Balsamic Date Kale Salad with Fried Halloumi
This is a delicious Fall salad that I found on Instagram via Something Nutritious, a site I had never heard of before but am now excited to cook my way through. I found the date dressing to be nothing short of brilliant–pitted dates, blended with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, a clove of garlic and a touch of dijon mustard makes a fantastically balanced dressing. And the earthy kale, paired with sweet dates, salty halloumi and crunchy almonds hits all the notes.
As the original recipe for Balsamic Date Kale Salad with Fried Halloumi advises, the halloumi is best if fried just before serving, so I prepared the salad in advance (even dressed it to give the kale some time to soften up) and fried the cheese just before we sat for dinner. Although with this said, leftovers the next day were still absolutely fine. Pick up your ingredients this week! Enjoy!
Balsamic Date Kale Salad with Fried Halloumi
Ingredients
Balsamic Date Dressing
- 1/4 c balsamic vinegar
- 1/3 c olive oil
- 2 pitted Medjool dates
- 1 tsp Dijon musard
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 Tbls water
- kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
For The Salad
- 10 oz Tuscan kale trimmed and chopped
- 1 Tbls olive oil
- 8 oz Halloumi cheese sliced into 1-inch pieces
- 4 pitted Medjool dates chopped
- 1/2 c toasted slivered almonds
Instructions
Balsamic Date Dressing
- Add all of the dressing ingredients to a blender and process until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.
For The Salad
- Add the chopped kale to a large salad bowl and pour the dressing over the top. Massage the dressing into the kale, using your hands, for at least 1 minute to soften the kale. Let it sit until you prepare the halloumi.
- Heat a skillet with olive oil over medium heat. In batches, add the 1-inch slices of halloumi and fry until browned, about a minute per side. Add the halloumi to the salad and top with the chopped dates and slivered almonds.
- Toss and enjoy!