Crunchy Carrot Apple & Massaged Kale Salad topped with halloumi, avocado, seeds and a mustardy almond butter dressing | grain free + gluten free + vegetarian

About This Recipe + Massaged Kale Salad Tips

The building blocks for this recipe are simple enough: apple, carrot, halloumi, avocado, pumpkin seeds and massaged kale. The dressing: a slightly sweet and tangy mustardy almond butter dressing. Truly the best.

Personally, I like to chop up the carrots and apples into small bites sized pieces that are better distributed throughout the salad. I like a little crunch in every bite, but you don’t have to make the pieces so small if you don’t want to. I would however recommend chopping up that kale into smaller pieces. As nice as kale can be you don’t really want to take on more than you can literally chew in one bite. Chop it up and you’ll thank yourself for it later.

The key to a good kale salad is all in the massage. If you’ve never tried it before it may seem a bit OTT to give your veggies a proper rub down, but this step is absolutely necessary if you want to actually enjoy your food. Without it, your kale will remain tough and bitter and in no way enjoyable.

Just reach into the bowl with clean hands and a little bit of olive oil + a pinch of salt get scrunching. Once your kale turns a dark green and you can feel the looseness in the leaves you know you’re done. This step should only take about 30 seconds.

Another great thing about kale salads is that they last well in the fridge for a few days. Since the leaves are nice and firm they aren’t prone to going sad and soggy like most other green salads.

If you want to make this to have throughout the week I would recommend saving the avocado to add each time you make it. Otherwise you might end up with avocado chunks that look more like jabba the hutt than anything else. Gross. 

Recipe

Carrot Apple & Kale Salad

Yield: 6 servings Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 25 minutes

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Crunchy Carrot Apple & Massaged Kale Salad topped with halloumi, avocado, seeds and a mustardy almond butter dressing | grain free + gluten free + vegetarian

Ingredients

salad

• 1 large bunch of kale, hard stems removed and chopped into bite-sized pieces (about 5 cups | 170g)
• pinch of sea salt
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (30ml)
• 2 honey crisp apples, diced
• 2 large carrots, chopped
• 1 avocado
• ¼ cup pumpkin seeds (40g)
• 8 oz halloumi, cut into ¼-inch slices

dressing

• ¼ cup almond butter (65g)
• 2 tbsp olive oil (30ml)
• 2 tbsp lemon juice (30ml)
• 1 tbsp water (15ml)
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp raw honey
• ¼ tsp salt, more to taste

Need help converting to weights? Check out my cups to grams Conversion Guide.

Instructions

1. Place the kale in a large salad bowl with a bing pinch of salt. Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil over the leaves. Use your hands to massage the kale by scrunching big handfuls at a time. After about a minute or so the leaves will get softer and darker.
2. Add the apple, carrot, avocado and pumpkin seeds to the kale. Set aside.
3. Add another tablespoon oil to a medium pan over a medium heat. When the oil is hot and shimmery, add the halloumi slices. Cook about 3-4 minutes until golden brown on the bottom. Use a good spatula to flip. Cook 3-4 minutes until golden on the other side. Transfer the halloumi to a cutting board and cut the slices into smaller squares. Set aside.
4. In a small jar add everything needed for the dressing and stir together until combined. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss well to combine.
5. Add all of the dressing ingredients to a separate bowl or measuring jug and whisk tgoether until fully combined. Taste and season with a bit of salt, pepper or honey as you see fit.
6. Pour the dressing over the top of the salad and toss together until everything is evenly combined and coated in dressing then serve.

Notes

• This salad will keep well in the fridge for about 3 days stored in an airtight container, but I recommend adding fresh avocado and maybe apple each time.

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.

© A Saucy Kitchen, Sarah Nevins

Course: Plant Based Salads Cuisine: American