Vegetarian Dinner: Quinoa, Kale and Apple Harvest Salad

 

Thanks to having 2 vegetarian members in the family (both Bob and Red Bear are vegan), cooking dinner for me most of time is just as easy as a piece of pie. Since most of my friends been asking me what do we eat every night, here is my recipe for one of our dinners: quinoa, kale and apple harvest salad.

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa (white)

 1 super-fresh Gala apple, cored and finely diced

1 cup finely diced kale (Only the leaf part, it’s super-fresh from our home vegetable garden)

1/2 cup orange flavored cranberries (from Trader Joe’s)

1 bag “Chicken-less chicken” (from Trader Joe’s)

1/4 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons lemon juice (I normally just squeeze 1 lemon straight off our lemon tree)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

3-4 grinds of black pepper

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

 

Direction:

1. Add 2 cups of water and 1 cup quinoa in rice cooker (simply treat quinoa the same as rice). After cooking, drain well and set aside to cool slightly.

2. In a large bowl, combine the 3 tablespoons lemon juice,1/2 teaspoon ground cumin,1/2 teaspoon sea salt, 3-4 grinds of black pepper. When the salt dissolves, mix in oil. Add kale and toss for 1 minute to coat well.

3. Add the warm (not hot) quinoa and gently toss to evenly coat with the dressing. Let sit for 30 minutes to fully cool and allow the flavors to meld.

4. Put Trader Joe’s chicken-less chicken in a microwave safe bow and put in microwave heat for 1 minute

Add chicken-less chicken, apple and cranberries, toss to mix. Taste the salad for seasoning. adding more salt or pepper if needed.

Hope you enjoy!