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Lemon garlic kale salad with halloumi, chickpeas, corn, olives, and roasted potatoes makes a hearty, satisfying one-bowl meal that’s packed with both veggies and flavor. Don’t miss it.
Why we love this recipe
Our family has two favorite kale salad recipes, and they’ve both been on heavy rotation in our kitchen for many years. The first one is a simple side salad that we’ll happily eat with virtually any meal. The second one, featured here, is a complete, hearty meal in a bowl.
It’s got:
- Plenty of dark, leafy, nutrient-packed kale
- Our favorite dressing of all time massaged into the leaves
- Roasted Yukon Gold potatoes, which make a fabulous crisp-outside, creamy-inside whole food alternative to croutons
- Cubes of halloumi cheese pan-fried to savory, chewy, crisp-tender perfection
- Tons of other great ingredients, from chickpeas to corn to some seriously umami-rich Moroccan oil-cured olives
- A generous sprinkling of savory, satisfying nutritional yeast
I first published this recipe here many years ago. It’s also included in the 2016 cookbook We Love Kale, which I co-authored with a few other women. I’ve since updated the post for clarity and made a couple of small tweaks to the recipe.
What you’ll need
Here’s a glance at the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe.
- This salad works equally well with curly or lacinato kale (also called dinosaur or Tuscan kale or cavolo nero). Depending on the specific variety and the season, you’ll need to do a little more or less massaging of curly kale to make it nice and tender. Most lacinato kale needs a mere tossing.
- Halloumi cheese originates in Cyprus. It’s made from a combination of sheep’s milk and goat’s or sometimes cow’s milk. When grilled or sautéed, it gets crisp on the outside and tender and dreamy on the inside. The taste is briny and herb-flecked and satisfying. It’s well-worth tracking down. If you can’t find it, you can substitute feta, but don’t cook it.
- I like to use Yukon Gold potatoes for their excellent ratio of creaminess to starchiness, but feel free to substitute a starchy variety like Russets or Idahos if that’s what you’ve got.
- Moroccan oil-cured black olives have an intense savory flavor. Learn more here if you like, or substitute another favorite olive type if you prefer.
- Here’s how to make a perfect batch of creamy lemon vinaigrette (a.k.a. Magic Blender Dressing). You’ll want to use it on absolutely everything.
- Corn cooked from frozen is perfect here, and makes this dish accessible year-round.
- Nutritional yeast has a super-savory flavor that adds depth and crave-ability to this salad. It’s also an ingredient in the dressing.
How to make it
Here’s an overview of what you’ll do to make a great batch of lemon garlic kale salad with halloumi. There are several elements to bring together, but none of them require any special skill or equipment. You can see the steps in action in the video that accompanies this post, and get all the details in the recipe card below.
- First you’ll get started roasting the potatoes.
- While the potatoes cook, prep the kale and massage some dressing into it.
- Cook the halloumi and corn.
- Add all the elements to the bowl and toss. That’s it!
Expert tips and FAQs
You can make a fabulous vegan and dairy-free version of this kale salad with one simple substitution. Replace the halloumi with a batch of salt and pepper tofu. That’s it!
Like most leafy salads, this one is at its absolute best shortly after you make it, so I wouldn’t go out of your way to make it in advance.
That said, unlike most leafy salads, this one holds up extremely well for several days. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
More favorite salads that make a meal
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Lemon Garlic Kale Salad with Halloumi
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds (680 grams) Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) olive oil, divided
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large bunch Lacinato or green curly kale
- 1 batch Creamy Lemon Vinaigrette
- 8 ounces (227 grams) halloumi cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 5 ounces (142 grams) corn kernels
- 1 15- ounce 425-gram can chickpeas, drained, rinsed, and patted dry
- ⅓ cup (50 grams) pitted black Moroccan oil-cured olives, roughly chopped
- ¼ cup (20 grams) nutritional yeast
Instructions
- Preheat oven oven to 400° F with a rack in the center.
- On a half-sheet pan or in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet, toss potato cubes with two tablespoons of the olive oil and the salt and pepper. Spread potatoes evenly over the pan surface to avoid crowding.
- Roast for 30 minutes, until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Set aside to cool.
- While potatoes roast, strip kale from its stems and tear into small bite-sized pieces. Wash and dry thoroughly in a salad spinner. Place into a large salad bowl.
- Pour about 1/4 cup of dressing over the kale and, using your hands, massage dressing into the leaves. This process will tenderize the kale and reduce its volume.
- Place a 12-inch nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat and warm the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Add the halloumi cubes and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned on most sides and warmed through.
- Cook the corn — microwaving from frozen according to package instructions if 100% fine.
- Allow halloumi and corn to cool somewhat, then add them to the bowl along with the chickpeas and olives.
- Pour a little more dressing onto the salad and toss all ingredients together gently.
- Sprinkle on the nutritional yeast and toss once more.
Notes
- You can make a fabulous vegan and dairy-free version of this kale salad with one simple substitution. Replace the halloumi with a batch of salt and pepper tofu. That's it!
- Like most leafy salads, this one is at its absolute best shortly after you make it, so I wouldn't go out of your way to make it in advance. That said, unlike most leafy salads, this one holds up extremely well for several days. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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