Kale and Quinoa Salad

If you follow food trend at all, you would know that kale and quinoa have become really popular in the recent years. This salad combines the two super food in an easy and tasty way.  It makes for a nice hearty side or a light meal.  I imagine the left-over will make a fabulous lunch and I’ll find out tomorrow! (ETA: It did make for a wonderful left-over lunch!)

The recipe is from a member on Tasty Kitchen.  I’m re-writing it here because I’ve modified the recipe slightly to suit my family’s palate and appetite.  The original recipe’s serving size is for 8.  My family must have a bunch of pigs, but there’s no way that would feed my family with left-overs.

We ate the salad with some flounder topped with lemon capers sauce.  Perhaps because I didn’t have a starch, but the three of us almost finished the entire salad.

Go over to Tasty Kitchen or to the original recipe site, Forty Cakes for some much nicer step-by-step photos.

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Massaged Kale and Quinoa Salad

Prep time: 30 mins  Inactive Cook time: 30 mins

Serves: 4 for hearty portions, 8 for smaller sides

Ingredients

For the vinaigrette
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 lemon, juiced
1 small clove garlic minced fine
2 – 3 tablespoons agave nectar (or honey for non-vegan) to taste – I used 2
*can also substitute with brown sugar, 1 – 2 tcp

For the salad
2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled
1 large bunch kale, washed well, stemmed and chopped or ripped to small pieces (about 8 packed cups)
1/3 cup dried cranberries (I like Ocean Spray Craisins)
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1 – 2 sweet, crisp apples (Fuji or Gala good options), chopped
salt and pepper to taste

*optional non-vegan ingredient – crumbled feta cheese

Directions

For the vinaigrette
In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic and the agave/honey/brown sugar and set aside.

For the salad
In a large bowl, combine the kale and the vinaigrette. Massage the vinaigrette thoroughly into the kale for about 5 minutes. The volume of the kale will decrease as the kale become tender. Set aside for another 10 to 15 minutes for the kale to become more tender.

Add in the quinoa and toss together with the kale. Add the walnuts, cranberries and chopped apples. Season with salt and pepper, to taste and thoroughly toss some more.

Peruvian Quinoa Salad

Quinoa, derived from the Quechua word kinwa is a grain -like plant grown mostly for its edible seeds.  It originated in the Andean mountains and was an important crop for the Incas due to its great nutritional value.

While Quinoa looks like a grain and acts like a carb, it actually has an unusually high protein content for a plant.  So, another option for protein substitute.  It is also gluten-free, so it is a great “carb” option for people suffering from Celiac disease.

I tried quinoa for the first time in Peru this past summer.  I don’t know if it was the quinoa or the way it was made, but I was in love.  It was one of my favorite dishes from Peru.

I’ve been wanting to replicate the dish.  Here’s my first attempt.

The ingredients starting from the top, red pepper, queso fresco, lime, tomatoes, cilantro, olives, red onion, cucumber and quinoa in the center.

Queso fresco in the package in case you’re not familiar with this type of cheese.

The directions are simple, cook quinoa and mix with the other ingredients. A couple of tips for anyone new to quinoa like me. Quinoa cooks pretty quickly so keep your eye on it. Don’t do anything like go watch an absorbing movie and have the pot burn. Um, not that I did that or anything.

1 cup is plenty for 4. It seemed so little since I’m used to cooking 2 cups of rice but 2 cups of quinoa is a lot. Trust me. I can eat quinoa salad every day for the rest of this week a lot. Alrighty then… here’s the recipe.
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Prep Time: 15 mins     Cook Time: 20 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 small cucumber, diced
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup diced red onion
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
4 ounce queso fresco cheese, diced
10 pitted black or kalamata olives, sliced
1/4 cup cilantro leaves only, chopped
3 limes, juiced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a medium sauce pot, cook quinoa with 2 cups of water until all water is absorbed and let it cool.

Once cool, add the rest of the ingredients and gently mix. Salt and pepper to taste. Simple!