Chicken and Kale Salad
with goat cheese / roasted beets / sweet potatoes
Packed with protein, hearty greens, and roasted beets and sweet potatoes, this salad is both filling and beautiful! The balsamic-apple cider vinaigrette gives the salad the perfect taste of fall.
Smarts: If you'd like softer kale for this salad, be sure to "massage" the leaves with vinaigrette as directed below.
Ingredients
- Vinegar, balsamic - 2 Tbsp
- Vinegar, apple cider - 1 Tbsp
- Mustard, Dijon - 2 tsp
- Maple syrup - 1 Tbsp
- Oil, cooking - 1/4 cup
- Sweet potatoes - 1 lb, peeled and cubed
- Beets - 4
- Foil - for cooking
- Oil, olive - 1 Tbsp
- Kale, any type - 8 oz, stems removed; chopped (sub baby kale)
- Chicken breast tenders - 1 1/4 lbs (sub boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced into strips)
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp
- Cheese, goat - 4 oz (sub feta)
- Almonds, sliced - 2 oz
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Sweet potatoes - Peel and cube. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Make vinaigrette - Whisk together balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, mustard, maple syrup, and cooking oil (portion for vinaigrette). Season to taste with some salt and pepper. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Roast beets and sweet potatoes - Heat oven to 400F / 204C. Scrub and trim ends off beets. Place beets into a baking dish and fill with about 1/2” / 1.3 cm of water. Cover with foil and roast for 45 to 60 minutes, depending on size of beets. Toss sweet potatoes with olive oil and some salt. Spread out onto a sheet pan and roast until tender, 25 to 35 minutes. Store beets and sweet potatoes separately. (Can be done up to 3 days ahead)
- Kale - Remove stems and chop leaves. (Skip this step if using baby kale.) (Can be done up to 3 days ahead)
- Chicken - Tenderize with a fork and season with some salt and pepper. (Can be done 1 day ahead)
- Peel beets - Peel skin off the side of beets with a spoon and chop into bite-sized pieces.
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Make
- Toss kale with 1 Tbsp / 15 mL of vinaigrette (for 4 servings; adjust if customizing). Rub the leaves between your hands if you’d like the kale more tender (this is often referred to as “massaging” the kale). Set aside while cooking chicken.
- Heat a skillet with cooking oil (portion for salad) over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook on all sides until golden brown and cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes total.
- Toss kale with beets and sweet potatoes. Divide between serving bowls.
- Crumble goat cheese over top and finish with chicken and almonds. Add remaining dressing to salads until dressed to your liking. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
23 reviews
Really good! I did Brussels sprouts instead of beets - the roasted potatoes and Brussels sprouts together, plus the goat cheese and kale was SO good. My chicken just turned out a little blah. I'm definitely going to try this again and see if I can get the chicken up to par with the rest of it.
0 HelpfulI made the salad (without chicken) as a side because we received some beets in our CSA. I'd never cooked beets before--it was really easy! Enjoyed trying something new.
0 HelpfulI’ve never made a frittata before, but now I have! It’s so tasty! The pan I had made it too thin, so I made a quick decision and transferred it to a non-stick bread pan that I had. It turned out the perfect thickness! I love how Cooksmarts has taught me to think and improvise! The beets and potatoes took me a long time to make, so next time I’ll probably just skip them. They’re delicious but good to make on a weekend instead.
0 HelpfulMy husband commented that it was his new favorite salad. It was just as good or even better than what you can get in a restaurant! It's a new favorite recipe!
0 HelpfulWas not expecting to like this with kale and cold potatoes, but the firmness of the kale went very well with the softness of the sweet potatoes and goat cheese. Yum! Skipped the beets.
0 Helpful