That’s the thing about winter. When it’s even mildly cold outside, all I want is warm and fireside foods. The thought of a salad or smoothie (things that I otherwise love), simply aren’t that appealing to me. SO I figured that I would remedy that by making myself a WARM salad. Go-to of both worlds.

Do you know about the importance of massaging your kale?? I ate dry kale salads for YEARS before I learned that it tastes VASTLY better if you massage the leaves first. SO, don’t make my mistake and always massage that kale!

For this method, we’re going to massage the dressing directly into the salad but for other salads, you can use a little olive oil, some lemon juice, or genuinely whatever other thing you are already having in your salad.

How to cook this Warm Kale Salad

Start by roasted your butternut squash. You could swap this out for sweet potato if that’s what you have on hand. A regular here both in this salad! Toss the squash with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and then roast for about 15 minutes.

While that roasts, make the dressing by sauteeing your onion. Add in the garlic, salt, and maple syrup and cook for a few more minutes until transferring the mixture to a blender. Add in the balsamic vinegar and blend until mostly smooth.

The warm dressing gets poured over the kale and then massaged into the leaves. DO NOT skip this part! It makes the salad softer and more tender and overall only SO MUCH better.

Now only toss in the butternut squash, goat cheese, and pine nuts and you have yourself your new regular winter salad!:)