Trader Joe’s Kale Waldorf Salad

by Mary on May 1, 2013

a home copy of Trader Joe's Kale Waldorf salad

Kale Waldorf Salad

I’m happy to take inspiration where I find it, and the Kale Waldorf Salad that I sampled the other day at Trader Joe’s was quite good. I took one home to try and ended up copying it in my own way. Despite being billed as a kale salad, the TJ’s version has mostly spinach with just a little chopped kale. Mine has a higher proportion of kale. I prefer to rip the central rib out of each leaf of kale when I’m using it in a raw salad so that’s what I did here.

I’ve made this with a Greek yogurt honey dressing, or alternatively, with a non-dairy yogurt dressing. Choose either one according to your needs. My recipe-formatting program won’t let me put in more than one recipe per post, so the recipe for the Greek yogurt honey dressing is here, and the non-dairy yogurt dressing is here.

5.0 from 1 reviews
Trader Joe's Kale Waldorf Salad
 
Prep time
Total time
 
A kale waldorf salad, dressed with either Greek yogurt honey dressing or a non-dairy yogurt honey dressing, your choice.
Author:
Recipe type: salad
Serves: 3
Ingredients
  • 1 recipe Greek yogurt honey dressing or non-dairy yogurt honey dressing (see separate posts)
  • 3 oz. kale
  • 4 oz. spinach leaves
  • 6 oz. red seedless grapes
  • scant ½ cup chopped walnuts
  • ¼ cup finely chopped red onion
  • 1 cup chopped celery
  • 8 oz. Fuji apples, cut into small cubes
  • 1 extra small carrot, grated or peeled into long strips with a vegetable peeler.
Instructions
  1. If you are using a bunch of spinach, wash it in several changes of water. If you are using bagged spinach, just wash it once or skip this step.
  2. Wash kale.
  3. Spin dry spinach and kale.
  4. Rip each leaf of kale away from the rib to remove the tough center section. This is optional, but I prefer to do it, especially with some types of kale that have a larger central rib within the leaf.
  5. Chop the kale into bite-sized pieces.
  6. Toss spinach, kale, and about half the recipe of dressing in a large bowl.
  7. Put on dinner plates.
  8. Toss remaining ingredients except carrots in a bowl with the remainder of the dressing.
  9. Top greens with the dressed ingredients.
  10. Top with shredded or grated carrot.
  11. Recipe provides three full-plate portions of salad.

 

{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }

The Wimpy Vegetarian May 1, 2013 at 3:46 am

I am constantly looking for great kale recipes – what a great idea to do this riff on a Waldorf. Your Greek honey yogurt dressing looks great too!!
The Wimpy Vegetarian recently posted..Pickled Onions in Cardamom-Orange TeaMy Profile

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mary May 2, 2013 at 4:02 am

Thanks, Susan!

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kirsten May 1, 2013 at 4:29 pm

Mary,
What a great use for your Greek yogurt dressing in this salad! It looks so fresh and pretty, and I bet it tasted wonderful.

Thanks!
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mary May 2, 2013 at 4:02 am

🙂

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Reeni May 3, 2013 at 1:09 am

How utterly delicious Mary! I love that you recreated it!
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mary May 3, 2013 at 3:47 am

Thanks, Reeni!

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Matt May 4, 2013 at 11:39 pm

Looks delicious! Totally need to try this.
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mary May 5, 2013 at 1:00 am

Thanks, Matt!

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Beth May 5, 2013 at 10:48 am

This looks really delicious. I just purchased some lemon-white balsamic vinegar and it feels like a light lemon vinaigrette with good olive oil would be a nice non-creamy dressing. What do you think, have you tried this with any other dressings?

I just found your blog (you left a comment for me on mine, thanks!). Keep up the skating and cooking!
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mary May 5, 2013 at 4:28 pm

Thanks, Beth! I think lemon, balsamic, and olive oil are all good on kale or spinach but I don’t like olive oil on fruit, I would choose a neutral oil like grapeseed or canola (if you use canola). Thanks for the visit and the encouragement!

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Jane May 5, 2013 at 2:11 pm

That does sound really good! I love salads with lots of fun add ins, which this definitely has!
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mary May 5, 2013 at 4:23 pm

Thanks, Jane!

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Brittany May 5, 2013 at 10:22 pm

I like your version better. I love spinach, but LOVE kale!

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mary May 5, 2013 at 10:33 pm

Thanks, Brittany!

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Hannah May 7, 2013 at 1:21 am

Now that I can get vegan Greek yogurt, I’ve been using it on and in everything. This sounds like a perfect recipe to continue that trend. 😉 I’m not a fan of mayo-based salads, so this would be an excellent departure from the original.
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mary May 8, 2013 at 5:04 am

Cool, now I see your review of So Delicious Coconut Greek yogurt, and see that you’ve used it in a number of recipes since your review. I’m sure it must be at my co-op which seems to have a really extensive collection of yogurts. I’ll have to give it a try, I used regular coconut yogurt for one of my non-dairy versions, Greek-style would likely be even better.

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Tempie May 18, 2013 at 4:18 pm

I love creating my own versions of prepared foods or restaurant meals, too. Both dressing sound really tasty. Love the pic!
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Joanne May 19, 2013 at 11:41 pm

I love waldorf salad. This looks wonderful!
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mary June 10, 2013 at 2:07 am

Thanks, Joanne!

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Kim hoeltje June 10, 2013 at 12:27 am

I love trader joes! This looks so yummmy!

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mary June 10, 2013 at 2:06 am

Thanks, Kim!

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