Delicious & Healthy Kale Salad: Roasted Sweet Potato, Fig & Apple Harvest Recipe with Creamy Vinaigrette

Embrace the vibrant flavors of autumn with this incredibly delicious and satisfying Harvest Kale Salad. Featuring tender roasted sweet potatoes and sweet figs, crisp apples, and a touch of wild rice, all brought together with an irresistibly creamy Apple Dijon Vinaigrette. This isn’t just a salad; it’s a cozy, nutrient-packed meal that feels perfectly at home on your holiday buffet or as a comforting weeknight dinner. It’s easy to prepare, visually stunning, and promises a delightful blend of textures and tastes in every bite.

The Heart of Autumn: Salad Perfection

Forget everything you thought about salads being a summer-only affair. As the days grow shorter and the air crisper, this Harvest Kale Salad emerges as the quintessential autumn dish. It beautifully marries robust, raw greens with the comforting warmth of roasted root vegetables and the unexpected sweetness of fruit. Imagine sturdy kale providing a fresh base, while warmly spiced sweet potatoes and caramelized figs add a depth of flavor and a tender bite. The addition of wild rice transforms this salad into a truly satisfying meal, offering a delightful chewiness and an extra boost of nutrients.

And then there’s the dressing. Oh, that dressing! Prepare to be amazed by this unbelievably creamy and flavorful Apple Dijon Vinaigrette. Naturally sweetened with dates and brightened by apple cider, it’s a dairy-free dream that elevates every ingredient it touches. You might find yourself wanting to drizzle it over everything, or simply enjoy it by the spoonful!

Many of us tend to shy away from salads when the weather cools, but doing so means missing out on a fantastic opportunity to nourish our bodies. This fall salad is the ideal blend of light and hearty, a perfect way to keep your digestive system happy and your body fueled with essential vitamins and fiber. It offers a similar comforting yet fresh balance to my beloved Lentil Salad with Roasted Vegetables.

Unveiling the Benefits of Leafy Greens

Leafy greens are nutritional powerhouses, and incorporating them into your diet through vibrant salads is one of the easiest and most enjoyable ways to reap their myriad benefits. The variety of greens available is vast—from collards and chard to kale, spinach, arugula, and dandelion greens—each offering a unique nutritional profile. For this recipe, curly kale is an excellent choice because of its sturdy texture that holds up beautifully to the dressing and other ingredients, preventing sogginess. However, I strongly encourage you to experiment with different greens to diversify your nutrient intake!

Here are just a few of the remarkable benefits that leafy greens bring to your plate:

• **Nutrient-Dense and Antioxidant-Rich:** Packed with vitamins (A, C, K), minerals (iron, calcium), and powerful antioxidants, leafy greens help protect your cells from damage.
• **Highly Anti-Inflammatory:** Their rich phytonutrient content actively combats inflammation throughout the body, promoting overall wellness.
• **Provide UV Protection:** Certain compounds in greens can offer a natural defense against the harmful effects of UV radiation.
• **Abundance of Chlorophyll:** This green pigment helps detoxify the body by protecting against environmental toxins and heavy metals.
• **High in Fiber:** Essential for digestive health, fiber promotes regularity and feeds beneficial gut bacteria, contributing to a happy and balanced gut microbiome.
• **Help Fight Diabetes:** The fiber and various nutrients in greens can help regulate blood sugar levels.
• **Slow Down the Aging Process:** Antioxidants and vitamins contribute to cellular health and regeneration, which can have anti-aging effects.
• **Help Burn Fat:** Their low-calorie, high-nutrient content supports weight management and metabolism.
• **Improve Cardiovascular Health:** Greens contribute to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, supporting a healthy heart.

Star Ingredients and Flavor Profiles

Each component of this harvest salad is carefully chosen to create a symphony of flavors and textures, making every forkful an exciting experience. Here’s a closer look at the star players and how to get the best out of them:

• Fresh Figs: These add a unique chewiness, a delicate sweetness, and a beautiful aesthetic to the salad. Figs are also excellent for digestion, rich in antioxidants, and provide a good dose of fiber. If fresh figs are out of season, juicy red grapes, halved and roasted alongside the sweet potatoes, make an incredible substitute. Their caramelization brings out a surprising depth of flavor.
• Leafy Greens: While curly kale is my go-to for its robustness, feel free to explore! Lacinato kale (dinosaur kale), red curly kale, collard greens, spinach, arugula, julienned beet greens, watercress, or chard would all be fantastic. A combination of different lettuces and greens can also add complexity. Remember to massage tougher greens like kale to soften them and enhance their flavor.
• Radicchio: This sturdy, bitter member of the chicory family provides a crucial counterpoint to the salad’s sweetness. Its vibrant color is also a visual treat. Bitter greens are exceptionally high in antioxidants and play an important role in balancing the overall taste profile. If the bitterness isn’t to your liking, thinly sliced red cabbage offers a similar crunch and color without the strong bitter note.
• Sweet Potatoes: Roasted with a delightful blend of cinnamon and cumin, the sweet potatoes become tender and slightly caramelized, adding a comforting sweetness and satisfying texture. Their hearty presence makes this salad incredibly filling. Any winter squash, such as acorn or delicata squash, would also be a lovely addition; they have a similar roasting time and don’t typically require peeling.
• Wild Rice: A true superfood, wild rice is a rich source of dietary fiber and boasts powerful antioxidant and lipid-lowering properties. Its chewy texture is a wonderful contrast to the crisp apples and soft sweet potatoes. For alternatives, consider other whole grains like farro, quinoa, or barley. For a grain-free option, uncooked cauliflower rice could provide a similar textural element.
• Apples: Choose crisp, snacking apple varieties like Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, Gala, or Golden Delicious. Baking apples tend to become too soft and mushy in a salad. Their bright, juicy crunch is essential for balance.
• Olive Oil: Used sparingly (just 2 tablespoons for roasting), it helps the spices adhere to the sweet potatoes and figs, promoting beautiful caramelization. For an oil-free alternative, you can lightly spray the veggies with water.
• Spices for Roasting: A harmonious blend of cumin, cinnamon, and sea salt creates a warm, cozy fall vibe for the roasted vegetables. You could also experiment with pumpkin pie spices like allspice, clove, or nutmeg for a different autumnal twist.

Crafting the Creamy Apple Dijon Vinaigrette

The dressing is truly the star that brings this entire salad together, infusing it with a creamy, tangy, and subtly sweet flavor. This dairy-free Apple Dijon Vinaigrette is remarkably simple to make and packed with wholesome ingredients:

• Olive Oil: Beyond binding the ingredients, it lends a luxurious creaminess to this plant-based dressing, along with healthy monounsaturated fats.
• Apple Cider Vinegar: This powerhouse ingredient is crucial for the dressing’s bright, tangy flavor. It also offers antioxidants, aids in blood sugar regulation, and possesses antimicrobial properties.
• Walnuts: A fantastic source of omega-3 fatty acids, healthy fats, and protein, walnuts are blended into the dressing to provide natural thickening and a rich, nutty depth without any dairy.
• Apple Cider: Look for an organic, unsweetened cider with just one ingredient: apples. Fresh cider contains more healthful apple polyphenol compounds than filtered apple juice, contributing a purer apple flavor.
• Dijon Mustard: This provides a delightful tang and helps emulsify the dressing, perfectly complementing the walnuts and apple cider. A teaspoon of mustard powder can be substituted if needed.
• Medjool Dates: These provide a natural, caramel-like sweetness that is beautifully balanced by their inherent fiber, preventing any sugar spikes. Be sure to remove the pits before blending.
• Garlic: A single clove of garlic adds a subtle savory punch, enhancing the overall complexity of the dressing.
• Spices (Salt & Cinnamon, pinch of Red Pepper Flakes): Sea salt balances the flavors, cinnamon echoes the fall theme, and a tiny pinch of red pepper flakes adds an optional, barely-there warmth.

How to Make This Harvest Kale Salad: Step-by-Step

Creating this stunning harvest salad is a straightforward process, broken down into simple steps to ensure perfect results every time. Follow these instructions to bring this autumnal masterpiece to life:

1. Prepare the Wild Rice

Rinsing your wild rice thoroughly under cool running water is an important first step. While cooking wild rice on the stovetop is perfectly fine (using 1 ½ cups water for ¾ cup rice, simmering for 35 minutes until absorbed), I highly recommend using an Instant Pot. It doesn’t necessarily save a lot of time compared to the stovetop method, but the rice consistently comes out perfectly cooked and never burns on the bottom. For Instant Pot, combine ¾ cup rice with 1 cup water, cook on high pressure for 30 minutes, then allow for natural release.

2. Roast the Sweet Potatoes and Figs

Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C). Scrub your sweet potatoes well (no need to peel them, just wash and pat dry) and cut them into uniform wedges. Arrange them on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle generously with cinnamon, cumin, and sea salt. Toss everything well to ensure an even coating. Roast for 10 minutes. While they roast, halve your fresh figs (if large, quarter them). After the initial 10 minutes, add the figs to the baking sheet, tossing them gently with the spiced oil. Return to the oven and roast for another 8-10 minutes, or until both the sweet potatoes are tender and the figs are slightly caramelized.

3. Prepare the Creamy Apple Vinaigrette

This magical dressing comes together in minutes. First, remove the pits from your Medjool dates and roughly chop them. Then, in a blender or food processor, combine the chopped dates with ⅓ cup olive oil, ⅓ cup apple cider, ¼ cup walnuts, 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, 1 pressed garlic clove, ½ teaspoon sea salt, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, and an optional pinch of red pepper flakes. Blend until the mixture is completely creamy and emulsified, ensuring the walnuts are fully incorporated for that luxurious texture. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.

4. Prepare Remaining Produce: Radicchio, Kale, and Apples

Properly preparing your greens and fruit ensures optimal taste and texture:

1. **Radicchio:** Halve the head of radicchio, then carefully cut out the tough, woody core from each half. Turn the cored radicchio halves cut-side down and thinly slice them into ribbons.
2. **Kale:** Wash your kale thoroughly and tear it into small, bite-sized pieces. Gently massage the kale with your hands for a few minutes. This process helps to break down the tough fibers, making it softer, more palatable, and easier to digest. You’ll notice its color transform from a deep green to a more vibrant, lighter shade.
3. **Apples:** Halve your chosen crisp apple(s), scoop out the core and seeds, then thinly slice or cube them. Cutting the apples just before assembly helps prevent browning.

5. Assemble and Serve Your Harvest Salad

Now for the grand finale! Start with a generous base of your massaged kale. Artfully arrange or gently toss in the thinly sliced radicchio, cooked wild rice, warm roasted sweet potatoes and figs, and crisp chopped apples. You have two options for serving:

• **Platter Presentation:** For a stunning visual, arrange all the ingredients elegantly on a large platter, creating distinct sections of color and texture. Drizzle with some of the dressing just before serving.
• **Large Bowl Toss:** For a more rustic and casual approach, combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Begin by adding about half of the prepared dressing, then toss everything gently to coat. Taste, and add more dressing if desired. It’s always best to start with less; you can always pass around extra dressing for those who prefer more.

More Hearty Salad Recipes for Fall and Winter

If you loved this harvest salad, you might enjoy these other wholesome and satisfying salad recipes perfect for the cooler months:

Did you enjoy this recipe? Your feedback means the world to us! Please consider leaving a five-star rating below and sharing your thoughts in the comments. We’d also love to see your beautiful creations! Share your photos on Instagram by tagging me @dkhealthcoach and using the hashtag #debraklein.

📖 Recipe Card: Harvest Salad + Apple Vinaigrette