Every winter I make some iteration of this winter salad (see here and here). It always has a dark leafy green, a roasted vegetable, avocados and pomegranates. What changes is the type of green, roasted vegetable, little add-ins and the dressing.
This year’s winter salad version has kale, roasted orange sweet potatoes, garlicky chickpea croutons, feta and a creamy tahini dressing. It’s a salad that combines different textures (soft, crunchy, roasted, creamy) and flavours (sweet, tart, salty), which makes it truly satisfying and always a hit.
A few notes on the recipe:
I massaged the kale separately with some lemon juice and olive oil and let it sit for a few minutes before assembling the salad and dressing it. I like to do this as it tenderises the kale, making it softer and removes some of the bitterness making it enjoyable to eat.
To get the chickpea croutons extra crispy, I removed the skin. After you rinse the chickpeas (I used canned chickpeas for this recipe), you may notice the skins coming off some of them. Usually, I don’t bother removing all of the skins; What comes off when I rub them dry is off, what stays on, remains. This time, I made sure to remove each skin. You do this by gently rubbing the chickpea and the skin comes off easily. It’s easy, but it’s tedious and takes time. Removing the skins makes the chickpea croutons a lot crispier. You don’t have to (I’ve made them plenty times without bothering to remove the skins), they’ll still taste as good; but if you want a very crispy chickpea, the extra effort will be worth it.
A Sweet and Tangy Winter Salad with Crispy Garlicky Croutons and Feta
Ingredients
- 3 handfuls Kale
- 2 orange sweet potatoe about 2 cups sliced
- 2 avocado cut into cubes
- 1 pomegranate seeds only
- 1/3 cup Feta Cheese
Garlic Chickpea Croutons
- 1 can chickpeas rinsed well and drained
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
Lemon Tahini Dressing
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 teaspoon chilli flakes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C
- Peel and slice the sweet potato into ½ inch thick discs (If the sweet potatoe is bigger, you can cut each circle in half or quarters). Drizzle with some olive oil, salt and pepper and mix to coat. Spread them out onto a baking tray and roast for 30-40 minutes until they are soft and just starting to brown around the edges.
- Rinse and drain the chickpeas. Pat them dry with a clean kitchen towel. For crispy croutons, individually remove each skin by rubbing each chickpea until the white skin comes off. Add them to a bowl along with the olive oil, salt and garlic powder and mix to coat them well.
- Lay the chickpeas out in an even layer on a baking tray and bake for 30 minutes until crisp. You can do this at the same time as the sweet potatoes. Allow to cool slightly once done.
- While the sweet potatoes and chickpeas are roasting, you can prep the remaining ingredients.
- Make the dressing by combining all the ingredients together and whisking until it’s smooth and creamy.
- Wash and dry your kale. Remove the stems from each leaf and cut into thin ribbons. Add it to a bowl along with ½ tablespoon each of olive oil and lemon juice. Using your hands, massage it into the kale, coating each leaf. Let it sit for a few minutes before assembling your salad.
- When everything is ready, assemble the salad. Add kale to a plate, then the sweet potato and avocado. Add the dressing and mix to coat. Top it with pomegranate seeds, chickpea croutons and crumbled feta.
