Kale Quinoa Salad Recipe
Kale Quinoa Salad
As if a half marathon weren't enough, t-minus five days until another shorter, albeit far more insane event. The Warrior Dash in North Bend.
3.55 hellish miles. 3.55 miles not being hellish on their own; oh no. These 3.55 have 11 obstacles ranging from some kind of dark, belly crawling tunnel that straight up makes my stomach turn, to a giant wall with a rope to climb over, some kind of balancing act on two-by-fours, tires and old cars, fire jumping, crawling under barbed wire, a muddy slip and slide... the list goes on people. The. List. Goes. On.
How in the H.E. double hockey sticks did I get talked in to this?
And the best part? I have to do it all in a green cheerleading skirt. A green cheerleading skirt that barely covers my hiney. And I am so not exaggerating when I say that.
The awesome thing about it? Honey is doing it too. And he is also wearing a green cheerleading skirt. Bah!
We will also be in good company since a group of fellow booty campers, instructor included, are all running the race and we're all wearing green cheerleading skirts. It'll be a sight, that's for sure.
So in the last few days, the booty people have been thinking tailgate party, because really the only reason we're doing this thing is so we can grill up some stuff and drink some beer in a field on a sunny day. Wearing green cheerleading skirts.
My job? A salad. (And some other stuff I'm saving for another post.) And since our bootcamp 'color' is green, I'm thinking a 'green'(ish) salad is in order.
This salad is, by far, one of my most favorite salads. Period. I love it because there is so much going on in color, flavor and texture. I love it because it's just plain delicious. I love it because it's hearty and lasts a long time.
You can eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And we will be. While drinking beer and straight up co-chillin'. In green cheerleading skirts. Awesome.
Yield: A lot. Enough to feed a picnic full of party people
Need:
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 cups water or vegetable broth
- 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
- About 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon spicy brown or dijon mustard
- About 1/4 teaspoon sea salt - maybe more depending on your taste
- About 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
- 1 bunch curly kale, de-stemmed and chopped into bite sized pieces
- 1 bunch parsley, chopped
- 1 red onion, finely diced
- 1 package matchstick carrots
- About 2 or 3 cups sugar snap peas, de-stemmed and cut into about 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 to 2 packages 3 bean munchies (large bean sprout blend)
- About 1 cup slivered almonds
Do:
In a pot, bring quinoa and water or vegetable broth to a boil. Boil for about 1 minute then reduce heat and simmer, covered until quinoa soaks up all liquid, reducing heat as you go.
In a lidded jar, combine dressing ingredients: garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, lemon zest, mustard, salt and pepper. Cover and shake until fully emmulsified. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine kale, parsley, onion, carrot, snap peas and 3 bean munchies. Mix to combine.
When quinoa is done, transfer to a cookie tray to cool. Once fully cooled, add quinoa and almonds to your bowl of vegetables and mix well.
Give your dressing a shake then add about half to your salad. Fold gently to combine and taste. If it needs more dressing add it. Note: I always start with less and add more because you can always add more but you can't take it away.
Serve:
The awesome thing about this salad is you can make it ahead of time and it's good for up to about three days! The kale is so hearty it stands up to the dressing perfectly. And really, it's almost better the next day because everything is marinated and beautiful and delicious.
This salad is a great side dish; it's also really good on it's own. And yes, I have eaten it for breakfast.
Enjoy! And if you're going to the Warrior Dash, see you there!!