Creamy Kale Salad that is Vegan
You are in for a real treat with this delicious creamy kale salad recipe! If you are familiar with some of my recipes, you know that I am obsessed with kale. There are so many possibilities when using kale, the possibilities are really endless!
I love playing around with different kale recipes. I find myself craving kale often, so it’s fun to mix up the ingredients and keep it interesting. What you will notice with this creamy kale salad is it’s very flavorful, filling, and vegan friendly!
Additionally, this salad is a nice main dish for lunch, dinner, or as a side dish, you choose! It’s a great salad for when you have friends over who are on a vegan diet. It’s also perfect for those who just love good food!
Different Types of Kale
I have not tried this kale salad with the traditional curly kale. I’ve only tried it with Tuscan (or dino) kale. I tend to favor the Tuscan kale a little more than the traditional kale. I think it also works better with creamy kale salad recipes.
Before we put our kale salad together, we will roast a few ingredients. Then we will get it all prepared. More specific details will be provided in the instructions. Just prepare to roast the chopped sweet potatoes for about 30 minutes. Roast the pumpkin and sunflower seeds for about 15 minutes. We will also light cook the canned chickpeas on the stove top for no longer than 5 minutes.
What really brings together this recipe is the healthy and nutrient dense dressing. We will be using a combination of nuts and seeds and it comes out quite thick. If you prefer a thinner dressing, simply add a pinch more of equal parts olive oil and lemon.
Kitchen Tools
You will need a small food processor, or blender to blend the dressing ingredients. I use this simple food processor. It doesn’t take too much space and is relatively easy clean up.
Now let’s go to the kitchen and create something beautiful!
| Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 10 minutes + 30 minutes |
| Serves: 3 | Total Time: 20 minutes |
| Ingredients Salad 2 cups finely chopped Tuscan Kale 1 tbsp appler vinegar 1 medium sized avocado To Roast Seeds 1 tsp flaky sea salt 3 tbsp pumpkin seeds 1 tbsp sunflower seeds (or pine nuts) 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil To Roast Sweet Potatoes 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary 1 cup white or red sweet potatoes (chopped and peeled) 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil pinch of flaky sea salt To Roast Chickpeas *Optional 1/2 cup chickpeas (garbanzo beans) 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1/2 tsp cumin pinch of salt Dressing 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon 2 tsp dijon mustard 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 tbsp nutritional yeast or grated Parmesan cheese 1/4 cup sunflower seeds 3/4 cup cashews (I use roasted and salted) |
| Instructions 1 Preheat oven to 400F 2. In a small mixing bowl, add the sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, and a pinch of flaky sea salt. Stir until well combined. 3. Place unbleached parchment paper on a small baking sheet and spread out the seed mixture onto the baking sheet. Set aside. 4. Prepare another larger baking sheet lined with unbleached parchment paper. 5. Rinse, peel, and chop sweet potatoes to 1 inch squares. Add 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 tsp flaky sea salt, and chopped fresh rosemary. 6. On the middle rack of your oven, place the sweet potatoes. Roast them for about 20 minutes. They should be golden and tender when pinched with a fork. 7. Halfway through roasting the sweet potatoes, put the baking sheet with spiced sunflower and pumpkin seeds on the bottom rack. Proceed to roast them for 15 minutes. 8. Meanwhile, finely chop the kale and add 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar and massage with hands for about one minute. Set aside. 9. In a medium pan on a stove top, add rinsed chickpeas. Also add 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 tsp cumin, and a pinch of salt. Stir and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes and set aside. 10. Place the cashews and sunflower seeds in a small food processor. Add the nutritional yeast, Dijon mustard, olive oil, and lemon juice. Blend all the ingredients together until creamy. If the dressing is too thick, add equal parts olive oil and lemon juice. (I make it paste like for this recipe) 11. Add the dressing to the kale mixture and stir until well combined. 11. Next add the cooked chickpeas, roasted sunflower, pumpkin seeds, avocados and roasted and cooled sweet potatoes to the kale. Gently toss and enjoy! . |
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