This Kale Salad with apples, persimmon, cabbage, and pomegranate arils is a celebration of seasonal fruit and vegetables! Serve this vegan, healthy and delicious superfood salad with my sweet Coca-Cola Dressing!
A perfect Holiday table needs a perfect salad, and here it is—A Vegan Kale Salad with apples, persimmon, pomegranate arils and cabbage! Festive, delicious, crunchy, fresh, hearty and light as air! It’s made days in advance and tossed with a sweet dressing that perfectly compliments the fruit and kale.
Why this recipe for Kale Salad with Apples, Persimmon & Pomegranate works:
No matter the main dish you’ll be serving for the Holiday, this healthy vegan kale salad recipe will pair beautifully with it, and any leftover salad would taste even better the next day for brunch 🙂
This easy salad is a combo of superfood kale, white and purple cabbage, apples, sweet persimmons and pomegranate. But it doesn’t stop there, you can add in your favorites or swap any ingredient you love. Think pears, berries, figs, or greens like arugula, spinach, watercress, mixed greens. And.So.Much.More!
My cousin came over last week for a quick visit from NY and I wanted to make her something special for lunch. Something festive so it feels like the Holidays. I know she’s a vegan, I know she loves light not heavily dressed salads and fruits, and I know she loves Coca-Cola.
So I gathered up some gorgeous colored seasonal veggies and fruits, and made her this Kale Salad with apples, persimmon and pomegranate seeds, all tossed with a Coco-Cola dressing! YES that was the secret ingredient!
Ok before you start thinking why, what or how this is even possible, I’ll tell you this. The Coca-Cola adds the perfect sweetness I was looking for to compliment the slight bitterness of the kale and the sweetness of the fruits.
Coca-Cola has got more flavor than sugar, and it’s vegan (unlike honey if I wanted to use it as a sweetener), so it was the perfect way to create a special Holiday moment for us.
We enjoyed every bite, every sip, she wrote down the recipe for this kale salad, we shared plenty of laughs, a bit of gossip and the sweetest memories!
How to make Kale Salad with Apples, Persimmon & Pomegranate Seeds:
So let’s talk about how quickly this kale salad with apples comes together. If you think I spent all my morning slicing and chopping—you’re wrong: I used my food processor!
I love the shredding disc attachment because it makes salad prep work so much easier. Use the large blade side of the shredding disc attachment and start adding the colourful veggies and fruits, one at a time.
In just 5 minutes, you’ll make yourself a large batch of this kale salad. You can serve the whole bowl of kale salad for a big party, or store it in the fridge and dress it up in small portions for meal prep on weekdays.
How to make the Coca-Cola Dressing:
Now let’s talk dressing. Plenty of chopped chives are the base of flavor here. You can use shallots or garlic if you prefer, I love chives because of how mildly onion-y they taste. To that, I add mustard, seasoning, white balsamic vinegar and Coca-Cola to add sweetness and more flavor.
To finally round the dressing off, I use olive oil and shake the container really well until my dressing is emulsified and looks creamy.
Make yourself a really nice BIG bowl of this Kale salad with apples, persimmon and pomegranate arils and watch your friends and family devour it!
Tips for success:
- For extra protein, add some chickpeas, navy beans, lentils, cooked quinoa or barley to this healthy kale salad with apples.
- If you’re into creamy salad dressings, you can add half Mayo (vegan or regular) and half olive oil to the Coca-Cola Dressing. I’ve made it both ways and found it delicious! It’s really up your personal taste!
If Persimmon is out of season or not really your thing, check this Coleslaw with Kale, Apples & Pomegranate , Quinoa Autumn Harvest Salad, Citrus Lentil Salad with Shredded Brussels Sprouts, all vegan hearty and delicious salads!
Sweet Persimmon Apple Kale Salad Recipe
This Kale Salad with apples, persimmon, cabbage and pomegranate seeds is a celebration of fall fruit and vegetables! Serve this vegan, healthy and delicious superfood salad with my sweet Coca-Cola Dressing!
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 1/3 purple cabbage head
- 1/3 white cabbage head
- 4 cups kale leaves packed, stems removed
- 2 apples (any type), cored and cut in half
- 4 persimmons peeled and cut in half
- 1 cup pomegranate seeds
For the dressing:
- 1/2 cup chopped chives
- 2 tablespoons grainy mustard
- 1/3 cup Coca-Cola
- 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar (or any fruity vinegar)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- pinch salt
- 1/2 cup olive oil OR 1/4 cup of olive oil + 1/4 cup of Mayo (vegan, or any type)
Instructions
- Assemble your food processor with the shredding blade on. Use the larger slicing disc side to have your veggies and fruits sliced bigger for extra texture.
- Put the veggies and fruits one after the other, emptying the food processor as needed, and continue until all the veggies and fruits are ready.
- Place all the salad veggies and fruits in a large bowl and make your dressing.
- In a salad dresser or container with a lid, add all your dressing ingredients. Seal the container and shake it vigorously until the salad dressing is emulsified.
- Dress up the salad and serve it with some refreshing Coca-Cola drinks! Enjoy 🙂
Recipe Notes
- For extra protein, add some chickpeas, navy beans, lentils, cooked quinoa or barley to this healthy kale salad with apples.
- If you're into creamy salad dressings, you can add half Mayo (vegan or regular) and half olive oil to the Coca-Cola Dressing. I've made it both ways and found it delicious! It's really up your personal taste!
The salad is a kaleidoscope of color. Gorgeous to look at and inviting me to sample and enjoy. That’s exactly what a salad should do and I really like the fall ingredients you’ve included.
This sounds so delicious and I love all the veggie you have in this salad. Persimmon is one of my favorite fruits so I can’t wait to try this.
Bright, colorful salad always tempts me. I’m a huge salad person and this salad looks perfect for me. Light, healthy, filling and so satisfying
I love persimmons but I never know how to use them. Love how pretty this salad is, totally giving it a try!
All the Autumn flavors in one bowl! Salads are my favorites! I am drooling over this one!
What a beautiful salad! I love the addition of the coca cola in the dressing for a little sweetness!
I’m salivating looking at this. I LOVE those ingredients and they look so gorgeous and vibrant too! What a great salad.
Such a gorgeous salad! I love the addition of the persimmons in it too, not often I can think of how to use them up other than eating as is!
I love how light this is and the flavors are just perfection together! I would love to try this one
This is just gorgeous. I’ve never tried persimmons, but this salad makes me want to.
This looks so bright, colorful and really delicious! It’s making me crave fruits and vegetables just looking at it. 🙂 {client}
Thanks Cristi! It was super delicious–hope you make it soon 🙂