Quinoa, kale & carrot salad
This is a great go-to 'salad' to serve at a dinner party - it's more filling than you're average salad because of the quinoa and the chickpeas, but it's light and crunchy too thanks to the kale and the carrots.
Note, if you make it in advance you'll need to add a little more dressing and/or a little lemon juice, and/or lemon zest to make the flavors pop again just before you serve it.
I recommend allowing yourself at least 30-minutes to make this salad. Note, you'll need a little extra time to cook & cool the quinoa.
Salad ingredients:
- 3 cups cooked (& cooled) quinoa
- Note, you can cook this up to 1 day in advance...you want it to be completely cool before combining it with the other ingredients.
- 1 x 15 oz can of chickpeas
- 3 cups Lacinato (aka dino) kale, washed, dried & finely chopped
- FYI - I use my lettuce spinner to dry it.
- 4 medium carrots, peeled & finely grated
- 4 green onions, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, packed in oil, drained & roughly chopped
- 1/2 bunch of parsley, washed, de-stemmed & finely chopped
Dressing ingredients:
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) of your favorite extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) red wine vinegar
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 1 tsp (5 ml) maple syrup
- 1 medium lemon zested (1 T of zest)
- Salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
- Cook & cool your quinoa in advance
- Wash & prep the kale, then add it to a large bowl
- Drain & rinse the chickpeas, drain & chop the sun-dried tomatoes, peel & grate the carrots, wash & chop the green onions and all them all the large bowl
- Make the dressing
- Combine all the ingredients and toss well to combine and season well with salt & pepper
- Enjoy (& know that any leftovers are good for 2-4 days in an airtight container in the fridge)