Kale Butternut Squash Salad with Candied Pecans

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!

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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 healthy 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 yummy kale butternut salad! We cannot 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 smell-o-vision and food sharing, I’d hand you handful to try right now. Enjoy the recipe!

5 from 1 vote

Servings: 8 servings

Winter Kale Butternut Squash Salad w/ Spiced Pecans

By Megan Olson

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.

Prep: 15 minutes mins

Cook: 45 minutes mins

Total: 1 hour hr

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Ingredients 

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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

For the Dressing:

• ▢ 1 1/2 teaspoons horseradish
• ▢ 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• ▢ 3 tablespoons olive oil
• ▢ Salt and pepper to taste

For the Pecans:

• ▢ 2 cups pecans, raw, unsalted
• ▢ 1 egg white
• ▢ 1 teaspoon sea salt
• ▢ 1/4 cup zero calorie sugar, like Truvia, Monkfruit or sugar of choice
• ▢ 1 teaspoon paprika
• ▢ 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

US Customary – Metric

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Instructions 

• Preheat oven 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add butternut squash and spray with cooking spray.
• Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake 45 minutes at 350 F until roasted and tender.
• 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.
• Spread the pecans in a single layer on a separate baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in the oven 25 minutes and flip once half way through.
• While the pecans are roasting whisk together mustard, lemon juice and honey in a medium bowl. Drizzle the oil slowly into the mixture as you whisk until combined. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• To assemble the salad, place sliced kale in a large mixing bowl, add butternut squash, pecans and dressing. Toss to combine and eat!

Notes

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

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 249kcal, Carbohydrates: 10g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 24g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g, Monounsaturated Fat: 14g, Sodium: 320mg, Potassium: 358mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 7131IU, Vitamin C: 40mg, Calcium: 121mg, Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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