Sweet Blueberry-Kale Salad

Yield

8 servings

For the dressing

Instructions

First, make the dressing: Combine all dressing ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. 

Then, make the salad.

Notes

Thomas makes his own candied pecans for this salad. Here’s how: In a small bowl, whisk ¼ cup each of granulated sugar and dark brown sugar with 1 teaspoon each of cinnamon, ground ginger, and kosher salt. In a medium bowl, whisk an egg white together with ½ teaspoon water until foamy. Toss 2 cups of pecan halves with the egg. Add the sugar-spice mix and toss together. Bake the pecan halves on a parchment-lined baking sheet at 300° until golden brown, about 45 minutes, stirring the pecans halfway through to prevent burning. This recipe makes more pecans than you need for the salad, but any extras are a perfect cocktail-hour snack or ice cream topping.

For the salad

Ingredients

1 ½ bunches (¾ pound) curly leaf kale

8 ounces cooked or roasted beets 

1 cup fresh blueberries

4 ounces chèvre, crumbled

1 cup candied or plain pecans 

Generous pinch of coarse flaky sea salt, such as Maldon

Instructions

Strip the kale leaves from the stems and roughly chop or tear into bite-size pieces. For tender kale, rub the leaves together between your fingers, until they start to wilt. Put the kale in a large salad bowl and add the dressing. Toss leaves until well coated, then top with roasted beets, blueberries, chèvre, pecans, and sea salt.