Gimme Some Oven

Kale Salad with Bacon and Blue Cheese

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This Kale Salad with Bacon and Blue Cheese is quick and easy to make, tossed with a red wine shallot vinaigrette, and TOTALLY delicious. (Bonus, it holds up for hours in the fridge, if you want to make it ahead of time!) | gimmesomeoven.com

This post is sponsored by Bertolli.

I’m happy to report that I have been eating so much kale this summer.

Like, so much.

I wish I could say it’s because I have been craving those ultra-good-for-you dark greens every day. But really, it’s mainly thanks to my friend and talented veggie farmer, SiSi, who has been sending me home with an enormous bundle of kale in my CSA bag each week. She even planted a big section of organic dinosaur kale in her garden for the first time this year, after I mentioned once that it was my favorite (<– so thoughtful!). So all of those kale salads feel extra special, knowing that each leaf was literally grown from seed and tended and harvested by this sweet friend. Yet one more way that I love how food connects us!

That said, though, after eating so many ultra-healthy salads, I must admit that a package of bacon and blue cheese somehow “jumped” in my grocery cart the other day at the store. Not sure how that happened, but I was more than happy to come home and toss them into a slightly more — shall we say — indulgent kale salad. And I enjoyed every last bite. :)


This Kale Salad with Bacon and Blue Cheese is quick and easy to make, tossed with a red wine shallot vinaigrette, and TOTALLY delicious. (Bonus, it holds up for hours in the fridge, if you want to make it ahead of time!) | gimmesomeoven.com

The ingredients in this one are totally simple. Just chop up a ton of fresh kale (I used a mixture of SiSi’s “dinosaur”/lacinato kale and some traditional curly leaf kale), then use your hands to massage it with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil for a minute to soften the kale up. Add in a good handful of crumbled blue cheese, crumbled cooked bacon, dried cranberries, and toasted pecans.

This Kale Salad with Bacon and Blue Cheese is quick and easy to make, tossed with a red wine shallot vinaigrette, and TOTALLY delicious. (Bonus, it holds up for hours in the fridge, if you want to make it ahead of time!) | gimmesomeoven.com

Then drizzle it with this heavenly red wine shallot dressing that I’m obsessed with lately. It’s made with a fresh shallot, some red wine vinegar, Dijon, honey, S & P, and olive oil.This Kale Salad with Bacon and Blue Cheese is quick and easy to make, tossed with a red wine shallot vinaigrette, and TOTALLY delicious. (Bonus, it holds up for hours in the fridge, if you want to make it ahead of time!) | gimmesomeoven.com

Although by contrast with yesterday’s grilled recipe, which was made with Bertolli® 100% Pure Olive Oil (which has a high smoke point and is safe for grilling), I made this salad dressing with Bertolli® Extra Virgin Olive Oil (which has a lower smoke point, and is cold-pressed for a more full-bodied fruity flavor, intended for lower-heat or no-cook recipes). I’m trying to get better at using the right oils with the right recipes. And I’m telling you, this vinaigrette is yummy.

This Kale Salad with Bacon and Blue Cheese is quick and easy to make, tossed with a red wine shallot vinaigrette, and TOTALLY delicious. (Bonus, it holds up for hours in the fridge, if you want to make it ahead of time!) | gimmesomeoven.com

So once you dress the salad, just toss everything together until it’s evenly mixed.
This Kale Salad with Bacon and Blue Cheese is quick and easy to make, tossed with a red wine shallot vinaigrette, and TOTALLY delicious. (Bonus, it holds up for hours in the fridge, if you want to make it ahead of time!) | gimmesomeoven.com

And then maybe sprinkle on a little bit of extra bacon and blue cheese, just for good measure. (Kale yeah!)

This Kale Salad with Bacon and Blue Cheese is quick and easy to make, tossed with a red wine shallot vinaigrette, and TOTALLY delicious. (Bonus, it holds up for hours in the fridge, if you want to make it ahead of time!) | gimmesomeoven.com

Then this wonderfully delicious salad will be yours to enjoy right away. Or, if you’re entertaining or have a busy day and would like to make this salad in advance, that sturdy kale will help it hold for up to 8 hours if you’d like to pop it in the fridge ahead of time.

For other fresh summer recipe inspiration, be sure to check out Bertolli’s “Spin The Bottle” site where all sorts of other tasty dishes (along with their correct olive oils!) are being featured right now. I have a feeling you’ll find many more recipes you’ll love.

Enjoy, friends!

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Kale Salad with Bacon and Blue Cheese

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.8 from 5 reviews
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 4 -6 servings 1x

Description

This Kale Salad with Bacon and Blue Cheese is quick and easy to make, packed with sweet and savory flavors, and so delicious!


Ingredients

Scale

Kale Salad Ingredients:

  • 67 cups chopped fresh kale leaves
  • 1 tablespoon Bertolli Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 68 slices cooked bacon, chopped
  • 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans
  • 1 batch Red Wine Shallot Vinaigrette (below)

Red Wine Shallot Vinaigrette Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup Bertolli Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 12 teaspoons honey, to taste
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • pinch of salt and freshly-cracked black pepper
  • 1 small shallot, peeled and finely-chopped

Instructions

To Make The Kale Salad:

  1. Toss all ingredients together until combined.
  2. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 8 hours before serving.

To Make The Red Wine Shallot Vinaigrette:

  1. Whisk the olive oil, red wine vinegar, honey, mustard, salt and pepper together in a mixing bowl until completely combined.  (Or you can toss everything in a mason jar and give it a good shake.)  Stir in the shallot until combined.  Taste, and season with extra salt and/or pepper and/or honey, if needed.

Notes

Serving size totally depends on whether this is your main course or a side salad.  The serving size I mentioned is for smaller side salads.

Also, feel free to use more/less of the salad ingredients (i.e. bacon, blue cheese, pecans, cranberries) to taste.  I tend to just use a handful of each.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Bertolli. The opinions and text are all mine. Thanks for continuing to support the brands who help make this site possible!

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23 comments on “Kale Salad with Bacon and Blue Cheese”

  1. This salad looks great. Perfect for Saturday movie night. Today my wife works. I will try to surprise her. I hope she will like it!

    • Thanks Harry — we hope you and your wife enjoy this and that’s so sweet of you to surprise her! :)

  2. Hi
    Your post made me so crazy to make this recipe at my home. I will try it very soon and one thing, I want to let you know that how much love is there in my heart to the kale salad specially with blue cheese. Thanks a lot for your great post.

  3. What a gorgeous looking and sounding salad! This one is definitely on my list! 

  4. I made this last night and it was a huge hit. Even my husband loved it.

  5. Ok, I’ve never even tried kale before…but this looked good that I decided to make it tonight! I’m thinking it’s the bacon and the dressing that make that bitter kale very yummy, yes? I’m not sure….. but this salad is so good, I want to eat the entire bowl myself! Thank you for sharing!!

  6. This looks delicious, Ali and perfect for the hot weather we’re having here in England!

    Thanks for sharing. I’ll be giving this recipe a go very soon. ?

  7. Both my husband and I loved this salad. I used almonds rather than pecans because my hubby is “mentally allergic” to pecans. My first time preparing a recipe with kale. Definitely a keeper–the recipe and kale!

  8. Made this for dinner last night, it was delicious!! Thanks for sharing.

  9. This looks delicious! Question: can I prepare the bacon ahead of time and add it to the salad cold or is it best to have warm bacon?

    • Thank you, Ellie — we hope you love it! And yes, you can totally do that (the bacon does not have to be warm). :)

  10. So yummy! Keeping this dressing on file!!!






  11. Do you know how many calories per serviing for the kale salad?

  12. Absolutely delicious. A must try!!! Especially the dressing.






  13. Delicious kale salad! I highly recommend it!






  14. This is delightful, thank you! I’ve made it three times. Thinking about adding a cut up chicken breast tonight.






  15. This salad is HEAVENLY!!! I am a college student and I keep coming back to this recipe because it’s quick and easy to make, and is a perfect meal for busy weeknights. This salad is an absolute must try, and has never failed to please!