Try this Spicy Kale Quinoa salad recipe
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 cup corn
- ingredients
- 1/2 red onion chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped
- 4
- 1 cup quinoa uncooked
- high fiber vegan
- serves
- cooking time
- 15
- 6 cups chopped kale de-stemmed
- spicy dressing:
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
- 1/4 cup hot sauce of your choice (i used a chili pepper sa
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- sea salt and pepper
- Carbohydrate 98.8646643504137 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 3.35362209001782 g
- Fiber 28.1922147365325 g
- Protein 29.2867150016843 g
- Saturated Fat 0.67018566452868 g
- Serving Size 1 1 (534g)
- Sodium 186.356327175025 mg
- Sugar 70.6724496138812 g
- Trans Fat 0.503544929765153 g
- Calories 512 calories
Step-by-step
- In a medium sized pot, combine 2 cups of water with 1 cup of quinoa and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until water is absorbed and quinoa is fluffy.
- In a large salad bowl, add the kale and the onion.
- Once the quinoa is done cooking, add in the black beans and corn to the pot. Mix it up. You could just add these over the kale but I wanted to warm up the beans and corn.
Quinoa does the structural heavy lifting in this bowl, providing a nutty foundation and a resilient grain that holds dense dressings without turning soggy. When simmering the grain, use a medium saucepan with a tight-fitting lid to trap steam effectively. A standard ratio of two parts liquid to one part dry grain requires precisely 15 minutes of low heat followed by 10 minutes off the heat with the lid closed to ensure complete moisture absorption.
Mastering Kale Texture and Temperature
Raw kale demands mechanical intervention to soften its tough fibrous cellular walls before it can integrate pleasantly into a grain salad. Massage the chopped leaves firmly with a pinch of sea salt for two full minutes until the volume visibly shrinks and the green color deepens. Warming the black beans and corn directly in the hot quinoa pot utilizes residual heat to soften the beans slightly while preventing the raw red onion from overpowering the milder ingredients. Whisking the lime juice and hot sauce vigorously with maple syrup creates an emulsified acidic barrier that halts enzymatic browning.
- If the quinoa remains crunchy after 15 minutes, add two tablespoons of water, cover, and steam for three additional minutes on the lowest burner setting.
- Store dressed kale and quinoa separately from the bean mixture if holding for more than 24 hours to prevent the greens from releasing excess water.
- Substitute agave nectar at a one-to-one ratio if maple syrup is unavailable.
