Salad

Warm Kale Salad with Roasted Potatoes and Bacon

Warm kale salad with roasted potatoes, bacon, cranberries and Manchego cheese. Drizzle some super-tasty fresh raspberry dressing on top for the best salad!

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Warm Kale Salad with Roasted Potatoes and Bacon
Recipe insights & TIPS

Warm kale salad with roasted potatoes, bacon, cranberries and Manchego cheese. Drizzle some super-tasty raspberry dressing on top and you'll be stuffing salads in your face all year long.

Warm kale salad with roasted potatoes, bacon, cranberries and Manchego cheese. Drizzle some super-tasty raspberry dressing on top and you'll be stuffing salads in your face all year long.

I'm writing this post as the rain hammers off my windows. It's a rare sight in California but we need the water for sure and everything in my yard is getting a much needed wash down. So it felt a little weird to be giving you guys a salad recipe, but it's a warm kale salad! But why should salads have all the summer fun? This warm kale salad is definitely a fall flavor recipe, the potatoes are warm with chunks of over-crispy bacon, apple, Manchego cheese, cranberries and kale! I almost forgot the candied pecans. This is totally Christmas in a bowl! Every salad needs a dressing and this one is so easy it's ridiculous. Fresh raspberries with some red wine vinegar and olive oil, blended high-speed style in my Vitamix. It's a little tart but the bacon takes care of that.

Warm kale salad with roasted potatoes, bacon, cranberries and Manchego cheese. Drizzle some super-tasty raspberry dressing on top and you'll be stuffing salads in your face all year long.

The kale doesn't even need to be cooked. Just a gentle massage with some olive oil and it's ready to go. Sweet from the cranberries and candied pecans. Savory from the Manchego and bacon. All sorts of umami-ness flying around. This is a filling salad because of the potatoes, but throwing some slices of grilled chicken on top would not be a bad thing or even grilled tofu. Protein, carbs, fruit and dairy. What else would you ever need for the perfect kale salad?

Warm kale salad with roasted potatoes, bacon, cranberries and Manchego cheese. Drizzle some super-tasty raspberry dressing on top and you'll be stuffing salads in your face all year long.

The potatoes are simply seasoned with salt, pepper and rosemary. Toss them in a bowl and roast in the oven until soft and kinda blistery. This is where you're allowed to taste some (a lot) because they're so good just like this!

Warm kale salad with roasted potatoes, bacon, cranberries and Manchego cheese. Drizzle some super-tasty raspberry dressing on top and you'll be stuffing salads in your face all year long.

This picture pretty much sums up this warm kale salad, except you may have nothing left on our plate. The only reason I did was because I piled it way higher than I should have. Have a great Thanksgiving week everybody!

Warm kale salad with roasted potatoes, bacon, cranberries and Manchego cheese. Drizzle some super-tasty raspberry dressing on top and you'll be stuffing salads in your face all year long.
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Recipe

Warm kale salad with roasted potatoes, bacon, cranberries and Manchego cheese. Drizzle some super-tasty raspberry dressing on top and you'll be stuffing salads in your face all year long.

Course:
Salad
COOKing TIME:
45 minutes
Total TIME:
60 minutes
CUISINE:
American
PREP TIME:
15 minutes
SERVINGS:
4

Ingredients

  • 5 slices bacon
  • 1 1/2 pounds baby yellow potatoes
  • 3 tbsp olive oil divided
  • 1 tbsp fresh rosemary chopped
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 head green kale
  • 1 cup dried cranberries
  • 3/4 cup candied pecans chopped
  • 1 whole apple
  • 8 ounces Manchego cheese

FOR THE DRESSING

  • 1/2 cup fresh raspberries
  • 1 tbsp lime juice
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Ingredient Swaps

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Place the bacon on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 12 minutes or until crispy. Transfer to some pepper towels to drain.
  3. Increase the oven heat to 425 degrees.
  4. Transfer the potatoes to a large bowl cutting any large ones in half.
  5. Add 2 tbsp of the olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper and toss to coat well.
  6. Place the potatoes onto a baking sheet and roast in the oven for about 40-45 minutes moving them around on the pan halfway through, or until they can be easily pierced with a  sharp knife when done.
  7. When the potatoes are roasting, make the dressing by adding the first 6 ingredients in a blender and mixing on high speed.
  8. Scrape down the blender and on low speed, gradually add the olive oil until the dressing is emulsified. Set aside.
  9. Wash and trim the kale by cutting out the center spine and discarding it. Roughly chop the kale into smaller pieces and transfer to a bowl.
  10. Add the remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil to the kale and gently massage with your fingers.
  11. Add the cranberries, chopped pecans and thin slices of the apple.
  12. Shave or slice very thin slices of the cheese and add to the kale.
  13. Chop the cooked bacon into pieces and also add to the kale along with the warm roasted potatoes.
  14. Add as much of the dressing as you desire and toss well adding more dressing if needed as well as salt and pepper.
  15. Serve at once.

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