Wild rice, roasted sweet potato and kale salad

Wild rice, roasted sweet potato and kale salad with balsamic mustard dressing

1 more day until Thanksgiving! Do you still need last minute inspiration for a festive and nutritious salad to impress your family with? I’ve got you covered with this nutritious Thanksgiving salad. This Wild rice, roasted sweet potato and kale salad with balsamic mustard dressing has it all; nuts and dried fruit that provide fiber and antioxidants, nutrient-dense kale and wild rice, a great plant based protein source. And the roasted sweet potato makes it totally Thanksgiving-worthy. Also this salad comes together quite easy; all you have to do is wait for the wild rice to cook and the sweet potato to roast in the oven, toss everything together in a bowl, add dressing and TA-DA!

How to make this wild rice, roasted sweet potato and kale salad?

cook the wild rice

Wild rice takes a bit longer to cook than regular rice. Count on 50-55 minutes. Want less stress in the kitchen? Make it a day before and store it in the fridge.

roast the sweet potato

I peel and cube the sweet potatoes, toss them with olive oil and sea salt on a baking tray and I roast the cubes for about 20-30 minutes until golden brown, depending on cube size.

prepare the dressing

You can prepare this ahead of time. Add all dressing ingredients to a dressing shaker and shake well or use a tall measuring cup/jug and whisk all ingredients together until emulsified.

prepare the kale

I think Tuscan kale (curly leaved) is best to use here. Here where I live, it is often not available though. Other types work as well, so no worries. I chop mine very finely (you can almost call it shredding), After transferring it to a big salad bowl I sprinkle a small pinch of sea salt over the kale and massage the leaves with my hands. By lightly scrunching big handfuls of kale at a time, the leaves will become darker in color and fragrant, I would say in about 30 seconds or so.

toast the pecan

I always toast the pecans in a skillet on medium heat until they are turning brown. I then transfer them to a cutting board and once they are cooled off I chop them finely.

put the salad together

Final assembly: I add the wild rice to the kale in the salad bowl and drizzle enough dressing into the bowl to lightly coat the rice and kale leaves (you might not need all of it), then I toss to coat it all. Next step is to add the roasted sweet potatoes, pecans and cranberries to the salad bowl. Now I mix everything to combine and drizzle in extra dressing if the salad seems like it needs it.

For best flavor, I always let the salad rest for 10 minutes before serving it.

Here are some tips on how to make this nutritious salad

to make in advance..

This is a salad so some things can be prepared in advance since it is served cold anyway. I usually prepare the rice upfront, the roasted sweet potato and the dressing.

don’t skip this part:

Toast the pecans before chopping them up! It brings out an irresistible savory flavor to the salad. Make sure to not burn them though!

serve dressing on the side if you know you will have leftovers you want to keep

If you are not sure you are going to eat the whole salad, I would suggest to serve the dressing on the side so the leftover will stay fresh in the refrigerator until the next day; with the dressing on the salad the kale will get soggy in the refrigerator.

short on time?

And you don’t have leftover wild rice in your refrigerator? I have subbed quinoa for wild rice many times. Quinoa cooks quick and cools off fast as well.

Other substitutes for this healthy salad..

• To change it up use roasted butternut squash instead of sweet potato.
• Use other nuts like walnuts or almonds.
• Or other dried fruit. Apricots are lovely in this salad as well!
• You can use other greens, but it will change the flavor and consistency of the salad significantly.

My kids don’t eat salad (yet), but I still wanted to share this great nutrient-packed salad with you. It can accompany so many great family meals especially as a side to a Thanksgiving feast! And even though they refuse to eat salad, they will pick out the pecans, cranberries and even the roasted sweet potato. And for now I’ll let them..

I love this sweet potato and kale salad and one day I am sure my kids will too. I hope you will enjoy this as much as I do. It is

nutritious – vibrantly colorful – packed with good-for-you foods – so pretty and delicious

Looking for more Thanksgiving ideas? Check out this healthy pecan pie, these adorable pumpkin buns, my flavor packed roasted carrots, my turkey stuffing (incl GF and vegan version) and these herby mashed sweet potatoes.

Making this for lunch? Then you might also like this Gado Gado – Indonesian steamed vegetables with peanut dressing, my family friendly Niçoise salad, this incredible peach caprese salad or this yummy raw broccoli salad.

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?

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