WINTER DATE SALAD

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Hi Friends! Welcome back to the blog! Today I have a simple winter salad to share made with kale, butternut squash, dates, hazelnuts and a creamy tahini dressing. This salad is hearty and has a great balance of savory, sweet and crunch! This salad can be enjoyed as a meal or side salad depending on the serving size you dish for yourself. It’s perfect to bring to Holiday parties or add to your Holiday menu. This salad is the perfect blend of savory and sweet, so it’s great if you have a sweet tooth and a desire to eat healthy this holiday season!

Both the salad and salad dressing call for dates however you can swap them for prunes if you prefer! Prunes contain natural elements which help heighten the flavors of other ingredients, while adding moisture to your favorite dishes. Prunes can serve as a substitute for unhealthy fats or sugars to reduce calories without losing flavor while dates add moisture to meat entrées and baked goods and improve the texture and taste of stuffings, sauces, and marinades. Both prunes and dates are also a great way to naturally sweeten recipes. Prunes and dates both offer 3g of fiber per serving, which is good for digestive health.

Dates are a naturally sweet compliment to everything from savory dishes to smoothies, and provide 3 grams of fiber per serving for only 120 calories. The Degloot Noir variety of Date are the best for baking and cooking, and also nice to eat right out of the bag. Sunsweet dates are rich and sweet with a delightfully plump texture. Dates are great for snacking, served at holiday meals and a delicious ingredient in baked goods as well as salads, dinner entrees and more. Because of their natural sweetness and sticky texture, dates work fabulously in desserts.

Winter Date Salad

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Salad Ingredients

  • 2 cups of cubed and roasted butternut squash about ½ of a whole butternut squash
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  • 1 bunch of curly kale
  • ½ cup of purple cabbage
  • 1 cup of Sunsweet dates
  • ½ cup of hazelnuts
  • 2 tablespoons of pumpkins seeds

Dressing Ingredients

  • cup olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons tahini
  • 2 pitted dates
  • 1 whole lemon juiced
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

  • To make butternut squash, preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. With a sharp knife cut the butternut squash in half and remove the ends. Carefully remove the skin of the squash by cutting down the sides. Cut the flesh in half and remove any seeds with a large spoon. Finally, chop the butternut squash into small cubes about 1 inch in size. Coat the squash cubes with one tablespoon of coconut oil. Roast squash in the oven for 15-20 minutes and then let cool. Meanwhile, chop dates.
  • To make the salad dressing add all ingredients to a blender and blend for 30 - 60 seconds until smooth and creamy.
  • Next, wash and dry kale leaves. Then remove kale leaves from the stem from “zipping” them off of the vein with your hands. Roughly chop kale and add to a large bowl. Pour on salad dressing and massage kale with dressing until soft and evenly combined.
  • Then, wash and chop purple cabbage and chop the dates and hazelnuts.
  • Add purple cabbage, butternut squash, dates, hazelnuts and pumpkin seeds to salad and mix together before serving.
Servings: 4
Author: Healthy Grocery Girl


Disclosure: This blog post is sponsored by Sunsweet.

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