Recipe // winter kale salad

This winter kale salad recipe hits all of the buzzwords you look for: hearty, healthy, filling, easy, and delicious. Honestly, I could go on and on! We topped finely cut kale with radicchio, roasted sweet potatoes, sunflower seeds, and your new favorite dressing, a creamy avocado mixture. This salad is perfect for lunch or as a side dish to bring to your next potluck.

A healthy, delicious, and comforting kale salad recipe perfect for winter! With roasted sweet potato, sunflower seeds, and creamy avocado dressing. A hearty and filling favorite! Get the full recipe on Jojotastic.com + pin for later

We tossed the salad with our DIY wood burned patterned spoons — bringing this salad to a party and making the spoons for a hostess gift could be a super thoughtful gift!

A healthy, delicious, and comforting kale salad recipe perfect for winter! With roasted sweet potato, sunflower seeds, and creamy avocado dressing. A hearty and filling favorite! Get the full recipe on Jojotastic.com + pin for laterA healthy, delicious, and comforting kale salad recipe perfect for winter! With roasted sweet potato, sunflower seeds, and creamy avocado dressing. A hearty and filling favorite! Get the full recipe on Jojotastic.com + pin for later

Winter Kale Salad  (Prep time: 30 minutes, plus about 45 minutes to bake sweet potato)

Ingredients

Salad:

  • 1 bunch of kale, stems removed and finely chopped (try using 2/3 of a bunch of purple kale and 1/3 of a bunch of green kale for a colorful mix)
  • 1 head of radicchio cut into quarters and finely chopped
  • 1 large sweet potato, pre-baked (try to find a Japanese sweet potato called Satsumaimo but any will work)
  • 1/2 cup roasted and shelled sunflower seeds

Dressing:

  • 2 tablespoon lime juice
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 large avocado
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 2 tablespoons green onion, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • pepper to taste

Directions

The day before you make the salad, bake a sweet potato in oven for 45 minutes at 425F. Be sure to wash the potato and poke a few holes into it with a fork, just enough to pierce the skin. Wrap the potato in foil or place it inside a glass baking dish. If you have time, bake a couple more potatoes for future meals; they will keep in fridge for up to a week!

To make dressing, put avocado, lime juice, olive oil, and sour cream into a blender and mix until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste and blend well. Then add the chopped green onion, but do not blend again; instead, stir it in with a fork. Store dressing in a jar in the fridge for up to 5 days.

To assemble salad, wash the kale and fold each leaf in half along stem. Cut the stem out with a knife and discard. With leaf still folded in half, slice it crosswise into thin strips and place them into a large bowl. Wash and quarter the radicchio and chop it as finely as possible, placing it in same bowl as kale. Pour two tablespoons of olive oil over the salad and toss well to coat. Sprinkle with salt and let sit for 10 minutes at room temperature.

When you are ready to serve the salad, cut the sweet potato into cubes and toss them into the salad. Plate salad and add dressing and sunflower seeds to each serving. If you want to enjoy this for lunch or dinner the next day, store the salad and the dressing two different airtight containers in the fridge and add the dressing when you’re ready to eat.

A healthy, delicious, and comforting kale salad recipe perfect for winter! With roasted sweet potato, sunflower seeds, and creamy avocado dressing. A hearty and filling favorite! Get the full recipe on Jojotastic.com + pin for later

Shop the post: Serving bowl c/o Fortessa, placemats c/o Kohl’s (similar), pour bowl from Suite One Studio

A healthy, delicious, and comforting kale salad recipe perfect for winter! With roasted sweet potato, sunflower seeds, and creamy avocado dressing. A hearty and filling favorite! Get the full recipe on Jojotastic.com + pin for later

Photography and styling by Jojotastic, assisted by Gwen McKenzie. Recipe developed by Claire McAleese for Jojotastic.

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  • The sunflower seeds are such a brilliant idea!

    • Thanks! I love that little bit of crunch :)

  • this looks delicious!

    • Thanks so much Cassie! It’s really so yummy.