Citrus Kale Salad With HoneyBell Oranges

Salads are my go-to dinner for busy weeknights. They are so easy to put together and leave you feeling light and refreshed. The key to them is to use simple ingredients and let the produce do the talking. And, of course, a good dressing is an absolute must.

This crisp kale and orange salad, along with a zesty and sweet orange dressing, is so easy to make and takes less than 30 minutes to prepare. You can use your favorite greens in the salad; I, personally, like the texture of curly kale against the juicy HoneyBell oranges. If you use kale, you can prep the leaves yourself or get the shredded, packaged variety if you want one less thing to do.

To make this salad more filling and nutritious, I added some canned green lentils. Feel free to improvise with other legumes, such as chickpeas, or a grain, such as quinoa. I also tossed in some slivered almonds and dried cranberries for texture and taste.

The HoneyBell oranges are the undisputed highlight of this salad. They are oh so sweet and juicy, and perfect for the dressing. The citrus flavor they bring shines beautifully throughout the dish. Because of how juicy the oranges are, I recommend cutting them into thick slices for this salad. Make sure to use a sharp knife to do this so you get cleanly sliced segments.

We can't have a salad without cheese now, can we? My choice for this is goat cheese, as its creaminess complements the other ingredients well.

Now, let's talk about that dressing.

It's simple, yet versatile, a combination of orange juice, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, salt, black pepper, and extra virgin olive oil. Just add all the ingredients to a mason jar, shake until thoroughly mixed, and you're done. Yup, that's all you have to do.