Home Quick meals Cranberry Kale Quinoa Salad

Cranberry Kale Quinoa Salad

by Ann
5 comments

with pomegranate seeds, blue cheese crumbles, toasted pecans & bacon and (optional) a maple balsamic vinaigrette

Cranberry Kale Quinoa Salad ~ Sumptuous Spoonfuls #holiday #salad #recipe


A perfect mix of tastes and textures in a bowl of beauty that’s a feast for the eyes … nutty quinoa with the sweet tart of the cranberries and pomegranate arils, crunchy pecans, creamy blue cheese and salty bacon. This is the absolute perfect salad to grace your holiday table.

My sister gave me some kale from her garden a while ago … it took me a long time to use it all because the bag she gave me was HUGE, but it kept beautifully in the fridge. I was going on vacation and really wanted to use the last of it before I left. I also had some cooked quinoa and pomegranate seeds in my fridge … and a bit of cooked bacon as well.

Cranberry Kale Quinoa Salad ~ Sumptuous Spoonfuls #holiday #salad #recipe

All of these things were just begging to become a salad. I was sooo excited when I tasted it. Honestly, I didn’t even use the dressing on it. I don’t think the salad needs it, but if you feel like you want a little more sweet on your salad, definitely drizzle a bit of that deliciousness over the salad.

Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
Cranberry Kale Quinoa Salad ~ Sumptuous Spoonfuls #holiday #salad #recipe

Cranberry Kale Quinoa Salad

  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 10 minutes
  • Yield: 3 - 4 servings 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed & peeled
  • 4 cups of chopped fresh kale
  • 2 cups of cooked quinoa
  • 1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
  • 1/21 cup dried cranberries (Craisins)
  • 1/21 cup toasted pecans
  • A bit of orange zest
  • 12 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled
  • Optional: Maple Balsamic Dressing, to taste (recipe here)

Instructions

  1. Put the olive oil in a small bowl and add the crushed garlic clove. Let the garlic soak in the oil for at least 15 minutes to infuse the oil with garlic.
  2. Heat a medium frying or saute pan over medium heat and add the oil, then the kale. Stir and cook the kale just until it’s wilted and bright green. Add the quinoa & honey and stir to mix. Stir in the cranberries, pecans, orange zest and bacon. Taste and add maple balsamic dressing as desired. Serve warm or cold.

Notes

For a totally gluten free salad, make sure your quinoa is certified gluten free.

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

© Copyright 2016, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. I love it when you share, but please do not use my images on your own site/page without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. Sharing, pinning, and tweeting is always appreciated as long as the shares and pins link back to here for the recipe. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.

Cranberry Kale Quinoa Salad ~ Sumptuous Spoonfuls #holiday #salad #recipe

This recipe was shared at Gluten Free FridayWhat’s for Dinner Sunday, What to Do Weekends and Hearth & Soul Bloghop.

You may also like

5 comments

Helen at the Lazy Gastronome November 23, 2016 - 9:27 am

That is one festive looking salad! Thanks for sharing on the What’s for Dinner link up! Happy Thanksgiving!

Reply
Lynn November 23, 2016 - 3:36 pm

That salad looks amazing!

Reply
Ann November 23, 2016 - 10:31 pm

Thank you so much … It definitely was! You’ve got to try it, Lynn.

Reply
swathi November 27, 2016 - 8:12 pm

Love this kale quinoa salad, thanks for sharing with Hearth and soul blog hop, pinning.

Reply
Ann November 28, 2016 - 8:47 pm

Thank you! This is one of my very favorite salads ever … so glad you liked it!

Reply

Leave a Comment

Recipe rating

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More