I love when I find salads that I actually really look forward to eating, and this kale apple salad is that for me! It is insanely good: finely shredded kale and brussels sprouts with sweet and crunchy chopped apples, rosemary cashews, fried garlic bread cheese, dried cranberries, and golden crispy shallots all covered in a crisp apple maple dressing.

If I’m being honest, this salad started as just a vehicle for eating the garlic bread cheese from Trader Joe’s (whoops). But it has become so much more that that. This is currently my fall *anything* salad – as long as you’ve got your kale and brussels base, and some juicy apples and crispy shallots, the rest can be up to you.

Other add-ins I’ve tried:

My Thoughts on Cheese: Of course, the garlic bread cheese from Trader Joe’s is truly delightful and I would highly recommend it. But if you can’t get your hands on it, halloumi would be the next best thing! I like to pan fry it and add it to the salad while it’s soft and golden brown.

My Thoughts on Dressing: The Salad Girl Crisp Apple Maple dressing is delicious for fall-ish salads. And being that this is an SOS recipe and we are looking for shortcuts, this fits the bill. If you can’t find it, use any sweet, maple-leaning dressing (homemade or store-bought!) that you like! Here’s a super easy one that we make almost weekly for easy green salads and it works perfectly on this salad.

My Thoughts on Prep: HIGHLY recommend prepping some greens ahead of time, along with the shallots and nuts! Keep them in individual containers so you can toss the salad together with fresh apples and cheese for a quick power lunch or emergency dinner salad.

The mix of everything – salty, sweet, crispy, crunchy, just acidic enough – plus the fact that this is relatively wholesome and comes together super quickly? Just my favorite.

You don’t have to, but I use a food processor for the kale and a mandoline for the brussels because I’m particular about optimal salad texture.

If you’re short on time, buy pre-shredded kale and brussels OR throw it all in the food processor like we did back here (another one of my favorite salads).

I love the garlic bread cheese from Trader Joe’s, as I may have mentioned? I cube it up and pan-fry it for a little extra golden soft goodness.

Besides the apples, cashews, cheese, and greens, you’re going to definitely want an oniony element on this salad to give it some depth. You can use store-bought crispy onions, but if you have the time I highly recommend fried shallots! And I make them in the microwave! Method in the recipe below.

Add your dressing, toss, and have a ball.

For the microwave fried shallot method: Place sliced shallots in a small bowl and just barely cover with vegetable or canola oil (just enough to coat them – about 1/4 to 1/3 cup). Exact timing will depend on your microwave, but I cook mine on high for about 5-6 minutes, keeping a close eye on them. Once the shallots start to shrink up, I continue in 15-30 second increments. Once they are properly light golden (usually around 7 minutes total), I remove from the oil, rest on paper towels, and season with salt. These will keep at room temp in a sealed container for about a week, and the shallot-infused oil can be used in dressings or other recipes.

Tag @pinchofyum on Instagram so we can admire your masterpiece!