This hearty kale quinoa apple salad is filled with your favorite toppings, perfectly seasonal, and hearty enough to eat for dinner or take with you to share.
- 2 large bunches kale, lacinato preferred, washed and patted dry
- 1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled
- 2 medium sweet apples, such as honeycrisp or pink lady, cored and thinly sliced
- 3/4 cup pecans
- 1/3 cup blue cheese crumbles
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp champagne vinaigrette
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- black pepper, to taste
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Using a sharp knife, finely chop the kale and place into a large mixing bowl.
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To make the vinaigrette, combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until combined. Taste for salt and acidity, add more as desired.
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Add about 2/3 of the salad dressing to the mixing bowl with the kale and using your hands, massage the kale for about 1 minute or until all of the kale is coated. Add the quinoa to the mixing bowl and stir together with the kale. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes for the flavors to mingle.
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In the meantime, add the pecans to a small saute pan heated over medium-low heat. Toast the pecans, stirring the nuts often until fragrant and a few shades darker. Remove from the heat. Once cool enough to handle, roughly chop the pecans.
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To serve, divide the kale quinoa mixture out into 4 wide bowls and top each bowl with pecans, apple slices, and blue cheese crumbles. Pass the additional vinaigrette around the table.
2 large bunches of kale may seem like a lot, but once massaged it becomes far smaller of an amount.