Warm Roasted Veg & Kale Salad with Feta & crispy bacon crumb

Ingredients:

For the Roasted veg:

Butternut Squash

Red onion

Peppers (red,yellow,orange,green)

¼ tsp cumin

¼ tsp paprika

¼ tsp chilli powder

1 tbsp olive oil

For the salad:

Kale

Mixed salad leaves

Dressing:

Olive Oil

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Apple cider vinegar

Crumb:

Feta Cheese

2 rashers of Bacon

Mixed Seeds (such as sunflower, pumpkin & Flax)

Pinenuts

Method:

  1. Chop the veg ready for roasting and place into a bowl and cover with olive oil and sprinkle over the spices plus black pepper.Don’t bother with seasoning with salt as there will be plenty in the bacon.
  2. Mix well to ensure all the veg is covered, then place on a baking tray and bake in the oven at 180c/160c fan/gas 4 for 35-40 minutes.
  3. Mix the salad dressing ingredients together in a small bowl.
  4. Put the kale into a large salad bowl and mix in the dressing. Massage into the kale and set aside and allow to wilt.
  5. Place the pinenuts and seeds into a frying pan and toast until golden brown.
  6. Cut the bacon into small lardon strips and fry in a pan until crispy.
  7. When the veg has roasted remove from the oven and add to the Kale then add the salad leaves and toss all together. Crumble on top the feta cheese, the bacon and lastly the toasted nuts and seeds.

For a vegetarian option leave off the bacon and for vegan, fry some tofu till crispy and sprinkle on top.

This can be a lovely side dish or great for lunch.  You can prepare this in advance so you could have this for lunch to take to work for the week.  If you batch cook the veg, toast a good quantity of the nuts and seeds and bacon it could all be assembled later.  It would obviously then be a cold salad, but it tastes just as yummy. 

Nutrients:

Butternut squash is a great source of a number of B vitamins, including B3, B5 and B6 as well as folate and Vitamin E.  It is also an excellent source of potassium, much than a banana. 

Kale is the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet, no wonder it has become so popular.  It is a rich source of fat soluble vitamins A, D, E & K.  I would always suggest adding a little butter, coconut oil or Olive oil when cooking Kale or as I suggest here massaging the dressing into the Kale as this helps to release the fat soluble vitamins into the fat therefore making them easier for the body to absorb.

The seeds are all good sources of omega-3 fatty acids, pumpkin seeds are a real powerhouse providing magnesium, zinc as well as B vitamins, selenium, beta carotene and phytoestrogens that could help to increase HDL  cholesterol levels (the good guys)

The pine nuts provide protein, magnesium and iron which could help with fatigue and boost energy.