The Antidote to Pastry

A wintry salad of baby kale, citrus, and ricotta is a perfect respite for the hard-baking crew in the SAVEUR test kitchen

By Farideh Sadeghin

Credit: Helen Rosner

We've been on a baking streak for the last three weeks in the SAVEUR test kitchen, and in the beginning, we were all excited for the sweets that we were producing. But nearly a month of pastries�in addition to holiday feasting�left the kitchen crew starting to feel it come crashing down on our thighs. When lunchtime rolled around yesterday, we all wanted the same thing: a simple salad, light and filling. I've often found that the best recipes come from moments of sheer desperation, and so I wasn't surprised that foraging through our fridge to see what ingredients it held resulted in the perfect detoxifying combination: toasted pumpkin seeds, ripe oranges, spicy shallots, and baby kale (lighter and less fibrous than mature kale), tossed in a dressing of fresh orange juice and honey. Topped with a few dollops of airy ricotta, it's a perfect winter salad�exactly what we needed to get us reinvigorated about all that baking and frying.

See the recipe for Kale and Citrus Salad »