I refuse to believe that there are people out there that do not like salads. I truly believe that the people who say this just have never had a good salad. Serve them up this candied pumpkin seed kale salad and I am sure their tune will change.
Growing up I was anti salad, unless we were at a pizzeria and I could drown it in that ranch and croutons! Needless to say I was not in it for the healthy part haha. That is until I realized that salad is all about the toppings not the lettuce! I had been eating iceberg lettuce which explains why I was bored with salads! The lettuce itself is actually just a vessel for all the delicious toppings! Also ranch is not the only salad dressing out there! Shocking I know. You can open up so many different possibilities when you step away from ranch.
If you are a nay sayer and don’t believe me, give this salad a try! I think dinosaur kale is a great introduction to leafier green! It is softer than other kale varieties so there is no need to massage the leaves. The taste is also milder so it’s a great way to dip your toes into new lettuce possibilities. Paired with easy 5 minute fall spiced pumpkin seeds, sweet apple and creamy gouda this is the salad to win over nay sayers.
Ingredients
Spiced Candied Pumpkin Seeds
1 cup pumpkin seeds, roasted and salted
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Salad
2 bunches dinosaur kale
1 small apple
2 ounces gouda cheese
How to Make the Candied Pumpkin Seed Kale Salad
These candied pumpkin seeds are so easy to make! They only take about 5 minutes on the stove. Start by adding all of the spice candied pumpkin seed ingredients in to a sauce pan over medium heat. Mix together the ingredients and allow the sugar to start to melt. Once the sugar starts turning to liquid, continually stir until the sugar has fully melted to prevent it from burning. You know it’s ready to cool once the sugar mixture has started to coat the seeds. Remove the seed from the heat and spread them out over parchment paper. You will have to act fast here to prevent the seeds from cooling in a clump.
Helpful hint! Cooled sugar can be a pain in the butt to clean. TO make clean up easier, once you have removed the seeds add water to the pan up to where the sugar has touched. This will keep the sugar from sticking to the pan. If you forgot this step no worries! Just add water to the pan covering the cooled sugar and let it sit until the sugar dissolves. Once dissolved, drain the water and clean like normal. No fuss!
While the seeds are cooling it’s time to make the salad. Chop the dinosaur kale in to thin strips. Thinly slice or dice the apple and shave 2 ounces of gouda. Add this all along with the spiced candied pumpkin seeds to a salad bow and give it a good mix. Serve this salad with you favorite vinaigrette. I enjoyed this with a simple sweet vinaigrette but a fall flavored pomegranate or champagne vinaigrette would be delicious as well!
Fall Spiced Candied Pumpkin Seed Kale Salad
Ingredients
Spiced Candied Pumpkin Seeds
- 1 cup pumpkin seeds, roasted and salted
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Salad
- 2 bunches dinosaur kale
- 1 small apple
- 2 ounces gouda cheese
Instructions
- Add all of the spice candied pumpkin seed ingredients in to a sauce pan and place it over medium heat. Continually stir until the sugar had melted and started to coat the seeds. About 5 minutes. Remove the seeds from the heat and spread them out over parchment paper.
- While the seeds are cooling prep the salad. Chop the dinosaur kale and add it to your salad bowl. Thinly slice or dice the apple and add it on top of the kale. Shave 2 ounces of gouda over the salad and top with the spiced candied pumpkin seeds. Give this a mix along with your favorite vinaigrette and serve.
