Wash and clean the kale, shake out the water and dry with a paper towel or a kitchen towel. Rip away the kale from the stem of the kale. Cut into small strips of bit size pieces and cut with a knife into thin slices. ( I use my Ninja Knives for this) Add 2 tablespoons of the mixed cinnamon thyme vinaigrette. Then message the green and vinaigrette with your hands until it is dark green and soft.
- Assembling The Salad
- Add the greens to a large shallow surface bowl or platter and spread it out even. Top with the cooled precooked farrow grain, roasted spicy sweet potatoes then the candied walnuts. Then break up the feta cheese into crumbles on top. Then add the dried cranberries and last add the wedged cubed oranges (make sure you get most of the white pith off of the orange wedges before cutting them into cubes). Top with the rest of the mixed cinnamon thyme vinaigrette. Serve immediately.
Notes
You can make the Vegan Dark Coconut Candied Walnuts a week ahead of time. Store in a closed container with a lid in the refrigerator. Good for up to 2 weeks.
You can make the Roasted Spicy Sweet Potatoes a day ahead of time. Store in the refrigerator in a closed container with a lid. Good for 3 to 4 days.
You can make the Cinnamon Thyme Vinaigrette a day ahead of time. Store in the refrigerator in a container with a lid. Good for 1 week.
