1. Preheat the oven to 425° and cover a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. (This isn’t a necessity, but it makes cleaning the pan a breeze.)
2. Pour the frozen butternut squash cubes into a bowl and break apart any cubes that have stuck together. Pour the avocado oil over the squash and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Use your hands to toss the cubes until they are all evenly coated and seasoned.
3. Pour the squash onto the prepared baking sheet, being careful that they are arranged in a single layer.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes. The squash cubes should be tender when done and some of them will be brown and caramelized on the bottom.
5. Remove the squash from the oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack while you prep the rest of the salad.

For the Salad:

1. Remove the leafy greens of the kale from their stems and tear the greens into bite-sized pieces. Place the kale in a bowl.
2. Core a Honey Crisp or Gala apple. No need to peel it. The peels add beautiful color and vitamins. Cut the apple into thin slices about ⅛” thick. Add the slices to the salad bowl.
3. Cut a thin slice of red onion. Like the apple, try to cut it not more than ⅛” thick. Separate the slice into individual rings. If the rings are too large, simply break them into manageable strips and then, add them to the bowl.
4. Pour in the pecans and add the cooled butternut squash cubes. 
5. Toss all the ingredients together to evenly distribute them throughout the dish. 

For the Lemon Poppy Seed Vinaigrette:

1. Whisk all the Vinaigrette ingredients together until thoroughly blended. 
2. Add ½ cup of the Lemon Poppy Seed Vinaigrette to the salad bowl and toss the Winter Kale Salad to coat all the ingredients. The citrus will keep the apples from turning brown and soften the kale just enough to be the perfect texture. (Alternatively, you can use a vinaigrette or dressing that you prefer.)
3. Transfer to a nice serving dish and serve with the leftover dressing on the side.