The Anti-Inflammatory Salad I’ll Be Making on Repeat This Fall

Last fall, I wanted a salad for dinner, but I wanted it to feel heartier than a lettuce-based salad. I wanted there to be something warm on the plate, as well as a variety of textures. I wanted it to be tangy, yet also have a creamy dressing. Oh, and I wanted it to be vegetarian because my family is prioritizing plant-based meals over ones featuring animal protein since my husband and I are trying to reduce our cholesterol numbers and our 12-year-old thinks most animals are too cute to eat these days. Was I asking too much of a salad?

I opened my fridge and grabbed a bunch of kale. There was a butternut squash that looked like it needed a purpose, so I peeled, diced and roasted it with za’atar and red onion. While the squash was in the oven, I chopped the kale and put it in a large bowl. I squeezed lemon juice and drizzled olive oil over it and scrunched it up to soften the leaves. I grated some garlic and mixed it with strained yogurt. I crumbled the feta. I gazed at the fruits of my labor and thought, this could use some more protein. So I rinsed a can of chickpeas and tossed them on the baking sheet just before the squash was finished roasting to heat them through.

I grabbed a few wide, shallow bowls and divided the kale among them. I topped the kale with some of the squash, chickpeas and onions, then drizzled each bowl with some of the garlicky yogurt and crumbled feta. Our daughter will eat just about anything as long as there’s feta on it, so I was reasonably sure she’d eat it. And my husband just wants every dinner to be colorful and include kale, so check-check. I called them to the dinner table.

“Oh Mom, this is my new favorite dinner,” Lila exclaimed, and she devoured her salad with glee. “Yeah, it’s a real winner,” Dan agreed. And that’s how Massaged Kale Salad with Roasted Squash & Chickpeas was born.

When I was making our dinner plan for the following week, I asked each of them to pick a dinner. Lila said, “Can you make that salad again?” Sure thing. And it’s had a steady place on our dinner plan ever since.

It really has become a family favorite. Not only do two of this salad’s stars—kale and butternut squash—boast anti-inflammatory benefits, but it’s packed with 14 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber per serving. Both of these nutrients are important to our family: protein because our daughter is a multisport athlete and it helps build and maintain muscle mass, and fiber because most of us don’t consume enough and one serving of this salad gets us at least one-quarter of the way to our daily goal.

The salad is also adaptable. I’ve roasted sweet potatoes and beets instead of squash, swapped black beans for chickpeas and tossed in pickled onions—an underrated salad addition, in my opinion—instead of roasted ones. If you want to bump up the protein even more, some roasted tofu, poached chicken or roasted salmon will be at home on top or alongside. Just about any cheese can be swapped for the feta. And if you prefer a vinaigrette to something creamy, you could make something like Lemon-Garlic Vinaigrette or Julia Child’s Sauce Vinaigrette. 

Now that the nights are getting cooler again, my dinner plan has shifted. Instead of grilling chicken, I’m roasting it. I’ve traded lettuce wraps for soups. And this salad is back on the menu—and I can’t wait.