Kale, Apple & Goat Cheese Salad with Granola “Croutons”

This post is sponsored by The Quaker Oats Company.

Apple season is here! I’m usually so sad to see summer (and its glorious produce) go, but I’m actually looking forward to slowing down this fall. I’m going to bust out my cozy jackets and boots from their hiding places and take Cookie out to admire the changing leaves.

To celebrate the beginning of fall, I made a big kale salad with chopped apple and a lemony maple and mustard dressing. Goat cheese, cranberries and savory granola—yes, granola on a salad—round it out and make this salad a full meal.

I’m fully smitten with this granola-as-croutons concept, since I never have a loaf of crusty bread when I need it. You can toss it together in no time at all, and you’ll end up with plenty for two salads. As you’ve probably heard already, old-fashioned oats offer a number of beneficial qualities—they’re a good source of fiber, vitamins and minerals—so these croutons are more redeeming than most.

I’m also excited to announce that I’m teaming up with Quaker to promote their More Taste, Less Waste campaign, in partnership with the James Beard Foundation. The idea is to combine produce that often languishes away unused with oats, which are likely in your pantry.

Think apples, butternut squash, potatoes, pumpkins, spinach and kale—I’m cringing because I know I’ve let it happen. An astonishing 130 billion pounds of food gets thrown away each year, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Let’s talk about how to change up this salad to take advantage of the extra produce you might find yourself with this season. You can replace the apples with roasted vegetables (sweet potato and Brussels sprouts are great), the kale with chopped spinach, and the goat cheese with cheddar or Parmesan. With those granola croutons, you can’t go wrong!

As always, let me know how your recipe turns out, and please share your recipe ideas with #JustAddOats. The possibilities are endless when you reimagine the foods in your kitchen.

Kale, Apple & Goat Cheese Salad with Granola “Croutons”

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Author: Cookie and Kate
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 4 medium salads 1x
Category: Salad

★★★★★

4.9 from 30 reviews

Nutty granola croutons complete this salad made with massaged raw kale, crisp chopped apple, and crumbled goat cheese tossed in a tangy lemon dressing. This recipe yields 4 medium salads, and twice as much granola as you’ll need—it stores well for future salads.

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Ingredients

Granola “croutons”

1 cup Quaker Old-Fashioned Oats
½ cup roughly chopped pecans
½ cup raw pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds)
½ cup raw sunflower seeds
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 large egg white, beaten
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey

Lemony maple mustard dressing

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon smooth Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
Hefty pinch of fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Kale salad

1 large bunch or 2 small bunches (12 ounces) curly green kale
1 medium Honeycrisp, Granny Smith or Fuji apple
2 ounces chilled goat cheese, crumbled (about ½ cup)
¼ cup chopped dried cranberries

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Instructions

To make the granola: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper for easy clean-up. In a medium bowl, stir together the oats, pecans, pepitas, sunflower seeds, salt, cinnamon and cayenne pepper. Stir in the beaten egg white, oil, and maple syrup until well blended. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking sheet and bake until golden, gently stirring the granola halfway, about 15 to 17 minutes. Let the granola cool on the baking sheet.
To make the dressing: In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, maple syrup and salt. Season with a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper and whisk until blended. The dressing should be zippy, but if it’s overwhelmingly tart, stir in another teaspoon of sweetener. Or, if it needs some extra oomph, stir in another pinch of salt.
To prepare the kale, use a chef’s knife to remove the tough ribs from the kale, then discard the ribs (or feed them to your dog!). Chop the kale leaves into small, bite-sized pieces. Transfer the chopped kale to a big salad bowl. Sprinkle a small pinch of sea salt over the kale and massage the leaves with your hands by lightly scrunching big handfuls at a time, until the leaves are darker in color and fragrant.
To assemble the salad, drizzle all of the dressing over the kale and toss well. Add the chopped apple, crumbled goat cheese, cranberries, and about half of the granola. Gently toss to combine, and serve. This salad will keep well, covered and refrigerated, for up to 4 days.
Save the leftover granola for a snack or another salad. Store it in an air-tight bag with the air squeezed out for up to 2 weeks at room temperature, or several months in the freezer.

Notes

Make it egg free: Omit the egg white (your granola may be done a couple of minutes early, and won’t clump together quite as much).

Make it vegan: Omit the egg white and omit the goat cheese or replace it with a diced avocado.

Make it dairy free: Omit the goat cheese or replace it with a diced avocado.

Make it gluten free: Use certified gluten-free oats.

If you love this recipe: Check out more of my kale recipes and oat recipes!

▸ Nutrition Information

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.

This post was created in partnership with Quaker and I received compensation for my participation. Opinions are my own, always. Thank you for supporting the sponsors who support C+K!

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