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quinoa and kale salad with orange and avocado and cucumber slices

quinoa kale salad

a nourishing, healthy winter salad with purple kale, black quinoa, orange slices and avocado with a refreshing orange dressing

Course main course, salad, starter
Cuisine gluten free, Vegan, vegetarian
Keyword black quinoa and red kale salad, quinoa and kale salad with orange dressing, quinoa kale salad, salad with quinoa and kale
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

quinoa (makes about 3 C of cooked quinoa) you can keep the leftover in the fridge up to a week or even freeze it for about 3 months

  • 1 C black quinoa
  • 2 C water or veggie broth If your use water, add 1 tsp. of salt to the water

salad

  • 1 bunch red kale about 6-8 stems destemed washed and cut (about 3 C)
  • 1 C cooked black quinoa you can also use red or white quinoa
  • 1 orange peeled and sliced in segments I used CaraCara but any one is fine
  • 1 Persian cucumber or 1/2 medium English cucumber
  • 1 avocado peeled and sliced
  • 1/4 C pomegranate arils (seeds)
  • 1/4 C roasted walnuts you can dry-roast them briefly in a pan to enhance the taste

orange dressing

  • zest of 1/2 organic orange
  • 1/4 C orange juice (1 orange) delicious also with blood orange
  • 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
  • 1/3 C walnut oil
  • 1 Tbsp almond or cashew butter
  • 3 Tbsp. coconut yoghurt
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt more to taste
  • 1/2 tsp maple syrup more or less to taste
  • black pepper to taste
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes I like Aleppo pepper

Instructions

quinoa

  1. in a medium size pot bring the water or broth to a boil. If you are using water add 1 tsp of salt. If using broth this adds a deeper taste to the cooked quinoa

  2. in the meanwhile rinse quinoa thoroughly and add it into the to boiling water or broth and bring it back to a soft boil for about 5 minutes.

  3. now turn down the heat and let it simmer for about 15 minutes

  4. turn off the heat and let it sit for about 10 more minutes until all the broth/water is fully absorbed and you can see the white curly tails showing up. now fluff up the quinoa with a fork.

    one cup of perfectly cooked fluffy black quinoa

  5. measure 1 C of the cooked quinoa into a bowl, set aside and let it cool a bit

orange-yoghurt dressing

  1. wash the orange with hot water, pad dry and start to zest the whole orange.

    while you mindfully zest the whole orange take a deep breath and enjoy this uplifting and refreshing aroma of the orange oil released by the peel. 

  2. juice the orange and use 1/2 of the zest for the dressing. The rest of the zest you can use to make citrus salt (you find on my blog).

  3. in a mason jar mix the orange and lemon juice with the orange zest. Let it steep for about 10 minutes to infuse the juice with the aroma of the zest. Now add all other dressing ingredients, close the lid and shake until it is perfectly mixed. (You also can use an immersion blender)

    a jar with orange dressing with cocnut yoghurt and orange zest

salad

  1. in a small pan dry-roast the walnuts for a few minutes until fragrant. But watch them not to get burned and aside to cool.

  2. de-stem and wash the kale. Spin dry and cut in stripes

  3. in a bigger bowl add 1 Tbsp. of walnut oil, a pinch of salt and the kale. Massage the kale with your hands for about one minute until it is soft and shiny

    massaging kale with walnut oil and a pinch of salt

  4. cut the orange segments (as shown above)

    perfectly peeled orange for cutting the orange segments

  5. wash and slice the cucumber. I like the Persian cucumber, they are delicious, small, crunchy and have no seeds. But you can perfectly use an  English cucumber.

  6. cut  the avocado in halves, remove the pit and peel and slice the halves.

serving

  1. after the quinoa has cooled a bit, mix the quinoa, kale, orange segments, cucumber slices and roasted walnuts in a bowl. Top with about 2/3rd of the dressing and mix. 

    Divide the salad in 4 bowls, arrange the avocado slices on the side and sprinkle the pomegranate arils on top and add the rest of the dressing.

    quinoa and kale salad with orange and avocado and cucumber slices

  2. Guten Appetit

Recipe Notes

To add more protein

You can top the salad with baked tofu or roasted chickpeas