This healthy fall salad embodies roasted chickpeas, cranberry, and persimmons over a bed of baby kale leaves then is tossed in a beautiful poppy seed champagne vinaigrette. It is a light and easy kale salad packed with sweet and crunchy flavors!

Soooo….. Thanksgiving is tomorrow!!!! Happy Thanksgiving friends! Let me just start off to say that I am more than grateful for you and your fellowship, love and support. After all, you being here right now is what keeps this blog going! Sending you a BIG Thank YOU right now! xo!

Since our garden is bursting with yummy persimmons it’s time to add it to another fantastic persimmon fruit salad recipe. This time, made with baby kale and it is perfectly “delightful” (no pun intended! haha) at your holiday feast! A tasty kale salad just as yummy as this roasted brussels sprouts salad and maybe even packed with more flavors!

Little side note about making my hubby shoot photos with me this week. He was not too thrilled about his glorious hands being displayed but I am practicing new angles in food photography. I had the hubby be my hand model which I am pretty stoked about how pretty his hands look! He on the other hand was complaining and asking when its over. Really babe, is it that hard to have such beautiful hands and eat scrumptious salads all day? I thinks he's got the upper hand here! And with those hands I think he is a keeper!

Whenever our extended family gets together for family dinners I'm nominated for salad or breads. My mother-in-law would always say I make the best salads. Not sure how because salads just sort of make themselves. First off I usually just dump any and everything in my fridge into a salad recipe. During that I think about sweetness, crunch, texture and how the flavors combine together. So I have a few tips to share with you for the perfect salad recipe:

How to make the best kale salad with chickpeas, cranberry & persimmon:

Pick your leaves: spinach leaves, romaine lettuce leaves, butter lettuce leaves, arugula, mixed greens, kale.
Add crunch: crunch such as dry roasted chickpeas, nuts, watercress, croutons.
Soft and smooth: roasted peppers, onions, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, or zucchini work well.
Sweet and sour: goat cheese is good for the tart taste but if you are going for a dairy free salad recipe add sugared pecans with sour fruit on top or spicy peppers with a sweet salad dressing.

Lets chat about these healthy salad ingredients:

Cranberries are healthy and popular in Thanksgiving recipes. And for good reason too! They are packed with antioxidants and aid in preventing cancer plus contain only 25 calories per half cup! Cranberries can taste a bit tart but are fabulous roasted or simmered lightly in sugar. Roasting brings out a natural sweet and nutty flavor in most fruits and vegetables.

Persimmons are another story. They take a bit of a "required" taste to like them. Not sure why because fuyu persimmons are outstanding in flavor! Similar to an apple in texture yet not overpowering in the sweetness department. Have you ever tried roasting a persimmon? They are soft and sweet and are tasty with cinnamon and butter drizzled on top.

Chickpeas are packed with fiber, magnesium and protein. A great source of nutrients and protein for a vegetarian diet.

Pecans are another addition to this kale salad because pecans are thick, nutty and add just the perfect crunch with roasted chickpeas. Boys and I love to eat them by themselves too!

Baby kale leaves are delicious leafy greens that are not too rough or bitter. Ya know how some kale leaves are super curly and tough. Those ones scare my hubby but are great for roasting into kale chips. Baby kale is perfectly soft, gently, dark, contain lots of vitamins and minerals and are lower in iron than spinach or a mixed greens salad.

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There you have it, all the mixtures and flavors of fall and winter! Plus that turkey (or meatless Thanksgiving table) could sure use a healthy salad recipe!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FRIENDS!