Name: Warm Kale Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 80 min
Ingredients: 1 butternut squash (peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes (about 2 lbs)); ½ lb brussels sprouts ((optional)); ¼ cup olive oil; 1 tsp salt (or to taste); ½ tsp black pepper (or to taste); 1 tsp dried oregano; ⅛ tsp nutmeg (ground); ½ tsp garlic powder; 1 cup pumpkin seeds (deshelled); 2 tbsp unsalted butter (melted); ⅛ tsp nutmeg (ground); 2 tbsp brown sugar (packed); ⅛ tsp salt (or to taste); 1 lb chicken breast (skinless and boneless); ½ cup Litehouse organic balsamic vinaigrette dressing; 2 tbsp unsalted butter; 4 shallots (chopped); 2 cloves garlic (minced); ¾ cup Litehouse organic balsamic vinaigrette dressing; ¼ cup water; 8 cups kale (chopped small); 1 tbsp olive oil; ¼ tsp salt; 1 cup feta cheese (crumbled); ½ cup craisins ((dried cranberries))

This Warm Kale Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash, balsamic vinaigrette, grilled chicken and sugared roasted pumpkin seeds is the best kind of comfort food perfect for cool autumn evenings!

This post is brought to you in partnership with Litehouse Foods! Although I’ve been compensated for my time, all opinions are 100% my own.

kale salad loaded with brussels sprouts, squash, and chicken

You all know I love my comfort food and that means good hearty and delicious meals. While we do make a lot of salads in my household, hubs is usually the salad guru and I am the grill master. However, when I do make a salad, I want it to stand out, I want it to be different from all other salads and I want it to fill me up and make me feel like I’m not really eating a salad, but something good, delicious, hearty and comforting. Which is what this crazy yummy salad delivers!

I made this incredible salad using Litehouse Organic Balsamic Vinaigrette which I used two ways. First I marinated my grilled chicken in the balsamic vinaigrette for about half hour, which basically tenderized it a bit before grilling it. I also used the balsamic vinaigrette for making the dressing for the salad which I mixed together with some sautéed shallots and garlic.

I’ll admit that there are a few steps to this salad, but trust me when I tell you each and every step is totally worth it. Yes, you can skip the roasted butternut squash with brussels sprouts, or you can skip the chicken or roasted pumpkin seeds, but then you’d miss out on all the things that make this salad great.

I love roasted butternut squash and it’s so easy to make. If you hate peeling it and cutting it up, you can use the frozen one, or I know some grocery stores now carry it all cleaned up and cut into pieces. That will certainly save you some time. But I would totally go to the trouble of roasting it in all those great spices. I also added some brussels sprouts only because I love roasted brussels sprouts, but this is totally optional.

squash, brussels sprouts, and pumpkin seeds before and after roasting

The roasted pumpkin seeds with brown sugar and butter are truly out of this world. While they’re amazing in this salad, I love to make these just on their own and snack on them. So. Good. Just try them, you’ll thank me.

chicken marinating in litehouse dressing

I love adding some grilled chicken to this salad, and the chicken is so flavorful from being marinated in the balsamic vinaigrette, but it’s up to you if you add it. I actually grilled this on a grill pan on my stove top, so it was really easy, didn’t have to heat up the grill or anything. You could even just cook it in a skillet.

overhead of kale salad, roasted pumpkin seeds, and litehouse dressing

But let’s talk about kale for just a minute. I personally am not a huge kale fan mostly because whenever I eat it at a restaurant I feel like I’m choking on it. I have found out a way to make it so that I love to eat it and that is I give it a nice massage. I actually learned about this trick from my mother in law who makes a killer cabbage salad, and she massages the cabbage in some olive oil and salt until it’s nice and tender.

Which is why I now do the same to my kale, first I like to chop it really nice and small then give it a good massage for about a minute with some good olive oil and a bit of salt. You will end up with nice and tender kale. So worth it.

closeup of sliced roasted chicken on kale salad

And lastly, all that’s left to do to this salad is assemble it all together and add some great feta cheese for saltiness and some craisins for a bit of sweetness. My husband who is quite the picky eater said that this was the best salad he’s ever had. Trust me, that was the biggest compliment I ever got. He couldn’t stop eating it, and those roasted pumpkin seeds were the bomb. Not only is this salad so incredibly delicious, it’s so filling, you will actually walk away from the table feeling like you ate a huge steak and potatoes. I think that’s a good thing.

If you love kale, try out my Kale Salad With Blueberry Vinaigrette!

fork taking a bite of kale salad and roasted chicken

If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #jocooks on Instagram so we can see it. I always love to see what you guys come up with!

Nutrition Facts

Warm Kale Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash

Amount Per Serving

Calories 792 Calories from Fat 522

% Daily Value*

Fat 58g89%

Saturated Fat 16g100%

Cholesterol 90mg30%

Sodium 954mg41%

Potassium 1462mg42%

Carbohydrates 45g15%

Fiber 5g21%

Sugar 17g19%

Protein 29g58%

Vitamin A 22860IU457%

Vitamin C 168.3mg204%

Calcium 356mg36%

Iron 4.5mg25%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

In celebration of September being Organic Harvest Month, I hope you give Litehouse Organic Salad dressings a try, they are Certified Organic, Certified Gluten-Free and Non-GMO. They come in a variety of flavors and have great taste and no high fructose corn syrup, no MSG and no artificial preservatives. You can find Litehouse Organic Dressings in the refrigerated produce section of your local supermarket.