Kale Butternut Squash Salad & Candied Pecans {Paleo, GF, Low Cal}

Paleo Kale Butternut Squash Salad with Candied Pecans! Dressed in a horseradish dressing and accessorized with candied pecans this winter salad is sure to warm you up with good health! Gluten Free + Low Calorie + Paleo

Hope you’re having a great start to your week! I don’t know about you, but I kinda struggle getting enough greens in my meals during the winter. Something about a salad just doesn’t sound that enticing when it’s cold outside. I always look to warmer, bulkier foods for my meals. I don’t even like in place that’s that cold either. I can’t imagine living somewhere with real cold weather what I’d be eating. I’ve discovered that a warm salad can fill you up in the winter time as equally as a bulkier meal and be something you crave too.

This Winter Kale Butternut Squash Salad is equally delicious cold or warm. The dressing is very light. It doesn’t overwhelm the salad like most do, which is something I love about it. I can’t stand it when you get a salad that’s drenched in dressing and you can’t taste the flavors. I actually think this salad tastes even better the next day after the flavors have mingled. Kale yeah!

You might not like kale now, but you will after you eat this. I’ll be the first to admit kale has never been a favorite of mine. It’s too grimy, tough, hard to chew, makes my stomach grumble and has a distinct, funny taste. One or all of the above are my excuse(s) for not eating this powerhouse veggie.

I don’t even like it in juices. A few weeks ago, I took a cooking class at Sur La Table and we made this kale salad. I fell in love. Of all the dishes, this was by far my favorite. So no, this isn’t an original recipe created by yours truly but it was just too pretty not to photograph and share with you.

Honestly I like photographing the food more than eating it sometimes. I must’ve taken 50 pictures of this dish. It was so darn pretty and the lighting was perfect too. Unfortunately all my picture taking is gonna need to be addressed soon as my photo storage is running out on the cloud and on my computer.

I need to start backing them up on an external hard drive and deleting off my computer. They’re making my computer run slow and it’s only a year old. Still amazes me how much my photography has changed in just a year.

But back to this Winter Kale Butternut Squash Salad, we can’t overlook the star of the show…the spiced pecans. They’re perfectly seasoned with a bit of spice and a bit of sweet. They taste just like candy. I could eat them all day by the handful. I lightened mine up by using baking stevia which way less calories than brown sugar which is what the original recipe calls for.

I’ve tried it both ways and can tell you, you won’t notice the difference either way so depending on your goals pick a side and go with it. Even if you salad isn’t your thing, you’ll wanna pin the recipe just to make the pecans. If only the web smellovision and food sharing, I’d hand you handful to try right now. Enjoy the recipe!

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Winter Kale Butternut Squash Salad w/ Spiced Pecans

A kale salad with roasted butternut squash dressed with a low-calorie dressing and topped with spiced pecans that taste like candy. The perfect winter salad that will make you warm and healthy.

Author Megan

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 8 servings

Calories 288 kcal

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Ingredients

For the Salad:

• 2 bunches kale stems discarded and leaves cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 2 cups butternut squash peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (I buy mine pre-cut)

For the Dressing:

• 1 1/2 tsp horseradish
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 tbsp walnut oil or coconut oil
• salt and pepper to taste

For the Pecans:

• 2 cups pecans raw, unsalted
• 1 large egg white
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonslip mat.
2. Add butternut squash and spray with cooking spray.
3. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake 45 minutes at 350 F until roasted and tender.
4. While the butternut squash cooks, whisk the egg in a medium bowl until frothy. Then add the sugar, salt and spices. Add pecans and stir to coat with mixture.
5. Spread the pecans in a single layer on a separate baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
6. Bake in the oven 25 minutes and flip once half way through.
7. While the pecans are roasting whisk together mustard, lemon juice and honey in a medium bowl.
8. Drizzle the oil slowly into the mixture as you whisk until combined. Add salt & pepper to taste.
9. To assemble the salad, place sliced kale in a large bowl, add butternut squash, pecans and dressing
10. Toss to combine and eat!

Recipe Notes

• My shop has more products similar to those used for this recipe and that I recommend to my nutrition clients.

Course Salad

Cuisine salad

Keyword butternut, butternut squash, gluten free, kale, low calorie, Paleo, pecan, salad

Nutrition facts per serving (1serving)

Calories 288 kcal

Fat 0 g

Saturated Fat 0 g

Cholesterol 0 mg

Sodium 0 mg

Potassium 0 mg

Carbohydrates 0 g

Fiber 0 g

Sugar 0 g

Protein 0 g

Vitamin A 0 %

Vitamin C 0 %

Calcium 0 %

Iron 0 %

Custom Meal Plans

Work with Megan to develop a custom macro or standard meal plan to reach your goals.

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What I Used For The Recipe

About Megan

Megan is a certified nutrition practitioner, author, freelance food photographer and fitness instructor living in Phoenix, Arizona. On her blog, Skinny Fitalicious she shares EASY, gluten free recipes for weight loss. Follow Megan on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram for the latest updates.