DD Kale Salad (featuring Crunchy Quinoa, Sweet Potatoes and Pomegranate)

That stands for Detox and Delicious if you were wondering. My body still feels fried from all the oil I consumed over Chanukah. After all the doughnuts and the latkes I feel some detox is now in order. I literally dreamed of this salad the night Chanukah was over and then ran to the supermarket the next day to buy all the ingredients. Between the kale, quinoa, sweet potatoes and pomegranate this salad is a super food extravaganza! My favorite part is the crunchy quinoa, a little technique I picked up when I was blessed to be at the Carmel Spa this year. You don't have to make it crunchy but it adds incredible texture to the salad. For this salad I only toasted half of the quinoa and put both the toasted and non toasted quinoa in for a contrast of textures. For the kale, Baby kale would have been my kale of choice but I only had the curly variety so I sliced it into thin ribbons and it was great. A light orange vinaigrette rounds off the salad and compliments the pomegranate, kale and sweet potatoes beautifully. Enjoy!



8 cups baby kale or thinly sliced kale of another variety
1 cup crunchy quinoa (see below),
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
Roasted Sweet potato wedges (see below)
1/2 cup cubed Feta cheese (optional)

Assemble the salad by placing the kale at the bottom of a bowl. Top with the quinoa, sweet potatoes, quinoa and pomegranate seeds. Pour the dressing on top, mix and then top with some Feta cheese.

For the Quinoa:
To get one cup of cooked  red and white quinoa, place 1/2 cup white quinoa and 1/2 cup of red quinoa in a strainer and rinse well. Place in a sauce pan and cover with 1 1/2 cups of water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and let the quinoa cook until the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Turn off the flame and let the quinoa steam covered for another 5 minutes. Open the pan and fluff the quinoa. Set aside to cool and dry.
Once the quinoa is cool, heat two tablespoons of oil in a frying pan and add half of the quinoa to the pan. Mix constantly over medium high flame until the quinoa is toasted and crunchy.Drain on a paper towel and cool. Add the toasted and and non toasted quinoa to the salad.

For the Sweet Potatoes:
Preheat your oven to 350.
Cut 2 medium sweet potatoes into wedges and place on a baking sheet. Toss with 1 Tablespoon of oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for about 35-40 minutes until the wedges are tender and slightly crispy.


For the vinaigrette:
5 Tbl orange juice
1 tsp orange zest
1 Tbl rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup light olive oil or canola oil.
2 Tbl agave or honey
salt and pepper to taste

Whisk all together until emulsified.