This crisp and refreshing Apple & Quinoa Kale Salad from The Wheatless Kitchen is equal parts sweet and earthy. Perfect for lunch or dinner, the generous serving size will fill you up without weighing you down.
Apple & Quinoa Kale Salad
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 1/2 bunch Kale, chopped
- 1 large Apple, diced
- 1/3 cup dry Quinoa (certified gluten-free if necessary)
- 1/3 cup chopped Almonds
For the Vinaigrette:
- 2 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
- 1 tablespoon Honey
- 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Pinch of Salt and Pepper
Directions
In a medium saucepan, bring the quinoa and 2/3 cup of water to a boil. Once boiling, reduced heat, cover and let simmer for 15 minutes. It is done when there is no water left. Fluff the quinoa with a fork and let cool completely.
Make the dressing by whisking all of the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. Taste it to make sure you don’t need to add more honey or mustard to match your flavor preference.
Add the kale, apples, cooled quinoa and almonds to a large mixing bowl. Pour the dressing over the top and mix until the salad is completely coated with the dressing.
Nutrition Information
Serves: 2 | Serving Size: 1/2 of recipe
Per serving: Calories: 539; Total Fat: 36g; Saturated Fat: 4g; Monounsaturated Fat: 20g; Cholesterol: 0mg; Sodium: 352mg; Carbohydrate: 48g; Dietary Fiber: 8g; Sugar: 18g; Protein: 10g
Nutrition Bonus: Potassium: 419mg; Vitamin A: 135%; Vitamin C: 138%; Iron: 13%; Calcium: 11%
Candace Bell is the voice behind The Wheatless Kitchen. Her blog is dedicated to creating simple, gluten-free recipes. Her mission is to help those diagnosed with food allergies by promoting a wholesome, gluten-free way of life. You can also find Candace on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Photo courtesy of Candace Bell. Original recipe published on The Wheatless Kitchen.
14 Responses
Wow. Nearly 600 calories for one serving of this salad, and I know in our house, a ‘side’ of protein (i.e. steak or chicken) would be required to go with it… I know olive oil is a “healthy” oil, but I think I’ll trim some of that olive oil down and replace it with vinegar and/or broth… I’m not big on drenching a salad in oil, anyway. I prefer higher ratios of vinegar in my dressings… and this one has zero vinegar?
I agree, this seems very high in calories for just a salad. I think I would use 1/2 the dressing that is required. Then again, I guess it’s considered a meal and not a side salad. Maybe smaller quantities?
Excellent. Finally, an MFP-sponsored blogger who isn’t vegetarian…
…and yet, the blog post is for a vegetarian recipe.
*sigh*
(So, does anyone else see a theme around here or is it just me?)
I guess I’d been struck by the number of chicken recipes myself…But, as a vegetarian, I imagine it would have struck me that way.
Perhaps it is all just a matter of perspective.
It is a lovely recipe. But, I’m afraid I agree with Tina Toburen. Way too many calories. Will replace half of that oil with lemon juice. And probably add pecans instead of the almonds.
If you add the quinoa to the kale while it is still hot, it will soften up the kale a bit! I do this all the time and love it!
Help! I made this to take to a potluck tomorrow, but can’t stop eating it tonight! GREAT recipe. Due to ingredients on hand, I had to trade out a little. I tore the kale, but will DEFINITELY CHOP the next batch. I doubled the amount of kale (because I’m crazy about it!), but left the amount of dressing the same. I’m not afraid of calories from “good fat,” so used a Tbsp of olive oil to “massage” the kale after reading Christina’s comment, and then used coconut oil for the dressing. (To massage you pick up and scrunch big double handfuls of the greens, dropping them back in the bowl and repeating for a minute or so. Breaks it down a bit, but doesn’t hurt the leaves.) Discovered I didn’t have dijon, so used spicy brown mustard (but now dijon’s on my shopping list.) Only had slivered almonds, but think your sliced almonds look nicer and would lend better texture. Couldn’t find my honey, but since the coconut oil adds a hint of sweetness, I added a few drops of liquid stevia and called it good. And BOY, is it GOOD! Thanks for posting!
Oh my lord, 589 calories for a salad? I agree, Tina, all that olive oil is unnecessary and, as they always say on Masterchef, you HAVE to balance with acidity. A mouthful of oil would be very unpleasant.
Looks like a great recipe but at almost 600 calories—! way over my budget. Anyway to reduce the calories?
It looks delicious, but since I sit at a desk all day, I am only alotted under 1400 calories a day. This is an expensive meal from a caloric point of view!
The calories in this recipe come from the Quinoa and almonds. 1/2 a cup of uncooked Quinoa is 325 calories and the almonds work out to almost 200 calories. This is an extremely healthy meal and is very high in fibre. I might cut out the almonds if I were to REALLY want to cut back on calories….or maybe just put 1/2 the recipe in? I figure even with this amount of calories, it would be easy to burn off and rid through your body with those high doses of fibre. 🙂
Yes I think to decrease the calories for this recipe I would use less Oil, and if it were a side salad instead of a main dish use dried cranberries instead of almonds. But almonds if this was the protein part of the meal.