Thanksgiving leftovers are a little bit like family—you can wait ‘til they arrive, and you sure are glad to see them go. So far, we’ve enjoyed full leftover plates, grilled cheese sandwiches made with leftover turkey and other accoutrements, and of course the comforting leftover turkey gumbo that I shared yesterday.
On the fresher side of things, how about a fall harvest-themed salad option that makes the most of leftovers in a bright new way? There are plenty of autumn ingredients in here, but lots of fresh and healthful things to soften the reality that you’re still eating leftover turkey.
For me, a salad must hold a variety of interesting flavors and textures, so this one has shaved fennel for a little crunch, dried cranberries for a little chew, roasted bites of butternut squash for soft sweetness, thin slices of gala apple for a little snap and an easy citrus-maple vinaigrette for a whole lot of mouthwatering goodness in every bite. The prep is minimal and the salad is pretty.
Three levels of crisp and crunch in this salad! 
I like the greens to be large enough to grab with a fork, but small enough to get other toppings in the same bite. 
The citrus and maple are delicious together in the dressing.
In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll admit that I made this salad more than a month ago, with a roasted turkey breast that we purchased at Costco for sandwiches and salads. It was filling but light, and it gave my taste buds a bit of that autumn pizzazz I was craving so much. But I know this salad would be just as good today with leftover roasted or smoked turkey breast, or if you downsized Thanksgiving this year for safety reasons and didn’t do a turkey, you could easily swap in cubes of deli roasted chicken. Heck, leave out meat altogether and make it vegan. As always, I hope you find inspiration and flavor in my recipe. Enjoy!
Ingredients
2 cups butternut squash cubes
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper
1 fat handful fresh washed kale leaves, rough chopped and thick stems removed
1 fat handful baby spinach leaves
4 romaine heart leaves, torn into bite-sized pieces
1 cup chopped leftover turkey (or deli chicken)
1/2 fresh gala apple, washed and sliced thin
1/2 fennel bulb, trimmed and sliced thin
1/2 small red onion, sliced thin
1/4 cup dried cranberries
2 Tbsp. roasted, salted pumpkin seeds
Citrus-maple vinaigrette (recipe below)
Challah or brioche croutons (instructions below)
Citrus-maple vinaigrette w/sunflower oil and thyme
2 Tbsp. orange muscat champagne vinegar* (see notes)
1 Tbsp. maple syrup*
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper
1 Tbsp. toasted sunflower oil
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves stripped
*Notes
The orange muscat champagne vinegar is a product from Trader Joe’s. If you cannot find it, I’d recommend substituting half apple cider vinegar and half freshly squeezed orange juice.
If you need to swap the maple syrup, I’d recommend half as much honey or a teaspoon of regular sugar.
Instructions
Most of this recipe needs no instruction; I don’t need to tell you how to slice an apple or sprinkle on dried cranberries. But here’s a bit of info you may find helpful for the prep of the other ingredients.
Use any olive oil you like to roast the butternut squash. My go-to is infused with wild mushroom and sage. 
Roast the squash until the cubes have some caramelization, but not to the point of being mushy. 
Reach in with your hands and scrunch the kale, a handful at a time. 
After only a minute or so, you’ll notice the kale beginning to soften. 
Fennel is a great addition to a salad. It’s crunchy like celery, but has a sweet and mildly licorice flavor. It tastes great next to apples, too. 
To trim the fennel, cut off the stalks and the bottom, then cut lengthwise and use a sharp knife to cut out the triangle-shaped core. 
The rest is just layering! I love serving salads on a platter, to show off all the great textures.
- Preheat the oven to 400° F. Line a rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil.
- Toss squash cubes with a tablespoon of olive oil, and arrange the cubes on the cookie sheet. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 minutes, or until fork tender and lightly caramelized. Cool completely.
- In a large, deep bowl, drizzle a tablespoon olive oil over the chopped kale leaves. Using your hands, reach into the bowl and “scrunch” the kale throughout the bowl. As you massage the greens, they will soften up and wilt in volume. Give it a light sprinkling of kosher salt and pepper and then let it rest while you prep the other salad ingredients.
- Make the dressing: combine vinegar, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper in a small bowl or glass measuring cup. Gradually stream in sunflower oil and olive oil, whisking constantly to emulsify the dressing ingredients. Alternatively, you could combine all dressing ingredients in a lidded jar and shake the daylights out of it. Whatever works for you.
- Massage the kale once more, then add the spinach and torn romaine leaves and toss to combine.
- Drizzle about half of the citrus-thyme vinaigrette over the greens and toss again. Transfer the greens to a platter or individual serving plates.
- Add the cubed turkey to the salad. Scatter the pieces of onion, apple and fennel evenly over the greens. Sprinkle with dried cranberries and roasted pumpkin seeds and drizzle the remaining dressing over the entire platter.
- Serve with croutons, if desired.
Homemade Croutons
Cut up stale challah or brioche into large cubes or torn pieces. Drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and arrange the bread pieces on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 300° F for about 30 minutes, tossing occasionally to ensure they dry uniformly. When they are crisp but still slightly soft, remove from the oven and cool completely. For this salad, I pulled leftover sourdough pumpkin challah from the freezer. The cubes roasted up nearly the same color as the butternut squash! 🙂
Comfort du Jour 
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