Kale sweet potato salad recipe from chef Adrianne Calvo

This kale sweet potato salad comes from Miami chef Adrianne Calvo's new cookbook, built to balance roasted root vegetable against sharp goat cheese and a honey mustard dressing.

Calvo, whose seventh cookbook, Maximum Flavor at Home, came out this month, built the dish around kitchen logic rather than a long ingredient list: one sheet pan for the sweet potato, one bowl for massaging the kale, and a dressing whisked by hand.

Massaging the raw kale before anything else hits the bowl breaks down its tough cell walls, which is what turns a leaf too bitter to eat raw into a base that holds dressing and roasted vegetable without wilting into mush.

Massaging the kale does the work a long marinating time would otherwise need.

Ingredients

• 2 medium sweet potatoes, cut into 1cm cubes
• 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 6 cups kale, stemmed and chopped
• 115g goat cheese, crumbled
• 60g pumpkin seeds, toasted
• 60g dried cranberries
• 1 tbsp balsamic glaze
• 3 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/2 tsp garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 60ml olive oil, for the dressing

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200°C and line a sheet pan with parchment. Toss the sweet potato cubes with 2 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper, then spread them in a single layer so they roast instead of steam. Roast 20-25 minutes, flipping once, until the edges caramelise. Let them cool slightly.
2. While the sweet potato roasts, put the kale in a large bowl with a drizzle of oil and a pinch of salt. Massage it with your hands for about two minutes, until the leaves darken and soften; this step does the work a long marinating time would otherwise need.
3. Whisk the mustard, honey, garlic and vinegar together, then add the 60ml olive oil in a slow stream, whisking constantly. Adding the oil gradually is what keeps the dressing from separating once it hits the salad.
4. Add the roasted sweet potato to the kale, pour over the dressing, and toss gently so the cubes stay intact. Scatter over the goat cheese, pumpkin seeds and cranberries, finish with a drizzle of balsamic glaze and a crack of black pepper, and serve while the sweet potato still holds some warmth.

Why it keeps for lunch the next day

Because the kale is massaged rather than left raw and brittle, this salad holds up far better than most once dressed; the leaves soften further overnight instead of turning watery, which makes it a reasonable make-ahead lunch rather than a dish to eat within the hour.

Swap the goat cheese for feta if you prefer a saltier edge, or add roasted chickpeas for a version that works as a full meal rather than a side.

Can I make it a day ahead? Yes — dress it a day in advance and keep it chilled; the massaged kale holds up far better overnight than most salad bases.