One of the worst things about trying to eat healthy is when you have a salad for lunch or dinner, but leave the table still feeling hungry. With this recipes, there’s no need to worry about that: it tastes great and will actually fill you up!
This dish can be a stand-alone meal that’s packed with protein and vegetables, with just a hint of sweetness from the raisins. Also, it’s nice to have different textures to give your salad depth, so the crunchy almonds really round this meal out. You might think you don’t like salads, but that’s only because you haven’t tried this one!
Quinoa & Kale Salad
Serves 4-6 as an appetizer; 2-3 as a main course
Ingredients
- 5 cups Black or Tuscan kale, rinsed well, stems removed
- 1/2 cup quinoa, uncooked (1 1/2 cups cooked)
- 1 cup edamame beans, cooked
- 1 1/2 cups lentils, cooked
- 2 red bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 cup almonds, halved
- 1/2 cup raisins
- salt and pepper, to taste
- water, for cooking
For dressing:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon honey
- freshly ground salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
- Place quinoa in a small saucepan with 1 1/2 cups salted water and bring to a simmer. Cook on low for 15-20 minutes, or until tender. Drain excess liquid and transfer quinoa to plate to cool.
- In a medium pan, toast your almonds over low heat for 2-3 minutes, or until fragrant. Move them around the pan so they donít burn. Remove from heat and set aside.
- After rinsing your kale and removing the stems, roughly chop the leaves and place in a large salad bowl.
- To the kale, add quinoa, edamame, lentils, pepper, almonds and raisins. Toss well to combine and season with salt and pepper.
- To make the dressing, combine olive oil, white wine vinegar and lemon juice and whisk together. Continuing to whisk, slowly drizzle in your honey and season with salt and pepper.
- Pour dressing over salad, toss well and enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen