Meet one of my absolute favorite salads!! It has made it’s way to our holiday table the last few years because it’s SO delicious and festive! Between Butternut Squash and Farro Salad, Balsamic Brussels Sprouts and this Kale and Wid Rice Salad, my dream team of holiday sides is complete.How can you go wrong with pomegranate, wild rice, walnuts, feta, and kale?? This is a salad of all of my favorite things! Not a kale fan? Baby kale chopped up real small is much more manageable than normal kale, but you could also sub in arugula if you just don’t like it or can’t find it.It could be a great side for your Christmas dinner with the red and green colors!

Kale and Wild Rice Salad with Pomegranate, Walnuts, and Feta

Serves: 4-5 as a side

Salad Ingredients:

• ½-1 cup pomegranate seeds
• 2 cups cooked wild rice
• 4 cups baby kale (can sub regular kale or arugula if you can’t find this)
• ¼ cup chopped walnuts, toasted
• ¼ cup feta, chopped or crumbled

Dressing Ingredients*:

• ½ cup minced shallot (sub onion if you don’t have)
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons water
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• ½ Tablespoon apple cider vinegar (sub white wine vinegar if you don’t have)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ lemon

Prepare your salad ingredients: chop the kale, deseed the pomegranate, toast the walnuts. If cooking your wild rice, make sure to do it ahead of time so that it has time to cool, in the refrigerator if needed.

Sauté the minced shallot with ½ Tablespoon oil in a small pan for about 5 minutes until soft to reduce the bite of the shallot. Add the shallot and remaining ingredients to a food processor or high-powered blender and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust – add more olive oil if you want a thinner dressing or salt if you need more flavor.

Toss all of the salad ingredients with the dressing just before eating. This is a great salad to chop up ahead and then mix everything together right before serving. It could easily be taken to a party or served at your holiday dinner!

*If you’re intimidated to make your own dressing, try out a simple balsamic vinaigrette.

Adapted from Pinch of Yum