Artificial Food Coloring Free Kale, Apple & Walnut Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing
This salad is a genuinely craveable combination of earthy greens, crisp apple, crunchy walnuts, and chewy cranberries — all pulled together by a creamy, tangy lemon tahini dressing that you'll want to put on everything. Every single ingredient here is whole and real, which matters more than you might think when it comes to packaged salad kits, bottled dressings, and even dried fruit, where synthetic dyes can sneak in unexpectedly. The cranberries are unsweetened or fruit-juice sweetened, the tahini dressing is built from scratch with fresh lemon, raw honey, and a pinch of turmeric, and there's nothing artificial anywhere on the ingredient list. Massaging the kale with a little sea salt is the move that transforms this from a tough, bitter pile of leaves into something silky and deeply flavorful — don't skip it. The dressing comes together in one small bowl in under two minutes, and the whole salad is ready to eat shortly after. It's the kind of dish that looks impressive enough for a dinner party but is easy enough to throw together on a weeknight when you want something nourishing without a lot of fuss.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
For the salad
- 1 large bunch curly or lacinato kale (about 8 oz), stems removed, leaves torn into bite-sized pieces
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- 1 medium apple, cored and thinly sliced
- ½ cup dry-roasted walnuts, roughly chopped
- ¼ cup dried cranberries (unsweetened juice or lightly sweetened with fruit juice)
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
For the dressing
- 3 tbsp tahini
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice (from about 1 large lemon)
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp raw honey
- 1 small garlic clove, finely grated
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- 2–3 tbsp water, to thin
Instructions
- 1
Place the torn kale in a large mixing bowl and sprinkle with the sea salt. Using clean hands, massage the kale firmly for 1–2 minutes until the leaves darken, soften noticeably, and reduce in volume by about half.
- 2
In a small bowl, whisk together the tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, honey, grated garlic, turmeric, and black pepper until smooth. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking after each addition, until the dressing is pourable and coats the back of a spoon.
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