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Southern Kale Salad with Smoky Ranch

This Southern Kale Salad is filled with great flavors and tons of nutrients, but it’s that Smoky Chipotle Ranch that really hits the spot!

Two bowls of Southern Kale Salad on a white linen and wood table

Hey Everyone! Yes, I’m still alive, as you may have seen on various forms of social media. This month started off pretty crazy and it has only gotten progressively crazier. I’m a little more than half way done shooting that second cookbook for Jess Nadel right now, the photos aren’t my usual style but I am really loving them! And as I mentioned before, I’ll be starting on the photos for Jason Wrobel’s book (finally), and am super excited about that. Most importantly, after that, I’ll be working on my own cookbook! Yay! I’m sure I’ll be putting out a call for testers in a couple of months, but I have to finish these major projects first. 🙂

Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Black-eyed Peas

I didn’t do an Expo West round-up post this year, but was thinking of doing it, still? I really tried some great products, and posted just a couple of my favorites on my instagram (favorite social media platform, by far). After all of the eating from the Expo and Vegan Street Fair, I felt that a healthier recipe needed to happen. What better way to bring a delicious dish to life than to do my second annual cooking video with the Vegan Zombie!?

Raw Curly Kale

Jon and Chris are some of my favorite dudes, and I always look forward to seeing them this time of year. Last year, we did the Peanut Butter Banana Choco Chip Chia Parfait (rolls right off the tongue, doesn’t it?), together and it was SO much fun! The emphasis with our video collabs is that the recipe must be easy and tasty, so I thought up this recipe where the ingredients are wholesome and you can make use of short cuts or go the homemade route.

Vegan Smoky Chipotle Ranch

I love that you can easily pop the black-eyed peas and sweet potatoes into the oven together, make your dressing and massage your kale, all within 25 minutes. Not only that, you get this great mix of textures from the warm, slightly soft sweet potatoes, the refreshing curly kale leaves, the creamy dressing and the crunchy roasted pepitas. All of these ingredients are easy to find and you probably have 80% of them in your house, right now!

Two bowls of Southern Kale Salad on a white linen and wood table

Check out the video for the recipe below, and find the printable version further down this post. 🙂

Two Years Ago: Asparagus Portobello Risotto // Three Years Ago: Tofu Scramble Breakfast Burrito

Yield: 4

Southern Kale Salad with Smoky Ranch

Vegan Southern Kale Salad with Smoky Ranch

This Southern Kale Salad is filled with great flavors and tons of nutrients, but it's that Smoky Chipotle Ranch that really hits the spot!

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

Salad

  • 1 lb . sweet potatoes or 2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 2 teaspoons oil of your choosing
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • Pinch of pepper
  • 15 oz . can of black-eyed peas, rinsed
  • 1/4 cup your favorite vegan BBQ sauce
  • 1 pieces large bunch of kale, torn off of the ribs into bite-sized
  • Drizzle of olive oil
  • 1/4 cup roasted pepitas, shelled pumpkin seeds

Smoky Ranch Dressing

  • 1/2 cup raw cashews
  • Hot water
  • 1/3 cup non-dairy milk
  • 1 tablespoon white vinegar
  • 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 3/4 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
  • 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon agave nectar, optional
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In one bowl toss the chopped sweet potato with the 2 teaspoons of oil, salt and pepper; then spread it out into a single layer on half of the baking sheet.
  3. In another bowl, stir the black-eyed peas and BBQ sauce together, then spread the mixture out on the other half of the baking sheet.
  4. Once the oven is to temperature, place the baking sheet inside and roast for 15-20 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are fork-tender.
  5. While that is roasting, stir together the non-dairy milk and vinegar to create a "buttermilk" mixture, in a small bowl.
  6. Then cover the raw cashews with very hot water and soak them for 10 minutes. Drain and rinse the cashews and place them in a blender, along with the rest of the dressing ingredients, including the "buttermilk". Blend until very smooth, you may need to scrape the sides of the pitcher a couple of times to puree everything; especially because this is a low amount of material.
  7. Once the dressing is made, set it aside and place the torn kale pieces into a bowl with a light drizzle of oil. Massage the kale (as directed in the video), and divide it between four salad bowls.
  8. When the black-eyed peas and sweet potatoes are done in the oven, divide each mixture between the four bowls, starting with the black-eyed peas. Next, drizzle the desired amount of dressing on top, then sprinkle a tablespoon of roasted pepitas on each salad.
  9. Serve immediately.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1 grams

Amount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

Two bowls of Southern Kale Salad on a white linen and wood table

After doing another video with the Vegan Zombie, it has me really thinking that it’s time for a new cooking video on my own channel! What do you think?

Two bowls of Southern Kale Salad on a white linen and wood table

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Darcy

Wednesday 5th of August 2020

I saw your video with Jon years ago, and have made this salad SO many times - in fact, I'm making now! It's delicious! Just wanted to say thank you for the bomb recipe. <3

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[…] Black beans, sweet tart pineapple combine together in this colorful salad from Veggies Save the Day and then are tossed in a creamy avocado dressing.17. Southern Kale Salad with Smoky Ranch […]

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[…] Black beans, sweet tart pineapple combine together in this colorful salad from Veggies Save the Day and then are tossed in a creamy avocado dressing. 17. Southern Kale Salad with Smoky Ranch […]

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