Credit for this bright & tasty salad goes to The Sweet Pea Chef.
Lacey Baier, aka The Sweet Pea Chef, put this recipe together after sampling a similar salad on a California family vacation. She describes her delicious version as follows:
"Quinoa is an amazingly healthy addition to this salad because it is packed full of yummy goodness, like protein, fiber, vitamins, and all nine essential amino acids, which most other grains lack. Combined with leafy greens and iron-and-magnesium-rich lentils, this quinoa lentil salad is seriously one of my favorite things to eat right now. It's so tasty, filling, and good for you."
Ingredients:
For the Quinoa Lentil Salad:
- ½ cup cooked quinoa
- ½ cup cooked lentils
- ¼ cup kale, packed
- ¼ cup cooked garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
- ¼ cup cucumber, peeled and diced
- ¼ cup carrot, ½ carrot, diced
- ¼ cup grape tomatoes, quartered
- 1 tablespoon red onion, finely diced
- ½ tablespoon raw sunflower seeds
For the Lemon Vinaigrette:
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 teaspoon raw honey
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
Preparation:
If cooking the quinoa and lentils, prepare well ahead and cool.
To prep the kale, remove the leaves from the spine and then
break the kale into bite size pieces. Toss the kale with a little olive oil and
rub all over the kale, massaging it until the kale reduces in volume and
becomes less stiff. (This makes a huge difference in the texture of the kale.)
To make the lemon vinaigrette, combine the freshly squeezed
lemon juice, lemon zest, raw honey, dijon mustard, sea salt, ground black
pepper, and olive oil in a small mixing
bowl, and whisk together until well combined.
To assemble the salad, combine the cooked quinoa, cooked
lentils, kale, garbanzo beans, diced cucumber, diced carrot, quartered grape
tomatoes, finely diced red onion, and raw sunflower seeds in a large mixing
bowl. Toss to combine.
Drizzle over a few tablespoons of the lemon vinaigrette, and
toss once more.
For garnish, sprinkle a few more sunflower seeds over the
top.
Blessed be... and happy cooking!