Enjoy this bright, cheery kale salad with sweet strawberries, creamy goat cheese, and crunchy pecans all spring and summer long! It keeps well, so it’s perfect for a picnic or backyard cook-out.
This post is brought to you in partnership with Well-Pict Berries.
Spring is here and that means strawberries are bursting from their vines and appearing in the stores!
Though most folks will agree that the best way to eat strawberries is to just eat them out of hand, unadorned, there are myriad ways to enjoy them. Strawberries appear in everything fruit desserts like shortcake, pies, and crisps, as well as beverages like strawberry sangria and daiquiris.
And they are also a great addition to salads like this kale salad with strawberries, goat cheese, and pecans!
The delicate sweet strawberries are a great counterpoint to the bitter kale and the creamy goat cheese. Dressed in a balsamic honey vinaigrette, this is going to be your new go-to salad for spring and summer.
A SALAD FOR A PARTY!
This salad is great for a party, picnic, or potluck. Kale is a hearty green that stands up well to salad dressing, even when sitting out on a buffet table for a few hours. You can easily double this recipe, as well.
BUYING AND STORING FRESH STRAWBERRIES
When buying strawberries, look for ripe red strawberries without any bruises or blemishes, and that have fresh green leaves without any signs of yellowing or browning.
Store strawberries in their clamshell packaging in the refrigerator. Ideally, strawberries should be eaten within 2 or 3 days of purchasing them — Well-Pict strawberries are picked at their prime and shipped immediately, so they don’t keep for long in storage. Don’t wash or remove the green cap until right before using them.
MAKE AHEAD SALAD TIPS
You can assemble and dress the salad without the strawberries up to 24 hours ahead of serving and store it in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap. Just hold off on adding the strawberries until immediately before serving the salad as the berries are delicate and taste best when fresh.
After adding the strawberries, gently toss the ingredients to make sure any dressing that settled in the bottom is mixed in and coats the berries.
LOVE STRAWBERRIES?! CHECK OUT THESE RECIPES!
Kale Salad with Strawberries, Goat Cheese, and Pecans Recipe
- Prep time: 20 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4
You may find that you don’t use all the leftover dressing for the salad. The vinaigrette keeps in a clean jar or airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. You can even make the vinaigrette ahead of time if you’d like.
Ingredients
- 2 bunches Lacinato kale (about 12 ounces total)
- 1 1/2 cups Well-Pict Strawberries
- 1/2 small red onion
- 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
- 1/4 cup pecans
Method
1 Prep the salad ingredients: Wash and then de-stem the kale grabbing the end of the stem, squeezing the leaves between your fingers, and pulling the stem through your fingers. The leaves should “zipper” off easily. Stack the kale leaves together and cut them into thin strips.
Remove the green tops of the strawberries and cut the strawberries in half, or quarters if large. Thinly slice the red onion.
Place kale, strawberries, and red onions in a large salad bowl.
2 Make the dressing: Make the dressing by placing the oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard, honey, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Whisk with a fork or whisk until vinaigrette comes together and looks well-combined.
3 Dress the salad: Drizzle half the dressing over the salad and gently toss to coat. Sample a little bit of the salad and add more dressing to taste.
4 Serve: Sprinkle goat cheese and pecans over the salad and serve immediately.
