Oi Gente,
This warm kale salad is one of my favorite dishes in the Fall. Scratch that – all year long! This easy to make sautéed kale dish is loaded with apples, fennel, and toasted walnuts, and will turn any mid-week dinner into a delicious and elegant affair. Great on its own, and even better as a side dish, this will for sure become your new favorite kale recipe!
The many ways to enjoy this cooked kale salad
I love salads, but sautéed greens are probably my most favorite way to eat my veggies. This kale apple salad is one of my faves, because it requires pretty minimal prep and it can be eaten in any meal. It’s fantastic just by itself as a light lunch, but I love to serve it with some salmon or rotisserie chicken for a more robust dinner option.
And when we have leftovers, we warm it up, fry a couple eggs and serve it with crusty bread and fresh coffee. It’s a perfect and easy little brunch!
What you need to make a warm kale salad
- Olive oil
- Onion
- Fennel bulb
- Toasted walnuts – don’t have walnuts? Use pine nuts, or almond slices. These work great as well!
- Apple – I like fuji, and honey crisps in they recipe because they hold their shape after cooked.
- Kale – you can even use other greens, such as collard greens, broccoli leaves, and any other dark green of your choice!
How to make a warm kale salad
We begin our sautéed kale salad by cutting all our veggies nice and thin, starting with the kale.
Then, core the fennel and slice it thin.
Then the onion.
And then the apple.
On to the sautéing part!
Heat some olive oil in a medium skillet over medium to high heat and when when the oil is hot, add the onions. Then, add the fennel, give it a stir and let it cook until the fennel is soft.
Add the apples and toss gently not to break them. We want them to be soft, but keep their shape.
Reduce the heat, add the kale, season with salt and pepper and toss.
Sprinkle the nuts on top and serve on its own, or as s side dish!
Bom Apetite!
Other kale recipes you’ll love:
If you love kale, you may love these collard greens recipes:
Couve a Mineira – Brazilian Collard Greens with Bacon
Caldo Verde – Portuguese Green Soup
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Kale Apple Salad
Ingredients
- 1 bunch of Kale cut into thin strips
- ½ onion sliced
- 1 fennel bulb thinly sliced
- 1 fuji apple cored and thinly sliced
- ¼ cup of toasted walnuts
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- add the oil to a medium skillet over medium to high heat
- add the onions and cook until they are translucid, about 2 minutes
- add the fennel, and cook until softened, about 3-4 minutes
- add the apples and toss gently, let it cook a few minutes tossing occasionally
- reduce the heat, add the kale, salt and pepper, toss gently and let it cook until the kale has wilted a little, about 1-2 minutes
- sprinkle with the nuts
I’m such a kale slut. I’m always looking for new ways to incorporate it into my recipes.
LOL! I’m glad you liked this one.
Warm kale salad sounds like such a delicious side dish. It would pair nicely with a fish, or even steak! Awesome recipe.
Yes! Those are great ideas 🙂 Thank you!
This salad looks delicious! I enjoy more warm salads as the weather cools down.
Same here!!
I’m in love with all types of greens. Collards are my favorite. This recipe sounds great with the fennel and apple. I wonder, do you think it would be just as good with collards?
I love collards too! And funny you asked, the first time I made this dish was with collards ahahah So yes, it totally works too!! You’ll love it!
Perfect side dish for Fall weather and healthy l!! 😍
This look SO good and so healthy, what a beautiful dish!
Thank you, Mila!
I am a little late on the Kale train. But I made this kale recipe the other day that the whole family loved! Needless to say this one is up next! Your pictures have my tongue hanging out! Yum!
Awesome!! Thank you!
I love this for dinner paired with seared chicken breast. 🙂
Kale is such a refreshing green to use as a salad. This recipe looks amazing and festive for the Fall season!