Hello all! Today’s #sustainabilitysunday recipe is super super super simple! It’s a salad that I love throwing together when I’m on the go, but also something that I would make when I had plenty of time…because it’s that delicious! Welcome the Warming Fall Salad!
This is one of those recipes that you can prep for and be able to make a few times throughout the week to make your life easier and your meals more beautiful, fulfilling, healthy, and delicious!
Before we get into the recipe for this amazing Warming Fall Salad, we want to reiterate why #sustainabilitysunday and eating local is so important, so we are asking the question…
Why Local?!
- Supports local farmers and community.
- You connect with your food on a deeper level.
- Lowered ecological footprint.
- Produce contains more nutrients.
- You know where your food came from, who grew it, and how they grew it!
**We would love for you to share with us your reasons for eating locally and living a sustainable life in the comments!
The stars of this dish are obviously the amazing, fresh, and local produce, which is highlighted by our amazing immune boosting salad dressing. We highlighted the amazing benefits of this dressing under ingredients spotlight below. This is the perfect time of year to consume this dressing because as the weather changes, colds become more common making it important to keep our immune systems functioning at the highest level!
Ingredient Spotlight:
Garlic is what we like to call nature’s antibiotic since it is antibacterial, antiviral, and antispasmodic. It is also a great source of vitamins and minerals, but it’s most redeeming qualities come from it’s sulfur containing compounds; most notably, allicin. Additionally, it is noted for its beneficial effects in lowering cholesterol and protecting against some cancers, so eat up!!
Dulse is a red seaweed, most widely used as flakes that can be sprinkled on food as a seasoning. Sea vegetables are some of the most nutrient dense foods in the world, offering the broadest range of minerals of any food, while also being notable sources of calcium and iodine. This is extremely important since our soils have been depleted of many minerals that used to be passed to our food.
Lemon Juice is a great detoxifier, stimulates the liver and gall bladder, and is also fantastic for your immune
system due to its high vitamin C content. Additionally, lemon juice is alkaline forming in the body, even though it tastes acidic.
This recipe is meant to be adapted based on seasonality and availability of local produce. Kale is available locally almost year round, so a steamed kale salad massaged with the Immune Boosting Dressing is a great base. Then, add in whatever is available; baked pumpkin/ acorn squash in fall, or tomatoes and cucumbers in the spring. You can see my rendition of a spring salad here. It’s also good to add in a crunch from a nut or seed, like sunflower seeds, which we did here. We decided to give you two renditions, so let us know what you think!
- orange sweet potato
- purple sweet potato
- kale (or mixed greens...or whatever base you prefer!)
- avocado
- favorite dressing ( I love using the immune boosting dressing for this!)
- optional: protein source (tempeh, pasture raised chicken...)
- Bake sweet potatoes to use immediately or store in fridge for later use
- Chop kale or mixed greens and toss with dressing
- Add in bite size pieces of avocado, orange sweet potato, and purple sweet potato
- If you wish, add in your favorite protein source!
- 2 heads steamed kale
- 2 cups baked kabocha squash (or other squash)
- 2 medium sized apples
- 1 onion, caramelized
- Cheesy Spiced Sunflower Seeds (or just sunflower seeds)
- immune boosting dressing!
- First, bake kabocha squash at 425 degrees since it will take the longest.
- Next, chop onion and start caramelizing. To caramelize an onion, you cook it on low heat for a long period of time. Typically you use white onions and it will turn a caramel color. Here, we used purple onions for added color.
- Wash kale, chop into bite sized pieces and steam! (TIP: when steaming vegetables, wait until they turn their brightest color green and immediately emerge them into an ice bath to keep that beautiful color and retain the vitamins and minerals!)
- Once kabocha is baked and steamed cut it into bite-sized pieces.
- Cut apple into bite-sized pieces (we used green apples picked from a tree right outside of where I live!)
- Next, pour immune boosting dressing onto steamed kale and mix thoroughly.
- Then, add in the rest of your ingredients and stir!
- Serve warm or cold!
Show us your rendition of this amazing Warming Fall Salad! Did you make it warm or cold? What local ingredients did you add? Tag us @holisticrendezvous and #holisticrendezvous and #sustainabilitysunday ! We love this salad because it is beautiful, flavorful, filling, and balanced! Make this salad and let us know what you think!:)
SaveSave
Blair is a Nutrition Consultant and Natural Chef with a passion for helping others achieve optimal health through a holistic approach that focuses on body, mind, and spirit. 
