A quick, delicious, filling salad that motivates you to gobble up that nutritious kale with a smile on your face.
Salads are the Best
We really like salads at our house. Have I said that before? I imagine that I have. We really like this Taco Salad for a quick filling dinner. I love this oriental cabbage salad to take to a potluck since the cabbage stays sturdy for an extended amount of time.
This romaine salad from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe with bacon, nuts and cranberries is delicious. I made it for a family gathering once and my brother says, “I don’t even like salad, why do I keep eating this?” It’s just that good. I love adding avocado to it.
Gimme Some Oven has gobs of salad recipes. I have made this one time and time again. It is delicious with some added salami for a main dish salad. It is unique but simple enough for a special occasion or a family dinner.
Love Real Food
Salads can encourage us to eat more veggies. They are a great canvas for adding all the colors of the rainbow to our diet.
This salad recipe that I am sharing today, is my favorite for lunch because I can make it and it lasts in the fridge for days and is still delicious. It is slightly adapted from the Love Real Food cookbook by Kathryne Taylor of Cookie and Kate.
Kate is dedicated to delicious vegetarian food options. She has lots of other yummy salad recipes, breakfast items and main dishes among other things on her blog or in her book. She’s awesome!
Kale and Quinoa
The salad is full of beautifully dark kale, which contains calcium, vitamin C and vitamin K. The kale doesn’t wilt even sitting in the dressing and that makes it great for making ahead.
I love the quinoa in this salad as well. It adds a boost of protein and fiber to make the salad more filling. The cranberries can be tossed in the pan when the quinoa is just finished cooking to soften them up a bit, if desired.
The dressing comes together quickly with seven simple ingredients that you probably already have on hand. Let’s hop to it!
Kale and Quinoa Salad with Crisp Celery, Plumped Cranberries and Lemon Dressing
1 cup cooked quinoa
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1 medium bunch of curly kale (about 8-10 ounces)
pinch of salt
2 ribs of celery
½ cup sliced almonds
Dressing
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1-2 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
pepper, as desired
Directions
Cook your quinoa – you’ll need 1/2 cup of quinoa and 1 cup of water to get the one cup of quinoa needed in the salad. While it is cooking, mix up the dressing. Add all the dressing ingredients to a wide mouth jar and blend with an immersion blender. Set aside.
When your quinoa is just finished cooking, if desired, you can add the dried cranberries to the pan for a few minutes to plump up. It makes them a little softer for the salad. They can just be tossed in as well, without the plumping, if that is what works for you.
Remove the tough ribs from the kale and chop the kale and celery into bite-sized pieces.
Put the kale into a bowl and sprinkle a small pinch of salt onto the kale. Get your hands in the bowl and massage the kale until it is darker in color and reduced in size a bit.
Add the celery and sliced almonds to the bowl with the kale.
When the quinoa is cooled, add it to the bowl as well as the cranberries and desired amount of dressing. Stir well.
Store in an airtight container. Stores well for up to five days in the fridge.
Tweak It Notes
- NO NUTS – Pumpkin seeds can be used instead of the almonds.
