Quinoa Salad with Kale is a super-food salad dressed for a party. Topped with crunchy pecans and tangy blueberry dressing, you'll love this simple make-ahead lunch.
Stop eating food that makes you sad. Or bored.
This is a rule I developed for myself early in my weight loss journey. The phrase has served as a reminder to find ways to make healthy eating a delight.
Healthy food shouldn't be something you eat as penance for eating fun food!
I can't tell you how many times I have heard people moan about the limitations on their food options. So often food gets separated into two vastly different categories. The first is all the plain, boring, food that must be eaten to be healthy. The second is everything good.
Maybe you have thought in these terms before, perhaps after reading about eating for weight loss or, worse still, listening to some straight talk from your doctor. Times like these have a way of making everything fun sound wrong and everything right sound like a punishment.
Which is exactly why I created the rule - stop eating food that makes you sad, or bored.
The world of healthy food is full of flavor, color, texture, and variety!
I gave examples of how to eat joyfully in my mini-cookbook Share Worthy Salads for picnics, potlucks, & light meals. None of the salads in the book have any lettuce. They do have grains, beans, hearty greens, fruits, and more. Each one is eye-catching, full of flavor, and completely worthy of sharing with friends.
Quinoa Salad with Kale, Blueberries, and Pecans is an example of how I apply the, "no sad food" rule to my own eating. It is a super-food salad dressed for a party! It features a variety of textures,
You can find Quinoa Salad with Kale, Blueberries, and Pecans in the ebook along with more than a dozen other bright fresh recipes.
Give this salad a try, hopefully, the bright flavors and rich colors on your plate will inspire a smile. If not, keep experimenting. There are infinite ways to bring joy into healthy eating.
Kale-Quinoa Salad with Blueberries
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa uncooked
- 6 ounce kale torn into bite size pieces (approximately 6 cups)
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- ½ cup thinly sliced red onion
- ¼ cup pecan bits toasted
- 1 cup blueberry balsamic vinaigrette
Instructions
- Prepare the quinoa according to the package directions with ½ teaspoon of salt but reduce the water to 1 ¾ cups per cup of quinoa, be sure not to overcook. Cool the cooked quinoa quickly by spreading it on a parchment lined cookie sheet and refrigerating until cold (15-30 mins).
- While the quinoa is cooling, prepare the remaining ingredients.
- In a large salad bowl, combine the quinoa, kale, blueberries, onion and pecans. Stir in 1 cup of dressing. Serve with additional dressing on the side.
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