Kale & Quinoa Salad Base (Zero-Waste) Recipe

This fills a large Pyrex mixing bowl and stores well in the fridge for a full week. Handy tip: make with warm quinoa as it breaks down the kale a bit and helps them meld together. Smoked paprika adds a nice flavor too, if you have it. — This fills a large Pyrex mixing bowl and stores well in the fridge for a full week.
Handy tip: make with warm quinoa as it breaks down the kale a bit and helps them meld together. Smoked paprika adds a nice flavor too, if you have it.

In the past, I looked at kale and quinoa with disgust and eye-rolls. Fresh kale was “too chewy” and I erroneously thought it took a lot of work to be tasty (how many people have told you about massaging their kale??); and after having a poorly made (<—my fault) batch of quinoa, I decreed it too bitter and stumbled down a different (unhealthy) food path for a few years, before returning to these powerhouses for their nutritional gifts.

It is comedy to me, that in 2020 I now find myself loving these superfoods best when they are paired together, relying on them as a spine and base to a busy week (ie eaten daily in quantity when we’re rushed, so we know we’re getting a nutritional wallop on-the-go), and I’m still somehow excited for each serving. This is crunchy, flavorful (earthy, nutty, lemony, salt, and smokey if you use the smoked paprika), and filling.

Bunches of kale usually hold up well in most grocery sections (because they are hearty wonders) and are sold without packaging (the quinoa is also often in bulk sections, which means this whole dish can be zero-waste); and unlike tender salad greens, this salad base can stay in the fridge for a full week without wilting which makes it a meal prep joy. (<—I don’t enjoy washing and putzing with salad fixings every day, I want something that will be quick to deal with, tasty, and environmentally kind.)

This salad base is a boon on all fronts: it is zero-waste; it preps up quickly (there’s no need to “massage” the kale” because the warm quinoa and acids will do that for you: leaving you more time, which is the most precious resource on this earth); and it is packed with nutritional power that will fuel you through a day with health and environmental-kindness.

Start the simple dressing first so that the acids have some time to eat away at that garlic and develop a better flavor. Like all my simple dressings it is a mixture of apple cider vinegar (1/4 cp), lemon juice (1/4 cp), salt (1/4 tsp), paprika (1/… — Start the simple dressing first so that the acids have some time to eat away at that garlic and develop a better flavor.
Like all my simple dressings it is a mixture of apple cider vinegar (1/4 cp), lemon juice (1/4 cp), salt (1/4 tsp), paprika (1/2 tsp), and freshly grated garlic.

Super simple: quinoa, kale, dressing, and extra salt if needed. Full of power: protein, vitamins, minerals.

I know we hear that kale is really healthy for us, but just as a reminder of what this cruciferous champ has going for it in 1 cup:

Protein: 3g (quinoa is 8g. If you do the 3cp quinoa and the 6cp kale, this combo has 7g plant-based protein per serving, and you’ll be topping it with your heart’s delight…which is hopefully heart healthy)
Vitamin A: 98%
Vitamin C: 71%
Vitamin K: 684%
Calcium: 9%
Manganese: 26%
Antioxidants like quercetin and kaempferol: “They have powerful heart-protective, blood pressure-lowering, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-depressant and anti-cancer effects, to name a few.”
Loads of lutein (beneficial for eye-health)
Packed with fiber (between the kale and the quinoa, your digestive tract will be singing with joy and/or toots)