Fall in love with kale with this halloumi kale salad with a pesto dressing. Massaged kale with roasted sweet potato, pan fried halloumi and drizzled in a lemony pesto is a match made in heaven! Gluten free and grain free.
Ingredients
- 5-6 large kale leaves about 1/3 – 1/2 small bunch kale
- 1 large sweet potato about 400 grams
- 100-125 grams halloumi about 1/2 small block
- 1 lemon
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp pesto – I used my lemon basil pesto, see recipe notes
- 1 tbsp pine nuts – OPTIONAL, for topping
- 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds – OPTIONAL, for topping
- salt and pepper
Description
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Preheat oven to 180 C. Rinse and scrub sweet potato and then cut into small chunks (about 2cm cubes). Place on a non-stick oven tray, drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil and toss around to coat. Spread out evenly and roast for 45 minutes or until soft and slightly browning.
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Wash the kale leaves and then tear into small pieces, discarding the thick inner stems. Place the leaves in a large bowl. Add 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, the juice of half of the lemon and a pinch of salt. Massage the leaves with your fingertips until the leaves soften.
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Slice the halloumi into pieces about 5mm thick. Pan fry the halloumi in 1 tbsp olive oil, until golden brown on each side.
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If using the pumpkin seeds and pine nuts, toast them in the oven (spread out on a small tray, no oil) for about 5 minutes or until slightly golden. Watch them carefully so they don’t burn.
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Make the pesto dressing by combining 2 tbsp pesto, 1 tbsp olive oil and the juice of the remaining half of the lemon.
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Assemble the salad, layering in the kale leaves, sweet potato, halloumi, seeds/nut and finally finishing with the pesto dressing. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately!
Quick Notes
- this recipe is also delicious with roast pumpkin substituted in for the sweet potato!
How to massage kale:
The trick to making this a really excellent salad is to give the kale a good massage, so it’s soft, easier to digest and laced with the flavours of olive oil, lemon and salt. Here’s how you do it:
- Wash your kale leaves, pat/shake dry and then tear the leaves into smaller pieces, discarding the thick inner stem.
- Place kale into a large bowl.
- Drizzle over a little extra virgin olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice (essential, the acid helps it break down) and a pinch of salt.
- Get your hands into the bowl! Literally, properly massage the kale with your fingertips. Do this for a few minutes until you feel the kale is softened and evenly coated with the ingredients.
- Voila, you are done. Now it’s ready to go in the salad.
If you don’t have lemon juice, you can use a dash of apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar instead. These will also provide the acid needed to help tenderise the kale leaves.
