Chopped Mexican Kale Salad Recipe | foodiecrush.com (2024)

Creamy, crunchy, and with mild Mexican flavors, this healthykale salad with roasted butternut squash is a favorite for lunch, dinner and potlucks alike.

This past fallI was with a group of fantabulous blogging friends at the Better Blog Retreat in Deer Valley, UT. It’s a 3-day and night affair hosted by me and my friend Maria of Two Peas and Their Podwhere we all brainstorm, share and inspire one another on how to improveour blogs,akaour businesses, and make them, well…better.

And given it’s a food blogging retreat, naturally we eat really, really well.

This Mexican-inspired kale salad was just one of the delicious bites we savored that weekend and is the salad we served when our guests arrived from their day of travel from all across the country.

It’s the perfect salad for exactly that, for those times when you’re not sure when it will be served, because the ingredients are all sturdy enough to hold until its time to dig in.

About the Recipe

This salad is loaded with crunch thanks to sturdy kale (I prefer lacinato kale or as some call it dinosaur kale) in this salad. It’s pumped full ofexcellent health benefits including properties forlowering cholesterol, fighting cancer, and decreasing inflammation.

The crunch fest continues with pumpkin seeds aka pepitas and broccoli slaw I find already shredded at my local Smith’s Marketplace, and spicy slices of crunchy radishes sweetened up with dried cranberries.

As in all of my favorite salads, the crunch is offset by the creamy and that’s where you’ll find a creamy spiced ranch dressing, tangy queso cheese and roasted butternut squash to do the trick. I get mybutternut squash prepped and diced from the same part of the produce aisle as my broccoli slaw.

If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo, andtag me on Instagramwith #foodiecrusheats.

Better Blog Retreat 2016

As the fire roared and the fall light hit the golden ambered hills of the Wasatch mountains literally stepsoutside our door, we spent our dayshunkered down in our rented home’s ultra comfortable couches ready to deep dive into vulnerability. This is the time we share ourhighs and lows of what our work as bloggers entails, both professionally, and personally.

It’s my favorite part of the weekend. And thankfully, as small business owners and entrepreneurs,there were a lot of nodding heads and light bulb moments as we all realized we share the same challenges, and the rewards.

The weekend is always inspiringthanks to my fellow onlineentreprenuers who are navigating this onlinebusiness model and the trials, tribulations and rewards that go along with it.

Here’s a recap of the retreat, but to see more check it all out on Instagram here.

Home base for this years retreat was once again at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, UT where we all stayed in a stunning mountaintop retreat managed by Resorts West.

We’ve found the key to the success of an intimate work getaway like this is to all be under one roof. So many conversations happen while making coffee in the morning, or sharing a bathroom while getting ready for the night’s festivities, or after hours while soaking away in the hot tub.

This years group of bloggers were wonderfully inspiring in their drive, determination and creativity. Meet them here: Jamielyn from I Heart Naptime, Liz from Floating Kitchen, Amanda from Heartbeet Kitchen, Jessica from How Sweet It Is,Gina from Skinnytaste, Maria from Two Peas and Their Pod, Jocelyn from GrandBaby Cakes, Laurie from Simply Scratch, me, Erin from Well Plated, Lindsay from Pinch of Yum, and Deborah from Taste and Tell.

We always start off the retreat with a welcome dinner. This year it was at Riverhorse On Main, a Park City favorite and the recipient of the Forbes Travel Guide four star award.

Yet even after lauding accolades and being one of the longest running restaurants in town, they still know how to add the personal touch and sent us all home with homemade Spicy Utah Peach Chutney. The Braised Buffalo Short Rib is a must try.

We started the next day of sessions with an amazing breakfast bar from our friends at General Mills. After learning about their goals to remove artificial flavorsand colors from their cereals, we were shown just what they DO use to color and flavor our childhood favorites—spices, herbs, nuts, and vegetables for color.

Snack time is go-time ALL THE TIME when it comes to bloggers and Lorissa’s Kitchen knew the way to our hearts: Cheese boards! The samples of all the different pairings balanced perfectly with Lorissa’s Kitchen line of protein snacks and were an Instagram favorite. The Sweet Chili flavor is my fave.

Keeping with the eating theme, we were treated to lunchwith Stacy’s Pita Chips. They’ve partnered with renowned chefs like Hugh Acheson to create recipes that are perfectly snackable, nutritious and make a great lunch with a variety of salads.

Who doesn’t love lunch that’s a bite of this and a nibble of that so you can sample it all?

After a whole day of brainstorming, sharing and inspiring, it was time for a break and what everybody craves in the afternoon: chocolate, more chocolateand boozy chocolate. Lindt createdan amazing DIY bar to build our own hot chocolates with Lindt chocolate truffles, plusour own personalized cups to make them in.

It’s always in the details!

Nothing made happy hour happier than sharing sips of Seven Daughters wine while dinner was being made. And lucky for us, it wasn’t being made BY us!

To cap off the day and move us straight into evening, Kroger invited Chef Tony (who has private cheffed for celebs and dignitaries alike) from the local Smith’s Marketplace to wow us with a catered dinner made right in our kitchen. The stunning pumpkin creme bruleeserved in baby pumpkins were a huge Instagrammable moment.

Roasted eggplant, arugula salad, the most flavorful salmon with avocado corn relish and a butternut squash and broccoli rabe orichette everyone was arm wrestling for the rights to recreate the recipe for their blog.

Chef Tony, you can cook for me anytime.

The next day we holed ourselves up in our mountain home and really got down to business discussing our goals and aspirations for the coming year. But first, breakfast! And nobody does breakfast better than Deer Valley Grocery Café.

Of course, Deer Valley does everything right, including our final dinner at Deer Valley Resort’s Brass Tag featuring both small plates and regular entrées that are fresh, seasonal and absolutely delicious.

It was another amazing weekend, totally inspiring and set me up for an even better 2017 for the blog, for me and ultimately for you. Thank you foodiecrushers!

Thanks again to the following sponsors that made the retreat possible: Resorts West, General Mills, Lorissa’s Kitchen, Stacy’s Pita Chips, Lindt, Kroger, Smith’s, and Deer Valley Resort.