Pan Roasted Acorn Squash and Raw Kale Salad

I adore raw kale salads!  Here is the salad I made for the Napa Film Fest Dinner Party :)  It's hearty and very fitting for Thanksgiving and all of the Fall season for that matter.  

Acorn Squash and Kale Salad

Serves 6

What you'll need:

10-12 leaves of kale, washed well

1 acorn squash

36 marcona almonds

balsamic vinegar glaze

olive oil

What you'll do:

Wash, de-vein, and chop the kale into bite size pieces and place in a large bowl.  Sprinkle a pinch of salt over them and drizzle with about 2 tbsp. olive oil.  Get your hands in the bowl and massage the kale.  Do this for about a minute and it should reduce in size by about 1/3.  Set aside.

Thinly slice the acorn squash into rings and clean out the seeds in the center.  Heat up a frying pan and melt some butter in it.  Pan fry the squash rings on both sides until they are soft.  

To plate, place a squash ring on the plate, top with a pile of kale, add some marcona almonds to the plate and drizzle with some balsamic vinegar glaze.

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Comments

[Heather]

I do love kale and acorn squash. I think I'm gong to make this for the weekend!

[Sim Sarna]

While the health benefits of kale are plentiful, Leslie created a delicious and flavorful salad -- definitely a welcome change of pace from traditional lettuce. The acorn squash complements the kale perfectly. Love this.

[Fiona]

How do I make the balsamic glaze?

[Leslie Spitzer]

I will be interested to see how Leslie makes balsamic glaze, but the way I do it is just pour a bunch of balsamic vinegar into a saucepan and simmer until it reduces. You have to be careful not to overdo! Trader Joes has a white balsamic also that makes excellent balsamic glaze - slighly amber colored when done and really sweet. Nice over fruit!