This Autumn Salad of kale and warm honey mustard vinaigrette with sweet potatoes, dried cranberries and toasted pumpkin seeds is the perfect salad for parties and potlucks. 

I have brought this salad to parties at least ten times, and it’s always the first to go and the star of the table. I’ve seen cupcakes, cookies and other foods have to go back home, but never this salad. No matter how large of a bowl I bring, there is never enough.

You can mix the kale with other greens if you choose to, as I did in this version with arugula.

This is a perfect potluck salad because you  can have everything ready within twenty minutes in the morning, and then put it all together with the dressing about three to four  hours in advance. The marination massages the kale, and brings it to a place that is very different than what most people think.

People will appreciate seeing a green sitting on the table that is gorgeous, appetizing and satisfying. It might make them feel better about the dips and chips and sweets they are also eating, and for those who are into that paleo craze, they will stop and thank you.

This is that perfect salad for this time of year, whether it’s a tail gating party, Halloween, or Thanksgiving, because you dress the salad at least two hours in advance. At Christmas, you can just add in some pomegranate seeds. I’ve learned that while people love the cookies and treats at a Holiday party, they are so grateful to see a good salad.

I used sweet potatoes, but you can use butternut squash.

I used toasted pumpkin seeds, but you can use toasted pecans, almonds or walnuts.

Add in some chopped up crispy pancetta or bacon.  Add in citrus for some brightness if you have it on hand.

Make a Warm Vinaigrette with Maple Syrup

I used a warm honey mustard vinaigrette that can be made with maple syrup. Either works incredibly well. If you don’t have time to dress the salad ahead, warm the dressing. It will relax the kale. Also add the pumpkin seeds  and sweet potatoes when they are hot. Kale can handle this.

The KEY to this salad is to taste it before serving, make sure it’s seasoned with enough salt and pepper. 

If  there is salad left over,  just refrigerate and sauté the left overs in a pan. It takes on a slightly different melted down texture, but still remains somewhat structured and it’s very good. The only thing I would not add to this salad is cheese, which I think would drown the nice flavors the sweet potato brings.

The dressing is sweetened by either honey or maple syrup to offset the heavy dose of vinegar and the punch of mustard, but it is so good. It’s going to taste a bit vinegary when you taste it, but will settle down as the kale takes hold of it.

This particular kale salad is similar to the one I made here, but I gave it an Autumn twist.

Tell me, do you take salads to parties? Are you ready for the Fall flavors?

If you really love kale salads, you might want to try this Tuscan Kale Salad  with a lemony dressing.

More Kale Recipes from Spinach Tiger

• Tuscan Kale Salad with Almonds
• Kale Smoothie
• Melted Kale
• Kale Risotto
• Kale Stir Fry with Ground Beef, Pancetta, Peas
• Salmon with Crispy Kale
• How to Freeze Kale for Smoothies
• Kale Apple Salad with Maple Dressing

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Autumn Salad: Sweet Potatoes, Kale, Pumpkin Seeds, Cranberries, Warm Maple Vinaigrette

A perfect Autumn Salad that is good for any party or Fall gathering. Sweet potatoes, pumpkin seeds, cranberries, pears and apples give color, taste and texture.

Course Salad

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 2 bunches lacinato kale the long skinny kind aka Tuscan kale
• roasted sweet pototoes
• 1 small apple or pear
• 2 tablespoons toasted pumpkin seeds or nuts of your choice
• 2 tablespoons dried cranberries
• Warmed Maple Vinaigrette

For Roasted Sweet Potatoes

• 2 sweet potatoes peeled, cubed or one large butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• dash cinnamon
• dash nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon tumeric optional
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Warm Maple Vinaigrette

• 6 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 clove garlic finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 12 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

• Wash and dry kale.
• Remove ribs from kale. I used a sharp knife to cut out the ribs.
• Cut kale into bite size pieces.
• Slice apple and pear into thin slices, leaving skin on, or cube, whichever you prefer.
• Add in just enough dressing to salad to wet the leaves. Save some of the dressing to add in warm right before serving. At that point, I’ll warm up the dressing in the microwave.
• Add warmed roasted sweet potatoes, cranberries and pumpkin seeds, saving some of each for top of bowl. Gently toss so as to not break up sweet potatoes.
• Season with salt the pepper.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes.

• Mix olive oil with cayenne, cinnamon, maple syrup, nutmeg.
• Toss potatoes in this oil, using just enough to wet potatoes.
• Roast for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees, until potatoes are soft, but still firm.
• You can toast the pumpkin seeds at this time. They only take 5 minutes.

Warmed Cider Vinaigrette

• Put all the ingredients in blender and blend until thoroughly emulsified. If using a Vitamix put the garlic clove in whole. If using a blender, dice the garlic first.
• You will want to dress the kale at least an hour in advance. This breaks down the kale.

The post Prepare Ahead Kale Salad: Sweet Potatoes, Maple Vinaigrette appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

This is Italian meets French. Panzanella is an Italian bread salad, typically rustic, rough and rugged,  while the ruffled egg is French, dainty, cute, like a little purse. I used a French imported brioche to make the bread salad which added an unique sweetness to the dish, countered by a spicy vinaigrette. The flavors are complex, and this one of those meals that can be eaten any time of day.

This is the fifth recipe in a five recipe-10 ingredient challenge from Tabasco. The ten ingredients are explained here along with the rules of the challenge.

Tabasco sauce helps to boost flavor. A good recipe will have a balance of fat, salt and acid, but to take it a step further, heat pushes the flavors. Tabasco has acid, heat and salt which is probably why it’s so popular and sits on so many restaurant tables.

In this recipe I used the brioche, eggs, cherry tomatoes, herbs, maple syrup and cider vinegar. Olive oil was a free ingredient and, of course, Tabasco.

I love salad and there were no greens in this challenge. The idea of an Italian bread salad came to me because I had brioche and eggs to work with. I love using cider vinegar to make a vinaigrette. It’s going to have a sweet profile, but this is balanced by the heat of the Tabasco. This Tabasco vinaigette could easily work on a green salad, perhaps with some smoky bacon and blue cheese.

Typically panzanella is made with Tuscan bread, very crusty, very dense which holds a vinaigrette. I was given brioche to use which is a more delicate, sweeter bread, which paired nicely with sweet cherry tomatoes and ruffled eggs. In some pictures, you will see poached eggs, because I wanted you to have that option.  You could also make this with sunny side up eggs. The Perfect Poached Eggs recipe can be found here. This is the second brunch type dish I’ve made for the challenge. If you like this one you’ll love the Eggplant Benedict with Tabasco Hollandaise Sauce.  You could even use some of that hollandaise sauce for this dish. Isn’t cooking about making a dish you’re own creation?

I do have a sixth recipe, which I will post tomorrow. One of the ingredients was chocolate and I came up with yet another Italian dish, so please do come back to see how chocolate goes a bit savory.

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Panzanella Made with Brioche, Cherry Tomatoes, Ruffled Eggs, Tabasco

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 4 cups brioche cubes
• 1/2 cup vinaigrette more if you need it
• Basil Leaves
• Ruffled Eggs

Vinaigrette

• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1/2 tablespoon tabasco
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Instructions

• Fry cubed brioche in hot olive oil, about 20 seconds each side. Cool.
• Toss with Maple Cider Tabasco Vinaigrette
• Add in cherry tomatoes and basil
• Top with Ruffled or Poached eggs
• Garnish

The Five Recipes for the 10 Ingredient Tabasco Challenge

Monday: Grilled Swordfish with Salsa Verde over Tomato Agridolce, Paleo Friendly

Tuesday: Eggplant Benedict with Olive Oil Tabasco Hollandaise Sauce, Paleo Friendly

Wednesday: Savory Eggplant Bread Pudding

Thursday: Swordfish Milanese with Eggplant Tomato Sauce with Tabasco

Friday: Panzanella Bread Salad with French Ruffled Egg, Tabasco Vinaigrette

The post Panzanella, Ruffled Eggs, Tabasco Maple Vinaigrette appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

I often get my cooking inspiration from local chefs, local restaurants, local food events. That’s exactly what happened here when I ate a salad sample at Generous Helpings.  It’s hard to believe that of all the fabulous food, such as charcuterie from Urban Grub, Legato Gelato, Jeni’s Ice Cream, macarons from Provence, that the salad from the Holland House would be the dish we would eat in triples. Yes.

The salad was like a crunchy slaw made with cabbage, Marcona almonds, cranberries and a caraway vinaigrette. The combination of flavors created an umami experience, as well as a great triple crunch texture.

I’m a long time fan of the Holland House and I wrote about them here. Known for their amazing vintage, craft cocktails, they change menus with the season and balance out exciting food with rustic notes that places it as one of the favorite neighborhood restaurants in East Nashville, serving food could be special occasion, and just approachable enough to eat at weekly.

A version of the salad is currently on the menu, using a combination of cabbage and brussels. It was easier for me to use two types of cabbage to make enough to feed a big crowd. However, if you are feeding a small group, make it extra special by using shredded brussels sprouts and a touch of red cabbage for flavor.

I couldn’t find the shredded phylo known as kataifi at my neighborhood grocery, so I substituted fried, crunchy ramen noodles (without the msg package). It works well.

This can be made in advance; however don’t put the kataifi or crunchy noodles on until right before serving.

Crunchy slaw can be served in one large serving bowl, or just for fun, pack in jars and take on a picnic.

If you want this grain free or Paleo, just leave out the crunchy ramen noodles.

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Crunchy Cabbage Salad with Marcona Almonds

A crunchy slaw of cabbage, cranberries, marcona almonds, and a caraway vinaigrette, topped with crunch ramen noodles.

Course Salad

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

Caraway Vinaigrette Recipe

• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 8 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds

Crunchy Salad

• 1 small head cabbage shredded
• 1/2 small head red cabbage shredded
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries or dried cherries
• 1/2 cup of crumbled fresh sheep’s feta cheese
• 2 tablespoons of marcona almonds
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 package ramen noodles approximately 2 cups
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
• sea salt
• freshly ground pepper

Instructions

Caraway Vinaigrette

• Mix vinegar and mustard together until emulsified.
• Slowly add in oil, salt, pepper and caraway seeds.

Salad

• Mix together, cabbage, cranberries, feta cheese, marcona almonds with a generous portion of the caraway vinaigrette. Place in refrigerator.
• Make ramen noodles. Do not use the accompanying package of seasons, only the noodles.
• Heat a tablespoon or less of olive oil in frying pan.
• Toast the teaspoon of caraway seeds together with the noodles just until the noodles are golden. Be careful not to burn.
• Right before serving, take the crunchy slaw out of the fridge. Top with crunchy noodles right before serving.

The post Triple Crunch Cabbage Salad with Marcona Almonds and Caraway Vinaigrette appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

What makes a Bloody Mary best? They need to taste like food and jump a little. I got this recipe from a very sharp bartender who knew how to balance the briny,  salty, spicy elements with just enough citrus  to pull it all together.

Bloody Mary’s are most often enjoyed in the day time, maybe even the early morning.   Some years ago, Jason, the bartender at the lobby bar at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel helped  me to pass some rainy day time, while I was waiting for Mr. ST to return from his conference. We both just happen to have events that took us from Nashville to San Francisco on the exact same weekend, and I sat at the lobby bar waiting for him on a Sunday afternoon. I was intrigued that he wasn’t using a Bloody Mary mix. I watched him muddle together the tomato and jalapeno, add in real tomato juice, and horseradish, Tabasco and lemon, and I knew I had to have one. He was nice enough to make me second one, slowly showing me his step by step method. Then he wrote it all down for me.

Somehow I’ve managed to hold onto that paper for the past three years, and I’m finally sharing it today.

I don’t can food, and I rarely make anything pickled, but in recent years I’m discovering that pickling is a hot new trend and you don’t have to can the old fashioned way if you are going to eat the pickled food in the next few weeks.

I tend to like pickles a lot, especially if they are spicy, so I threw a good dash of cayenne pepper in the mix. I think this garnish is especially nice for a Bloody Mary and not everyone likes the typical celery.

The asparagus in this recipe makes a great appetizer, as well as a drink garnish. I used an interesting pickling spice that has cinnamon, mustard seed, dill seed and tumeric among other things, but any pickling spice will do.

The result is a very flavorful Bloody Mary. I was so excited to make this, I went and bought a muddler, which is used to muddle the  jalapenos and tomatoes.

Tell me, have you ever asked a bartender or a server for a  special recipe? Do you feel awkward doing that?

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Sir Francis Drake Hotel Bar Bloody Mary by Jason

Lucky enough to snatch the recipe for the best Bloody Mary from San Franciso's Sir Francis Drake Hotel Lobby Bar, starting with a key ingredient, olive juice.

Course Cocktails

Cuisine American

Servings 1

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 3-4 grape tomatoes
• 3-4 slices jalapeno
• 1/2 teaspoon horseradish
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2-3 dashes of Tabasco sauce
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 oz. vodka
• 2 oz. tomato juice
• FOR GARNISH
• 1 olive
• 1 grape tomato
• squeeze lime
• celery stick
• pickled asparagus optional

Pickled Asparagus

• 10 asparagus spears or as many as fit into the jar
• 2 pint mason jar
• 2 cups apple cider vinegar
• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons pickling spice
• 1 teaspoon dill seed or fresh dill
• 2 teaspoons pepper corns
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 cloves garlic

Instructions

• Muddle the grape tomatoes and jalapeno and add ice.
• Add horseradish, pepper, salt, Tabasco sauce, lemon juice, vodka, tomato juice.
• Shake.
• Pour in pint glass, garnish as desired with garnishes

Pickled Asparagus

• Trim woody bottoms of asparagus and make sure it will fit into the height of the jar.
• Blanch asparagus in boiling water for one minute.
• Remove to ice bath
• Bring vinegar and water, pickling spice to a boil. Boil for two minutes
• Put asparagus into jar and pour pickling liquid over asparagus.Add remaining ingredients. Give a good shake.
• Cool. Put on lid tightly and refrigerate for a few days before serving.
• Pickled asparagus will keep in refrigerator for a few weeks.

The post Best Bloody Mary with Pickled Asparagus, Recipe from a Bartender appeared first on Spinach Tiger.