Warm Kale Salad With Walnuts and Pomegranate

Published Nov. 9, 2022

Warm Kale Salad With Walnuts and Pomegranate
Christopher Simpson for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
4(188)
Comments
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Pomegranate molasses makes a sweet-tart contribution to this salad of cooked, not raw, kale. It’s really more of a vegetable side dish, but could very well be a salad course on its own. In every bite there’s a morsel of warm kale, walnut and pomegranate. Truth be told, it is just as tasty served at room temperature. It’s also great to make ahead of time: You can cook the kale, toast the nuts and make the vinaigrette early. Then toss everything and garnish five minutes before serving.

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Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2pounds kale, stems removed
  • 2tablespoons pomegranate molasses
  • 2tablespoons red-wine vinegar, white-wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
  • 1tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 3tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1cup toasted walnuts
  • ½cup pomegranate seeds, or more to taste
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

210 calories; 17 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 8 grams polyunsaturated fat; 14 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 6 grams protein; 367 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 400 degrees. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil over high heat.

  2. Step 2

    Wash kale in a deep basin of cold tap water. Cut or tear into 1-inch ribbons. Add kale to the boiling water and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain, cool and blot dry.

  3. Step 3

    Make dressing: Combine pomegranate molasses, vinegar, lemon juice and mustard; stir to dissolve. Whisk in olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

  4. Step 4

    To serve, place kale in an ovenproof serving dish. (A 9-by-13-inch pan, large cast-iron or small Dutch oven would all work.) Add dressing and mix to coat. Transfer dish to oven and cook until kale is heated through, about 5 minutes. Top with walnuts and shower with pomegranate seeds.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
188 user ratings
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Comments

Recipe for homemade pomegranate molasses was posted by another reader from another recipe. 2 cups pomegranate juice 1 cup sugar Juice of one lemon Mix in a small saucepan and let it simmer down to about 1-11/2 cups. This was easy and delicious

Rather than cook the kale, I kneaded it with the dressing and served it cold. Loved it!

The kale turned an unappetizing brown/green color. It tasted good, but next time I will skip oven step.

Excellent dressing! I subbed roasted pumpkin seeds for walnuts. For pomegranate molasses, I squeezed the pomegranate into molasses that I had. Thanks to the comments, i blanched the kale and then left it on stovetop (oven was on) and didn’t put it in the oven. Excellent addition to our thanksgiving meal!

The recipe was easy and delicious. I used cranberries as I had no pomegranates on hand. I also prepared the kale and walnuts in same pan. Great recipe. Thank you!

I don’t really understand why the oven needs to be preheated so far in advance. In my opinion, that’s quite a waste of energy.

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Credits

By David Tanis

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