Roasted Sweet Potato and Kale Caesar Salad

Who's ready for a delicious fall salad? While I am definitely a soup girl in the fall (and all year round), I wanted to create a salad that captures fall flavors in a fresh way. This Roasted Sweet Potato and Kale Caesar Salad does just that! Oven roasted sweet potatoes are cut into bite-sized pieces and added to chopped kale that is tossed with a simple caesar dressing. Color and crunch are added to the salad with cherry tomatoes and shelled pumpkin seeds. This kale sweet potato salad is gluten free and vegetarian, and with a few substitutions, can be made vegan.

If you're interested in more delicious salad recipes, try one of the following:

There was a local restaurant to us called Moveable Feast that always made the most delicious, unique, seasonal dishes. Everything was housed in glass deli cases and customers would buy the salads and other goodies by the pound. Whatever fruits and veggies were in season would be used in creative salads and entrees. I loved how healthy every dish was. I knew I was clean eating and enjoying real food, without sacrificing flavor or fun.

While they have recently closed the location that was near me, I continue to draw inspiration from them! This kale and sweet potato salad is based off of a harvest salad and a kale caesar that they would make.

Ingredients

• sweet potato
• kale
• cherry tomatoes
• pumpkin seeds
• shaved parmesan cheese
• garlic
• lemon
• mayonnaise
• dijon
• salt
• pepper
• olive oil

Instructions for roasted sweet potato kale salad

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Peel the sweet potato and dice into bite-sized pieces. Coat the diced potatoes with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Roast sweet potatoes for 25 minutes, until soft.

Remove from oven and allow to cool.

To prepare the dressing, combine mayo, dijon, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper, and stir.

Remove the kale from the stalk and roughly chop. Place in a bowl.

Slice tomatoes in half and add to kale.

Toss the roasted sweet potatoes and kale in the caesar dressing to coat. Add in the rest of the toppings and toss to combine.

Is this caesar dressing vegetarian?

Yes it is! While typical caesar dressings have anchovy paste, I didn't add that into this dressing. I wanted to keep it really simple and just use a few pantry ingredients. There are eggs in the mayo, so it is not a vegan dressing. Feel free to substitute in vegan mayonnaise if you need.

How to make this Kale Sweet Potato Salad Recipe Vegan?

Two quick substitutions:

• Use vegan mayo as specified above.

• Remove the parmesan cheese.

Optional Toppings

If you are looking to change up this salad, here are some fun topping ideas to try!

• red onion
• pickled red onion
• sunflower seeds
• pomegranate seeds
• avocado
• wheat berries

Do you have to roast the sweet potatoes?

You are definitely going to want to cook them, but if you would prefer, the sweet potatoes can be sauteed instead of roasted. Peel and dice as instructed and then saute in olive oil on medium-low until the sweet potatoes are cooked through.

Dislike kale?

Try baby kale (it's more tender) or spinach instead.

Storage

Dressing
Mix together the ingredients for the vegetarian caesar dressing and store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week. Keep the dressing separate from the salad until you are ready to enjoy it to avoid the salad ingredients getting mushy.

Salad
You can full prepare the salad and have it in the refrigerator for 1-2 days before dressing it and eating it.

Looking for more recipes using kale and sweet potatoes?