Enjoy this seasonal summer kale salad full of vibrant colors and antioxidants! The dark sweet cherries and crispy prosciutto make the perfect pair on a bed of mixed greens! Finish it off with a quick and easy homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

I used to think I wasn't a fruit person. After each grocery trip, I would ambitiously fill my fruit basket...and a week later I hadn't made a dent. Those aspirational fruits would just wilt in the back of my fridge.

Then I discovered the gloriousness that is seasonal produce. Seriously, it really does taste so much better when you buy something in season. Sweet and juicy with the perfect texture - with quality, seasonal fruit I can almost understand those people who eat fruit for dessert…almost.

With summer stone fruits, seasonal quality is especially true. Living in South Carolina, I’m supposed to say peaches are my favorite stone fruit, but if I'm being completely honest, it's cherries. They are SO good! While I could easily go through a bag by itself, I love to use them in both sweet and savory recipes. This summer kale salad with cherries and crisp prosciutto is a simple side salad I love to whip up when it’s cherry season.

Cherry Nutrition and Benefits

Cherries are a type of stone fruit but are often categorized with berries because of their similar sweet-tart flavor. There are many other benefits of cherries than just tasting great! Like berries, cherries are known for their antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties, which are just fancy words that mean reduce inflammation and cell damage. Here are a few examples of how eating cherries can be beneficial:

May reduce risk of heart disease
May reduce pain from arthritis
May reduce risk of gout flare up
May reduce muscle soreness after exercise

By adding cherries to your diet, like with this summer kale salad recipe, you’ll not only have a new tasty treat, you’ll also be adding nutrients to your body that have amazing benefits. Here’s some other fun ways to incorporate the nutrition of cherries:

Tart cherry juice in smoothies
Dried unsweetened cherries on salads, trail mix or muesli (try my cherry coconut muesli)
Frozen cherries to top off oatmeal - my personal favorite is with cacao nibs, cherries and coconut
Bake a cherry crisp or cobbler for dessert - the leftovers make a great breakfast with yogurt!

Summer Kale Salad Ingredient Notes

After years of food blogging and well, eating salads, I would describe myself as a salad connoisseur. I am a big believer that when you make salads with the focus on pleasure, not nutrition or cutting calories, you can make a salad you’re actually excited to eat, like this summer kale salad! In my professional opinion, one key difference between a GREAT salad and an okay salad is the quality of ingredients you use.

First, make sure the cherries you use in this summer kale salad recipe are nice and fresh and juicy. This is one recipe you’ll definitely wan to make in season, or just swap dried cherries instead.

Another way to make this summer kale salad taste especially amazing is getting a quality cheese to use as garnish. The recipe calls for pecorino romano, but a parmesan or asiago cheese would be great substitutes! Just make sure you get block cheese and not pre-shredded, which doesn’t have much flavor imo. When picking your cheese, try to pick a piece that has the rind on it. The cheese closest to the rind actually has the best flavor! Another neat fact about the cheese rind is that there are many ways to use it in cooking. You can use it to make a broth or throw it into a pot of soup to enhance the umami flavors. I use it to make my 3 bean tortellini minestrone.

So what about prosciutto? There are two types of prosciutto: crudo and cotto. The differences between the two are that crudo is a deep pink color with ribbons of fat throughout. Cotto is pale pink with no large ribbons of fat and is more similar to American ham. Either will work great for this summer kale salad recipe! If it’s available to you, order it from your grocery store deli counter instead of buying it already packaged, as packaged prosciutto tends to be a little hard when it’s supposed to have a melt-in-your mouth texture. Although frankly, since you’re frying the prosciutto until crispy, it doesn’t matter quite as much as when you’re enjoying it as part of a charcuterie plate.

Last but not least, choose a high quality balsamic vinegar for this summer kale salad. Since balsamic is a major flavor in this recipe, it’s worth breaking out your fancy bottle (or splurging on one!). It may be overwhelming at first trying to choose a balsamic vinegar when there are like 20 options at some grocery stores, but there are a couple of things to look for.

Read the ingredients. Choose a balsamic that lists its first ingredient as cooked grape must (aka grape juice). A balsamic with grape must listed first will be sweeter in flavor. Stay away from brands that have red wine vinegar as the first ingredient because the taste will be thinner and much more acidic.
Choose a bottle that is well-aged. Similar to wine, the more aged it is, the more complex and flavorful it becomes. As balsamic ages, the water content decreases which increases the viscosity. Because there’s less water, the flavors from the grape must really stands out.

Keep in mind, these are just some tips and tricks to find the highest quality ingredients for this summer kale salad recipe, but using what is available to you or what you have on hand will work great!

What to Serve with this Summer Kale Salad

This summer kale salad makes for a beautiful side dish for seasonal mains. Here’s a few ideas for pairing:

Make it a cold meal with my no-knead focaccia and Italian cheeses
Make it a soup and salad night with my three bean minestrone
Sandwich and a salad is another natural pairing, like with my salmon BLT with tomato jam or grilled zucchini and smoky pesto panini.
Pasta is another great pairing, like my herbed ricotta fettuccine or summer gnocchi with basil brown butter.

Summer Kale Salad with Cherries and Crispy Prosciutto Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
4 ounces prosciutto
1 bag mixed greens
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
1 teaspoon honey
1 1/2 cups pitted dark sweet cherries
1-2 ounces pecorino romano, shaved
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Instructions:

Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a large skillet on medium high heat. When oil is hot, add prosciutto and cook about 2 minutes per side until crispy. Remove to a paper towel lined sheet.
In a large salad bowl, toss together greens and herbs. Add cherries. Break prosciutto into smaller pieces and add to the salad. Garnish with pecorino romano. Whisk balsamic, honey and olive oil together in a small bowl and season with sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Drizzle dressing over the top, toss lightly and serve.

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This healthy summer kale salad recipe is full of flavor and antioxidants! The sweet cherries and salty prosciutto make the perfect pair for this seasonal salad. Try this quick and easy salad recipe recipe is great for entertaining! #rachaelhartleynu…