Kale and Citrus Salad with Quinoa

This colorful salad really brightens up a cold, rainy winter’s day. It would be tasty in any kind of weather. Zesting and sectioning the oranges brings a wonderful tropical aroma to the kitchen.

Serving Size: 4

Ingredients

• 4-6 medium large kale leaves, (about 4 cups chopped)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ cup quinoa
• small pinch salt
• 2 organic oranges
• 1 small can mandarin oranges, drained
• 1 organic pink grapefruit
• 1 medium red onion, cut in small pieces

for the dressing:

• ¼ cup orange juice
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• ½ lemon, juiced
• 1 teaspoon vegetable bouillon powder
• ¼ teaspoon dry mustard powder
• splash white balsamic or fruit vinegar
• splash agave syrup
• orange zest for garnish and dressing

Directions

1. Wash the ½ cup of quinoa in a sieve.
2. Place the washed quinoa in a medium pot, add 1-1½ cups water, a pinch of salt and bring to a boil.
3. Once the quinoa is boiling, turn down the heat to simmer and cook the quinoa until swollen and soft. Remove from the heat, rinse with cold water and drain.
4. Clean the kale.
5. Remove the thick central stem and cut the leaves in small pieces.
6. Place the kale pieces in a large salad bowl.
7. Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil over the kale and gently massage into the kale pieces.
8. Cut a red onion into small pieces and add to the kale, mix well.
9. Zest 1 orange and carefully peel the outer skin away.
10. Cut the sections of the orange away from the inner white membrane and add the orange sections to the kale.
11. Peel and section the 2nd orange and add to the kale.
12. Peel the grapefruit and cut the sections away from the inner membrane.
13. Add the grapefruit sections to the salad.
14. Drain the liquid from the mandarin oranges and add the mandarin sections to the kale.
15. Gently mix the salad, being careful not to break the orange sections.
16. Add the cooled quinoa to the salad and mix gently.
17. Mix the ingredients for the dressing and drizzle ½ over the salad.
18. Reserve a few pieces of orange zest to use as garnish.
19. Serve the salad, garnished with a few pieces of orange zest.

Notes:
You can also use tangerines instead of the mandarine oranges if the tangerines are available. Sprinkling a few sunflower seeds or pine nuts will add some crunch to the salad as well.