Powerhouse Kale & Quinoa Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

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I’ve been on a kale salad kick recently. I bought a big bag of fresh, already chopped kale at Aldi recently. In order to use it up before it spoils, I’ve been eating kale quite frequently, lol. There’s a multitude of different kale salads out there, but this is my most recent creation. I made this one just using ingredients I already had in the fridge and pantry..

I’d love to try it with different types of nuts and maybe some fruit as well..I think mandarin orange slices would be delicious! Not sure if those are available sugar free?? I’ll definitely check the next time I get to the grocery store.

It would also probably be quite delicious with feta or goat cheese, but I didn’t have any on hand at the time. Next time!

If you’re not familiar with making kale salad, I will let you know, the most important thing is to massage the kale really well. I like to grab a handful of kale and rub and twist it between my hands until it turns moist and dark green. All the powdery look should disappear.

You can use warm or cold quinoa for this salad. I like to precook the boil in a bag quinoa ahead of time and store it in the fridge. Then whenever I want some cooked quinoa, I just take out what I need.

This recipe is super easy to make both as a single serve size salad or a big one for multiple servings. Just be sure to use a large platter if you are making multiple servings and layer the ingredients on top of the kale. It’s better to not have to kale layer be too thick, no more than 2 inches. Alternatively, you can just throw all the ingredients together and toss to distribute everything really well. I feel like nuts tend to fall to the bottom though, so I prefer the thin layer way of making this salad. Another option for multiple servings is to just make as many individual servings on salad plates as you will need..(like I did in the photos here)

I like to layer ingredients in this order-
Put the kale down on the plate first, lay a few onion slices down, (arrange them however you prefer) place a scoop of quinoa on top, if you are using cucumbers or oranges, put those on top next. Now sprinkle the salad with pecans and some parmesan. Serve the raspberry vinaigrette on the side.

For this recipe, I used the raspberry vinaigrette recipe from the most recent Trim Healthy Mama cookbook, Trim Healthy Future. I highly recommend this cookbook if you are looking for quick and easy healthy recipes.

I hope to create my own version of raspberry vinaigrette sometime in the future.. There’s a raspberry poppy seed vinaigrette I used to make back in the day but I have forgotten where I found that recipe. I think it was from a Taste of Home cookbook/magazine. I’ll hunt it down one of these days and tweek it to be sugar free. When I do, I’ll link it up here. Feel free to use any Raspberry Vinaigrette you prefer. I like the Trim Healthy Future one because it’s virtually fat free but tastes delicious!

On to the recipe!