Winter Kale Quinoa Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing

This Winter Kale Quinoa Salad is a hearty, healthy salad that actually is good any time of the year. But technically it’s still winter, so we’ll call it a winter salad. 

We topped this yummy salad with a fresh Lemon Tahini Dressing that really kicked it up a notch!

I love Kale, yes I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Me and Kale have a special relationship, ha! 😛

There is just something so beautiful about this vegetable. It kind of reminds me of being a child growing up in the country. My mom had this HUGE garden, growing everything from strawberries, to carrots, to sunflowers. I loved our garden.

I remember as a child my mom would say, ‘Sara can you go pick some green beans for dinner’, or ‘Sara, can you and your brother husk the corn for dinner’, or ‘Sara, can you and your brother weed the garden’? I always disliked the latter. 😛

But everything else I loved about the garden was amazing. I just remember how fresh everything tasted, and no worries about anything being GMO or having a bazillion pestisides on them.

Honestly, here’s a true story that happened to me the other day. I was at the grocery store (not the coop I usually go to), and I was looking for some Organic Lemons to use for this salad. I was wandering around the produce aisle searching and searching. One of the produce workers asked me if I needed help, and I said “yes, do you carry any Organic Lemons?” He said “no, we just don’t have a demand for Organic produce, so we don’t carry any.”

Really?! Why are people not demanding this? Why do people not want to eat pesticide free food?

Sometimes I wish we could just go back to the way things were, with more healthy foods and fresh Organic gardens everywhere.

Anyhoo, I’m rambling on again…ok back to the Winter Kale Quinoa Salad!

I used one bunch of Kale for this salad. Kale can be a bit tough, so make sure you remove the thick stems and massage the Kale for a few minutes. Yes, that’s right I said massage the Kale. 🙂 It may sound weird, but it really helps soften up the leaves.

Add the Kale, Quinoa, Tomatoes, (I found a Cherry Tomato Medley for this, I thought they were so colorful, aren’t they beautiful!) Carrots, Radishes, and Almond Slices to a large bowl.

To make the Lemon Tahini Dressing, I added Tahini, fresh Lemon Juice, EVOO, Garlic, Sea Salt, and Pepper to a Food Processor. If you don’t have a food processor you can use a high speed blender.

Pulse or blend for about 30 seconds and pour this yumminess over the salad. Mix well so that all of the Kale leaves have dressing on them.

This made four large servings (if eating it as a meal). You could easily get six servings out of it as a side dish though.

Since I was the only one eating this salad in my house (my son hasn’t quite grown to love Kale yet), I had healthy lunches for the week! This keeps well for up to 4-5 days in the fridge. Even with the dressing on the salad, it doesn’t get soggy. I think the longer the dressing sits the better, it actually softens the Kale leaves more.

If you try this recipe let me know what you think! Leave a comment, rate it, share it on social media, or take a picture and tag it #tastefulventure on Instagram! I LOVE seeing what you guys cook up. 🙂

Cheers!

Winter Kale Quinoa Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing

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• Author: Tastefulventure
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 30 mins
• Yield: 4-6 1x
• Category: Salad
• Cuisine: Vegetarian, Gluten Free

Ingredients

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• For the Salad:
• 1 bunch Kale washed, chopped, and thick stems removed
• 1 1/2 cups cooked Quinoa (I used Ancient Harvest Blend, the ratio for this is 1/2 cup Quinoa + 1 cup Water to equal 1 1/2 cups cooked Quinoa. Cook as directed on package)
• 1 bunch Radishes sliced thin
• 1/2 cup halved Cherry Tomato Medley
• 1/2 cup chopped Carrots
• 1/4 cup Almond Slices
• For the Dressing:
• 1/4 cup Tahini
• 1/2 cup Lemon Juice (fresh juice from about 2 Lemons)
• 1 Tbs EVOO
• 1 large clove Garlic
• 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
• 1/4 tsp Black Pepper

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Instructions

1. To make the Salad:
2. Wash and remove thick stems from Kale leaves.
3. Chop Kale leaves into bite size pieces and add to a large salad bowl.
4. Massage Kale leaves 1-2 minutes (this helps soften the leaves).
5. Add cooked Quinoa to Kale (make sure it’s cooled, I make mine ahead of time and store it in the fridge until ready to use).
6. Add in Radishes, Tomatoes, Carrots, and Almonds.
7. To make the Dressing:
8. Add Tahini, Lemon Juice, EVOO, Garlic, Salt, and Pepper to a food processor or high speed blender.
9. Pulse or blend for about 30 seconds until it’s a dressing consistency.
10. Pour dressing over salad and mix well.
11. Enjoy!

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