Easy Holiday Salad
This Easy Holiday Salad is a blend of sautéed kale, shredded Brussels sprouts, celery, jalapeno, onions, ginger, garlic, and za’atar. This warm salad is a festive and healthy one to add to your holiday table or winter gatherings.
This Easy Holiday Salad is for you if you want to switch up your salad game this winter.
Instead of a fresh, cold salad, opt for a warm, sautéed one filled with a variety of flavors and textures – just like this one! For me, winter is just too cold for a cold salad, so I love to saute vegetables and enjoy a warm salad like this one!
This is one of our favorite winter salads as it:
- Is so tasty as it is seasoned deliciously with onions, ginger, garlic, lime, and za’atar,
- Does not require a salad dressing (making it perfect for after the holidays as well),
- Is packed full of healthy greens,
- Is plant-based & vegan,
- Can be made in less than 30 minutes,
- Is so easy to make, and
- Requires only 10 ingredients!
What are the ingredients needed to make this Winter Salad?
You will need the following 10 main ingredients:
- Yellow onion
- Fresh garlic
- Fresh ginger
- Celery
- Brussels Sprouts
- Jalapeño
- Kale
- Za’atar
- Lime
- Pomegranate arils
You will also need some oil to saute the ingredients with and some salt and pepper for taste. Totally optional would be some parsley and red pepper flakes to garnish this with.
How to make this Easy Holiday Salad?
- This Easy Holiday Salad starts with a base of peeled and chopped onions, garlic, and ginger sauteed in oil. In Sri Lankan cuisine, almost every dish starts this way. And, the combination of onions + ginger + garlic is touted as an immunity builder.
- While the onions saute, rinse and chop the kale, Brussels sprouts, jalapeño, and celery.
- When the onions start to become translucent and ever so lightly brown, then the Brussels Sprouts are added in. They are followed by celery and jalapeno. Then a generous sprinkling of za’atar and the kale is tossed in.
- The salad is removed from the heat shortly after and flavored with lime, salt, and pepper. This salad is best enjoyed warm with a smattering of ruby-hued pomegranate arils for a festive (and nutritious) spin!
Adaptations and Substitutions:
If you don’t like Brussels sprouts, then use broccoli instead. If you are not a huge fan of kale – then use milder spinach instead.
If you would prefer your Winter salad not to be spicy, you can tone down the heat in the following two ways. First, using gloves, you can cut out and remove as much of the seeds of the jalapeño and use only the flavorful green flesh. Second, you can substitute the jalapeño with green bell peppers instead. Both lend a flavorful crunch to this Holiday Salad.
If you don’t have za’atar on hand, you can order it via Amazon right here (affiliate link) and have it delivered before Christmas. I’ve also seen zaatar in the spice section in stores like Sprouts, Kroger, and Publix.
However, if you want, you can use your favorite herb blend instead of za’atar as well. On occasion, I have used 1 teaspoon of oregano, 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika, and 1 teaspoon of coriander. This does alter the flavor – but this blend turned out well too.
This is a very versatile winter salad that will be a delicious and nutritious addition to your holiday table – and New Year’s as well.
In fact – it is going to be our go-to salad until the temperature down here is back in the 70s!
I love to balance off my love for all things desserty with healthy mains and sides at my holiday table.
I do my best to fill my table with sides like Za’atar Asparagus with Pomegranate, Golden Pan Roasted Parsnips, Sautéed Brussels Sprouts Apple Salad, Easy Meatless Veggie Balls, and this Easy Christmas Salad so I can enjoy treats like these Christmas Cake Cupcakes, these custard pies, pies made with this homemade mincemeat, and these cookies!
Check out these other side dishes that are perfect for your holiday gatherings:
Thanks so much for stopping by. If you make this recipe, please let me know in the comments below what you think of it, or tag your creation on social media with @savoryspin or #savoryspin. For more fusion, spice-filled, recipe ideas, please subscribe and follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and/or Pinterest!
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp oil estra virgin olive oil or whatever oil you prefer
- 1 large yellow onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1- inch knob of ginger
- 4 celery stalks
- 6-7 large Brussels Sprouts
- 2 jalapeno
- 7-8 kale leaves
- 2 tbsp za’atar
- 1/2 lime
- salt and pepper
- 2-3 tbsp pomegranate arils
Instructions
- Peel the onion, garlic cloves, and ginger.
- Rinse the celery stalks, Brussels sprouts, jalapeno, and kale.
- Roughly chop up the onion, garlic, ginger and add it to a pan along with the oil. Set the pan on the stovetop with the heat on medium.
- Let saute for about 10 minutes until onions are translucent and slightly browning.
- While onions, garlic, ginger are sauteing, finely chop the Brussels sprouts, and celery. Also, separate the kale stalks (middle fibrous part of the kale leaves and discard them. Chop up the kale leaves into slivers like the Brussels Sprouts – making sure to set them in separate bundles as they will be added to the hot pan depending on how long they need to cook.
- Carefully slice the jalapeno lengthwise. If you do not want this Christmas salad to be spicy, discard as much of the white pith and seeds as you would like to. Then, chop up the jalapeno and set it aside.
- Add the Brussels sprouts to the pan with the onion, ginger, and garlic and saute for about 5 minutes.
- Then add in the celery and saute for 2 minutes or so.
- Add in the jalapeno and stir well.
- Add in the kale.
- Sprinkle on the za’atar and stir well for about a minute.
- Remove from the heat and add in the juice of half a lime. This will help loosen up any tasty brown bits on the pan as well.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste and mix well.
- Serve warm, tossed with pomegranate arils.
Its cold and blistery here and this would be a perfect way to load up on my greens!