A delicious Fall Kale Super Salad, with Brussels sprouts and broccoli, combined with apple, dried cranberries and sunflower seeds.
I know it’s not officially Fall, but for me, Fall starts on the day after Labour Day. This salad is my welcome to the most wonderful season and is perfect for early Fall. It’s also a riff on the popular “Super 7” salad kit.
I learned that it was so popular from my daughter, who spent the summer working as a cashier at a local grocery store. She brought one of the salad kits home after work one day, because she figured it must be one heck of a salad if so many people were buying it. According to her, this kit shows up in 80% of grocery orders! And it was pretty good. But at $4-$5 a bag and not really being one for salad kits, I decided that I’d make my own version.
My salad features Paula Red apples, which are the first of the Fall apples to show up at the market here in Ontario. Dried cranberries and roasted sunflower seeds are added for more Fall-themed goodness. All of that is combined with kale and finely chopped Brussels sprouts and broccoli. It’s all topped off with a quick and easy homemade creamy poppy seed dressing. Oh … and I threw in a bit of chopped, cooked bacon, as well, because I had some in the fridge and well, everything’s better with bacon, right?
Cook’s Notes for Fall Kale Super Salad
This recipe will make one really large, two good sized or four side salads.
You can prepare the dressing ahead of time and refrigerate. The greens can be chopped and refrigerated ahead. Dress and dice/add the apple just before serving.
Be sure to give your kale a good massage (see below) before adding to the salad. It makes all the difference when using fresh kale in a salad!
How and why to massage kale for your salad
Kale is a delicious, healthy green, but can be tough and bitter, especially when it comes to salads. To transform your kale in to salad-ready goodness, simply give it a massage.
To massage kale, simply tear off the leaves, discarding the stem/rib portions and scatter on a cutting board. Add a sprinkling of salt and start rubbing the kale leaves against the cutting board. You’ll notice your kale will shrink and become a darker green and you massage it. You are also releasing the natural sugars in the kale, so to know when you have massaged long enough, just do a quick taste taste shows to test if the bitterness has disappeared.
Fall Kale Super Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups chopped kale
- 6-8 Brussels sprouts chopped
- 3-4 florets broccoli chopped
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds (or pumpkin seeds/pepitas)
- 1 small apple cored and diced
- 1 slice (optional) bacon, cooked and chopped
Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing:
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 Tbsp white vinegar
- 2 Tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil
- 1 tsp poppy seeds
- Pinch salt/pepper
Instructions
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Make poppy seed dressing: Combine all ingredients in a small bowl or jar. Whisk or shake vigorously until combined and creamy. Refrigerate if not using right away.
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For the salad: Prepare greens. For the kale, remove leaves from stem. Discard stem (it's very bitter!). Chop kale leaves in to bite-sized pieces and scatter on a cutting board. Sprinkle with a little salt and rub/massage the kale for a minute or so, until it softens and darkens. Add kale to large bowl. For the Brussels sprouts, remove bottom 1/3 of sprout. Using a sharp knife, thinly slice sprout, turning it on to the flat side after a few slices and continuing to slice until it's all sliced. Add to the bowl with the kale. For the broccoli, remove several florets and finely chop both the flower ends and the stalk. Add to the bowl.
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Add the dried cranberries and roasted sunflower seeds to the bowl. Dice apple (I don't peeand add to the bowl. Drizzle some of the salad dressing over the salad and toss. Add more dressing as needed.
This salad is so beautiful Jennifer! It’s a work of art. Your pictures are fabulous! And it’s everything that I’m craving right now. Can’t wait to try it out!
Thanks Liz :) I loved this salad. There’s something magical about food that tastes so good AND is pretty good for you, too!
I love kale salads and this looks fantastic Jennifer! Love the addition of crunchy apples!
Thanks so much, Millie. Apples are so nice this time of year. Couldn’t resist adding some :)
How amazing is this salad! Loving all the fresh flavours and vibrant colours. I definitely will be recreating the recipe and adding the bacon. Pinned!
Thanks Thalia. You’ll love this salad. It’s a bit addicting (had to make more for lunch today ;) Thanks for pinning!
Gorgeous fall salad! I’m all about texture when it comes to salads and you have plenty of that here! :)
Thanks Laura. Yes, this one has a wealth of textures and flavours, for sure!
Definitely my kind of salad! So much goodness in here!
Thanks Katrina!
What a beautiful salad! Never thought of adding brussels sprouts, but it sounds great. Can’t wait to try this.
Thanks Carrie. Raw brussels sprouts taste just like cabbage really (to me, anyway), so it adds a nice flavour to the salad. And I don’t have a huge cabbage kicking around my fridge for weeks ;)
This salad made my stomach growl! So perfect for that summer/fall transition
Thanks Jessica. And yes, it’s perfect for the still warmish days of early Fall.
You totally had me at brussels sprouts and bacon! This definitely sounds like a super salad to me, and very well timed…I’ve been trying to get more into kale. Beautiful photos too! :-)
Thanks so much, Karen. Truth be told, I’m not really a huge cooked brussels sprouts fan, but I love them raw!
What an amazing salad, all my favorite greens in one dish!
Thanks Cheri. A delicious way to eat greens :)
WOW! This salad is gorgeous! I love all the ingredients and flavor combos, definitely going to have to try this one out!
Thanks Phi. Really delicious. You’d love this one!
Oh yum! I only recently had my very first massaged kale salad, and it was so good! It was nice to have kale in a form other than kale chips or sauteed greens. I’m glad I came across this salad, since I was looking for all kinds of massaged / raw kale recipes.
You’ll love this one then, Kate. Lots of great flavours and textures!
This fall salad is perfect! Pinned :)
Thanks so much, Marla and thanks for pinning!
Jennifer, this is absolutely everything I crave during fall in one gorgeous salad! It is also especially appealing after a weekend of indulgence :) What a bowl of awesome!
Thanks so much, Amy. This is a salad that manages to marry good and good for you!
just stumbled onto your blog today for the first time . . and it’s lovely! I can’t seem to leave. . gorgeous gorgeous salad. . and yes, massage that kale! :) I think homemade salads are the best.
Thanks so much, Alice :)
Are you using regular kale or tuscan kale, or does it matter? This seems to be a great dish for our warm falls in Tucson.
Hi Vicki, I don’t think it matters. I like tuscan or sometimes I use the baby kale. I think as long as you give it a good massage to soften it up, it will be great.
That salad looks so perfectly crunchy, fresh and delicious, and another way to eat kale, just fabulous!
Thanks so much, Anna :)
This is gorgeous!
Thanks so much, Jennifer :)
Great salad and the vegetable pairings complimented each other. I used fresh baby kale and it did not need the additional prep as it was tender and not bitter. Substituted pomegranate seeds for the cranberries and added a nice texture as you had the pop of the berries that added a little tartness.
So glad you enjoyed it, Cathy! The pomegranate would be lovely in this salad :)