Roasted Sweet Potato & Kale Salad with Candied Pecans & Cranberries
This roasted sweet potato and kale salad with candied pecans and cranberries is perfect for the holiday season. Topped with an easy homemade honey lemon vinaigrette.
This roasted sweet potato and kale salad with candied pecans and cranberries is perfect for the holiday season. Topped with an easy homemade honey lemon vinaigrette.
- Carbohydrate 12.9451334374423 g
- Cholesterol 3.81289062663513 mg
- Fat 13.8038539079285 g
- Fiber 1.43848442315835 g
- Protein 1.28111953127914 g
- Saturated Fat 2.10464375053876 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (33g)
- Sodium 28.9347265668234 mg
- Sugar 11.5066490142839 g
- Trans Fat 0.637562656315412 g
- Calories 171 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Peel and dice sweet potatoes into small cubes.
- Toss in olive oil and season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Place evenly on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and roast in the oven for 40 minutes, flipping the potatoes over when 20 minutes have passed.
- While sweet potatoes are roasting, combine butter, pecan halves and cane sugar in a medium-sized skillet over medium-high heat.
- Cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the sugar has melted and the nuts are fully coated.
- Transfer nuts to a baking sheet (or large plate) lined with parchment paper and set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
- While the pecans are cooling, combine olive oil, honey, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and salt and pepper to taste in a small mason jar or bowl. Shake or stir to combine the honey lemon vinaigrette.
- While waiting for the sweet potatoes to finish roasting, chop kale and place in a large bowl.
- When sweet potatoes are done, add candied pecans, cranberries, sweet potatoes and the honey-lemon vinaigrette to the large bowl and toss to combine.
- Serve and enjoy!
Roasting dense root vegetables requires a hot oven set to 400 degrees Fahrenheit to trigger proper caramelization without turning the interior to mush. Small, uniform dicing ensures the potato cubes cook through in exactly forty minutes, requiring a single flip at the twenty-minute mark to brown both sides evenly on parchment paper. While the roots roast, a skillet handles the rapid melting of butter and cane sugar coating the pecan halves within five minutes. Spreading those hot nuts onto a lined sheet immediately stops the cooking process and prevents burning. Raw kale benefits from a thorough physical massage with the dressing ingredients before serving, which breaks down the tough cellulose walls and softens the fibrous texture into something tender. Whisking the honey, lemon juice, olive oil, and apple cider vinegar inside a sealed mason jar creates a reliable emulsion through mechanical agitation rather than tedious whisking. Staggering these tasks allows the cook to utilize downtime efficiently, matching the cooling time of the nuts directly to the roasting schedule of the sweet potatoes.
