Date Kale Salad

This Sweet Date Kale Salad is made with dates for a natural sweetness and is so ridiculously delicious! The balsamic onion dressing is warming and simple to make and I’m so excited for you to try it out.

I use dates in smoothies and energy balls QUITE often but I am always excited to try them out in new ways. They’re just SO GOOD and I can often be found eating them completely raw (or maybe with a little touch of peanut butter inside 😀 YUM.

When making salad dressing, I often add a touch of sweetness to them. Instead of maple syrup, I decided to give dates a try and am so in love with how it tastes. Mixed in with the veggies and balsamic dressing, it’s such a subtle sweetness that is just so good!

I added a date into the dressing that gets blended up into a nice and creamy sauce and I also added a few chopped dates into the salad itself.

The addition of the chickpeas (for a nice and whole foods source of protein) makes this a deliciously well balanced salad!

Before we dive into the salad ingredients, I want to (ONCE AGAIN) stress the importance of massaging your kale. You’re doing that, right? I often get asked why you need to massage your kale so I’m going to briefly break it down for you.

Massaging your kale helps to break down the tough cell structure and overall makes it much softer and easier to taste. It also just overall tastes a LOT better once it has been massaged. So, don’t skip this step, okay?

Ingredients in this Date Kale Salad:

Medjool Dates– I really love buying the already pitted dates but if you don’t snag those, make sure that you remove the pits before adding them to the salad.

Kale– I used standard green kale but you could use dino kale, purple kale, or whatever you have on hand! (Just make sure that you massage it ;)).

Crispy Chickpeas– I followed THIS recipe and made the garlicky crispy chickpeas but any of those flavors would work well in this recipe. You could also also plain cooked chickpeas (without roasting them first) and it would still be delicious!

Purple cabbage– I LOVE the extra sweetness and crunch that purple cabbage offers.

Super yummy balsamic dressing– I’ve made a version of this dressing many times and love it so much. I typically serve it warm but you can also make it a little ahead of time and put it in the fridge to cool down if you’re wanting a cold salad.

Nuts- these are totally optional but I almost always find myself throwing a small handful of nuts onto my salads. I used slivered almonds but pine nuts would also be delicious in this salad.

This Sweet Kale Salad recipe is simple to make and so super filling! It comes together quickly and makes for such a delicious side dish.

Course Salad

Cuisine American

Diet Vegetarian

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings servings

Calories 214kcal

Author Brita Britnell

Ingredients

For the dressing:

3 tablespoons olive oil⅓ cup chopped yellow onion3 cloves garlic minced½ teaspoon salt3 teaspoons maple syrup or you can instead use 1 pitted date2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

For the salad:

1 bunch of kale1 cup shredded purple cabbage5 medjool dates sliced into 1/4 inch pieces3 tablespoons slivered almonds or pine nuts optional to taste1 batch of crispy chickpeas from a 15 ounce can of chickpeas*

Instructions

Clean and dry the kale, debone it, and then chop into bite sized pieces. I most often just do this by tearing it with my hands.

Make the dressing by heating 3 tablespoons of oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Once hot, add in the onion and saute for about 5 minutes. Add in the garlic, salt and maple syrup (if using a date, leave it out and add it into the blender whole) and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

Transfer the onion mixture to a blender, add in the balsamic vinegar (as well as the date if using), and blend until mostly smooth.

Add the chopped kale to a large bowl, pour the dressing over top, and massage the dressing into the kale. Massage for a couple of minutes until all of the kale is coated with the dressing and a rich dark green color. Do not skip the massage! It makes the kale much softer and a lot tastier.

Add the remaining ingredients (cabbage, sliced dates, nuts, and chickpeas) and toss to combine. Serve and ENJOY!

Notes

*If desired, you could also simply drain and rinse the chickpeas and add them to the salad without roasting them. I love them roasted in this recipe but often eat them on salads straight from the can.

Nutrition

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