Full of fall and winter’s best produce and tossed with a maple vinaigrette, this maple-roasted squash kale salad will be your new favorite. It’s packed with tasty add-ins including generously seasoned toasted chickpeas, apples, goat cheese, pecans, and dried cherries. This colorful, healthful salad is make-ahead friendly, and makes for a lovely lighter Thanksgiving side dish.
Salad tends to be included on the menu of big holiday meals like Thanksgiving just to provide a little balance, but ends up being a background dish no one really cares about. Next to the turkey, herbed stuffing, candied sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, homemade rolls, or any other of your Thanksgiving side dishes, salad is white noise. (Or is that green noise?)
But if the host asked you to “bring a salad,” you’re about to have the last laugh. Because this maple-roasted squash kale salad can stand up to any other side dish. My kitchen assistant, Beth, and I dreamed this up, played around with different seasonings, add-ins, and dressings, and decided it was good… no… FANTASTIC enough to publish on my baking website.
Get ready to hear what you never thought you would: “Can you send me the recipe for that salad?”
You need the following:
Begin by mixing a few seasonings together. Cumin, coriander, garlic powder, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. If you’ve made this 1-pan apple cider chicken before, you already have most of these spices in your kitchen!
Next, slice a peeled and deseeded butternut squash into thin half-moons. Place them, along with some drained and rinsed chickpeas, in a large bowl. Sprinkle with the seasoning mix, then drizzle everything with maple syrup and olive oil. Stir/toss everything together until the squash and chickpeas are nicely coated. Spread out in a single layer on a lined baking sheet.
After roasting, the squash will be soft with caramelized edges, and the chickpeas will be toasted and have an almost nutty texture.
For this you need olive oil, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, salt, and pepper. (Most of which you used for the roasted squash.)
Massage the dressing into the kale with your hands. Yes, massage the kale leaves—it tenderizes the raw kale, making it infinitely more pleasant to chew.
Once the squash and chickpeas have cooled for a bit, gently toss with the kale and the remaining ingredients.
Customize it: Try pepitas instead of pecans; dried cranberries or chopped dried apricots instead of cherries; blue cheese instead of goat cheese (or leave the cheese out to make it vegan). Use delicata squash instead of butternut (bonus: no need to peel!); or slice up a pear instead of an apple.
You could also add a cooked grain, such as quinoa, farro, or wheatberries, for some added heartiness and chewy texture.
Full of fall and winter's best produce, seasoned toasted chickpeas, and tossed with a maple cider vinaigrette, this maple-roasted squash kale salad will be your new favorite salad in the cooler months. See Notes for make-ahead options and substitution suggestions.
