Baby Kale and Beet Salad with Walnut Dressing

Salad dressings have become an interesting topic in our home, as newlyweds we find ourselves creating traditions together and our salad dressing is no exception. We both come from salad eating families and growing up, dinner wasn’t dinner if there wasn’t a salad. A salad would accompany a vegetable, some sort of protein and a starch. It was never the whole meal, because it was an accompaniment my mother would make a simple apple cider vinaigrette with olive oil, Dijon mustard or soy sauce and she would toss it with whatever greens were in season or were growing in her fabulous garden. Her dressing is almost astringent in it’s acidity but this would always work well because it accompanied a big meal. My husband is always enthusiastic about everything I make, but he might not be the biggest fan of apple cider vinegar, or he doesn’t want it every night. To temper the acidity of the dressing I have been adding a dash of maple syrup(from our farm) or a bit of honey, which makes us both happy! This sweeter dressing works well with all the fall produce we have been getting in our CSA too. Here, I added more than a dash of maple syrup but the sweetness of the dressing plays well with the earthy flavors of the beets and kale.

Baby Kale and Beet Salad with Walnut Dressing


Ingredients:

• 4 cups of baby kale, washed, stems removed and roughly torn by hand
• 1 bunch beats, boiled or roasted, peeled and sliced
• 2 ounces of creamy feta cheese (a more delicate creamy version of feta that I have found here in Queens)
• salt and pepper to taste

Dressing:

• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons walnut oil (or olive oil)

Preparation:

1. Place kale, beets and cheese in a salad bowl and season with salt and pepper.
   
2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk together the dressing.
   
3. Toss the salad with 2 tablespoons of the dressing in your salad bowl , reserving the rest of the dressing ---you will have leftovers---for the next salad!