Description
Introducing one of my favorite cozy winter salads. Think roasted kale, crispy quinoa, and toasted almonds, tossed in a sweet and creamy honey lemon vinaigrette. Like what more could you want?!
Ingredients
Scale
Kale Salad
- 1 cup quinoa, cooked according to package instructions*
- 1 bunch dino kale, de-ribbed and finely chopped**
- Olive oil
- Kosher salt
- ½ cup sliced almonds (also called flaked almonds)
Honey Lemon Vinaigrette
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 2 tbsp honey
- ¼ tsp kosher salt, plus more as needed
- ¼ tsp black pepper, plus more as needed
- Pinch of garlic powder
Instructions
- Move your oven rack to the top, preheat the oven to 450°F, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Next, prep the quinoa and kale.
- Add the cooked quinoa to one of the baking sheets and the kale to the other baking sheet. Drizzle both the quinoa and kale with olive oil and a generous sprinkle of salt. Massage the kale until it’s decreased slightly in volume and toss the quinoa until each grain is coated with olive oil.
- Bake the kale and quinoa in the preheated oven for 8 minutes on the top rack, then remove the kale (it should be crispy but still have some bite) and set aside on the counter. Crank the oven temperature up to 500°F and continue to cook the quinoa for an additional 10-15 minutes or until crispy and golden brown. Make sure to stir the quinoa 2-3 times when it’s baking to ensure it cooks evenly. Highly recommend tasting the quinoa each time you stir it, as it gets crispy super fast and you don’t want to overcook the quinoa.
- While the quinoa bakes, make the salad dressing. In a large glass, add in all the vinaigrette ingredients, and using an immersion blender, blend until emulsified and creamy, about 1 minute. You can also emulsify the dressing in a small-capacity blender like a NutriBullet. Adjust vinaigrette for salt.
- Add the baked kale, quinoa, and almonds to a large serving bowl. Pour over a generous amount of the dressing (I usually use half, but adjust as needed depending on your preference) and toss to combine. Serve immediately!
Notes
*Linking a video of mine here with a few tips for making fluffy quinoa.
**You’ll need a total of 5-6 cups of loosely packed chopped kale.