I love this salad FOR BREAKFAST! It helps stabilize blood sugar to get your metabolism off to a balanced start and it’s full of protein, cell-supporting fat, fiber, veggies and yumminess. I like it raw but you can use leftover cooked kale and quinoa in this recipe and that makes it super-easy. See the note below.
makes 2 large servings
INGREDIENTS
4 cups raw kale, chopped. *see note 1 cup radicchio, torn in small pieces Fresh juice of 1/2 large lemon 1 cup cooked beans of your choice (white beans, chickpeas, etc.) 1 cup cooked quinoa, divided 1 cucumber, sliced and divided 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half and divided 1/2 firm ripe avocado, cut into cubes (optional) 2 tablespoon raw or roasted, salted sunflower seeds (optional) Tahini - Cucumber Dressing (recipe below)
Tahini - Cucumber Dressing ½ cup tahini ½ lemon, juiced ½ cup cucumber, chopped 1 green onion, chopped ½ tsp maple syrup or raw honey 2 pinches Himalayan or Celtic sea salt 2 grinds black pepper ¼ tsp garlic, minced
Make the salad:
Place the chopped kale and radicchio in a large bowl and toss with the fresh lemon juice. Massage the lemon juice into the leafy mixture with your hands and let marinate 10 minutes.
Place the marinated greens into 2 generous sized bowls. Divide the remaining salad ingredients except the chopped avocado and sunflower seeds, if using, into the two bowls.
Make the dressing:
Add all dressing ingredients into a food processor or blender and blend until creamy. You may need to add water to thin. Add it slowly, a tbsp at a time until desired thickness is reached.
Add dressing to salads and gently toss. Top with avocado cubes and sunflower seeds, if desired.
Serve & enjoy!
*Note: It’s perfectly fine to use leftover cooked kale in this recipe and leftover quinoa. That’s the beauty of it! Assembly would be a bit different if I were doing it, but do what works for you. Here’s what I would do:
Omit the fresh lemon juice. Place cooked kale in bowl. Top with the cooked quinoa and beans. Top with salad ingredients. Drizzle dressing on top. Top with avocado and sunflower seeds. Eat!