Try This! Kale Quinoa Salad

I made this salad today for lunch, and it was SO good! I highly recommend that you try it. Even my six year old couldn’t resist the yummy smells coming out of the kitchen, and enjoyed a bowl of the finished product with her lunch. Not sure you like quinoa? Do you like rice? I think it really has the same texture as rice, but it’s so much more nutritious, and high in protein, too! BONUS! Not sure you like kale? I found a giant bag of ‘baby’ kale at Costco, and it’s much more tender and mild. Good for adding to salads, or sautes…quite nice.

Anyway, back to my salad. It’s a New Year! If you’re working on a New You…then you’ll want to incorporate some New Foods! 😀

Kale & Quinoa Salad (makes 6 servings)

2 Cups of water

1 Cup of quinoa

6-8 loosely-packed cups of kale

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1 garlic clove (minced)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3/4 C. Almond pieces or slivers

3/4 C. dried cranberries

1/2 C. reduced fat feta cheese

Directions

1. Bring water to a boil in a saucepan. Stir quinoa into the boiling water, reduce heat to medium-low, place cover on the saucepan, and cook until water absorbs into the quinoa, about 15 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat and let rest covered for 5 minutes. Remove cover and allow quinoa to cool completely.
2. Put kale in a large mixing bowl.
3. Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, garlic, pepper, and salt together in a bowl until oil emulsifies into the mixture; drizzle over kale. Add cooled quinoa, almonds, cranberries, and feta cheese to the dressed kale and toss to incorporate.

 Nutritional Information: 297 calories, 12 g. fat, 11 g. protein per serving