How was I unaware of eating apples with cheese for so long? I didn’t discover this snack—so good, and so obvious—until at least middle school. The scene: a house in Seattle, where I’d been recruited, along with my brother, to support a marketing initiative at the company my dad worked for, something about cooking with kids. Apples and cheese were on the menu. Things were never the same again.
Since then, eating an apple with cheese has held as one of my favorite snacks, though I’ve eschewed melting the cheese (as they were originally served to me) in favor of simple slices, usually a sharp cheddar on a granny smith. Like anyone else, I’m always scheming ways to get more of my favorite foods, and when I saw a recipe for a salad that called for apples and cheese, there was no turning it down. Here was a way to have one of my favorite snacks for dinner, or at least as part of my dinner. I decided to sub gouda (it’s never been my favorite) for sharp white cheddar.
I didn’t stop there. I removed celery and pecans (graciously accommodating Thomas’s tastes, for once) and added cubed sweet potato to keep a wintry theme. Have you ever had sharp cheddar with sweet potato? Amazing. I kept the chicken but subbed the salad greens with kale, again to make the most of winter produce. Fresh kale is often a tough sell for me—that bitter, brassica taste can get overwhelming—but I love it lightly sautéed, so into the pan with the chicken it went. I didn’t create a particular dressing for this salad; I think just a touch of balsamic vinegar would do nicely.
Since the greens are slightly cooked, I guess this is more of a sauté than a salad, but whatever you call it, it’s just the thing for winter. True, it’s not a big dish of mac and cheese, but it’s a kind of comfort food, something to make when you want to be healthy, but not terribly restrictive. There is cheese, after all. Having just returned from a trip to New Zealand, where it is summer (and it’s warm even when it rains), this salad/sauté helped me ease back into the northern hemisphere winter. Well, as much as one can while still daydreaming about sandy beaches and wearing a t-shirt every day.
It’s been many years since the apples and cheese discovery, though I’ve probably more than made up for the lost time. And now I have a salad that’s my favorite snack surrounded by more of my favorite foods. It’s something to help me forget the cold, even just for dinner time.
Kale, Chicken, and Sweet Potato Sauté with Apples and Cheese
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
Olive oil
1.25 pounds chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
1 large bunch kale, leaves coarsely torn, stems discarded
6 ounces sharp white cheddar cheese, sliced into small cubes
1 large apple, diced (I used Braeburn)
Salad dressing of your choice
- Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spread the sweet potato cubes on a baking sheet and toss with about a tablespoon of olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes or until tender.
- In a large skillet, heat a little olive oil over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until just cooked. Add the kale leaves, reduce heat to low, and let cook until the kale leaves are just wilted.
- Stir in the sweet potato cubes, cheddar cubes, and diced apple. Serve with salad dressing, if desired.
The Food Beat 