Asian Kale Quinoa Salad

This healthy Asian Kale Quinoa Salad is mixed with radicchio, carrots, and cashews, all tossed in a sesame-miso dressing. Naturally gluten-free & vegan too!

this recipe

It’s all about kale salads up in this house apartment these days.

What started as an experiment has quickly become an everyday kind of thing. As in, yes, we’re having kale salad for dinner again tonight – sorry, Matt.

It is kind of his fault though…

After the Christmas holidays, Matt came home from Colorado raving about kale salad. He said he ate kale salad every day while he was out there and had the best recipe he’d ever tasted. Best. recipe. ever? We had to try.

He made it for me that night and I was surprised at how effortless (and delicious) the recipe actually was.

Since then, we’ve been going through three pounds of kale a week. And we’re having these salads at every single meal. Call us crazy, but at least this type of obsession is actually good for us, right?

But here’s the thing about me and Matt: when we get on a recipe kick, we go wild. As in, it’s not uncommon to find us eating the similar type of meal at least three times a week.

We tend to go through phases where we’ll pick something up, be obsessed for a few weeks, and then drop it and forget about it for months. We’ve done it with turkey burgers, stir frys, soups (that was all me) and even salmon.

But our kale salad obsession seems to have really stuck with us. We’re going on 6 weeks now and I’m not seeing an end in sight.

Now it would seem like these kicks would get boring after a while – you know, eating the same recipe every day? – but we’re kinda good about changing things up. While we are eating a kale salad, we toss different things in to keep the excitement alive.

And yes, my go-to add-in is always quinoa. How'd ya know?

Our usual combo is just kale with a dressing made of olive oil, lemon juice, tahini, a dash of tamari and some crushed garlic, but this time, we went in a whole new direction. The tangy sesame, carrot and almond direction. As in the best Asian kale quinoa salad of my life!

Yeahhhh…my mouth is thanking our craziness.

Oh and in case you didn't already know this about me, I'm a sucker for adding eggs on top of my salads. I just love that it not only gives the whole thing a little protein boost and makes it more filling – I'm all about making dinner salads – but the runny, drippy, totally delicious yolks get mixed in with the greens and quinoa and all the ingredients collide into one major flavor explosion that just…CRAZYY!

We're talking a whole lot of crazy in this post today, but it's all good. It just means we're going to have lots more tasty kale creations in our future. Kale for the win! (right?)

More Of My Favorite Healthy Kale Salads:

• Thai Superfood Kale Salad with Sweet Potatoes & Chickpeas
• Totally Addicting Vegetarian Kale Salad
• Creamy Kale Salad with Smoky Tempeh Croutons
• Loaded Winter Kale Salad with a Honey-Mustard Vinaigrette
• Kale Caesar Salad with Crispy Chickpea Croutons

Asian Kale Quinoa Salad

5 from 3 votes

A delicious Asian kale salad packed full of flavor, tossed with quinoa, carrots and a sesame dressing!

author: Alyssa

yield: 2 servings

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Prep: 5 minutes minutes

Total: 5 minutes minutes

Ingredients

  

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for the salad:

• 4 cups chopped kale stems removed
• 1 cup sliced radicchio
• 1/2 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 carrot shredded
• 1/4 cup chopped cashews

for the dressing:

• 3 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon lime juice (about 1 whole lime)
• 1 teaspoon miso paste (or tamari)
• 1/4 teaspoon maple syrup optional
• Pinch of red pepper flakes

Instructions

 

• Add the kale to a large mixing bowl.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients. Pour dressing over kale and massage with your hands until the kale begins to soften, about 30 seconds.
• Add remaining ingredients and toss to combine. Serve immediately.
• Enjoy!

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 421kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Sodium: 249mg | Potassium: 1001mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 18480IU | Vitamin C: 166.5mg | Calcium: 225mg | Iron: 3.9mg

cuisine: Asian

course: Salad

★★★★★

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