Kale Quinoa Salad with Citrus Ginger Dressing

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again. I love to teach how to eat healthy through cooking demos. It allows me to showcase the nutritional value of food, how to reduce food waste, and how to make healthy food taste delicious.

This salad combines two nutritional powerhouses- kale and quinoa. Kale is part of the cabbage family and provides several antioxidants, as well as potassium, fiber, and vitamin K.

Quinoa is one of the few plant proteins that’s considered “complete” as most varieties contain the 9 essential amino acids your body can’t produce on its own. It’s a good source of fiber and is also gluten-free, making it a pearfect grain to share with crowds.

Tasked with what to make using apples and pears for a class sponsored by Meals on Wheels, I came up with this delicious salad, just in ‘thyme’ for the 4th of July.

Speaking of the 4th, a nice change in this salad would be to swap apples and pears with blueberries and strawberries for a festive twist!

If I’m serving a crowd, I typically leave the nuts out or substitute them with sunflower or pumpkin seeds. I may bring a tub of both feta and blue cheese so people can choose their cheese (or leave it out). But honestly, the pecans combined with blue cheese and pears were the bomb!

I think you’ll enjoy this salad as much as my class did this week.

Salad

6 cups fresh kale, chopped, rinsed, and massaged

1/2 cup dry quinoa, rinsed

1 Honey Crisp or Granny Smith apple and 1 fresh pear (chopped)

1/3 cup chopped pecans

¼ cup blue cheese

Dressing

1/4 cup fresh orange juice                            2 tsp. balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup canola oil                                             2 tsp. ginger paste

Directions

1.       Place quinoa and 1 cup of water in a medium pan. Boil the quinoa for 1 minute, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover the pot and cook quinoa for another 12 to 13 minutes until all the water is soaked up. Allow the quinoa to cool.

2.       Wash and rip the kale.  Place in a zip lock bag and massage kale until it’s shiny.  Add kale to a large salad bowl.

3.       Slice the apples and pears into chunks and add to the kale.

4.       Add chopped pecans, cooked quinoa and blue cheese.

5.       Whisk together orange juice, canola oil, balsamic vinegar, and ginger paste.

6.       Dress salad before serving.

Makes 6 servings.  Nutrition facts per serving:  225 calories, 16 grams fat (2.5 grams saturated fat), 9 mg cholesterol, 16 grams carbohydrate, 4 grams fiber, 5 grams protein, 127 mg sodium.