Kale Quinoa Salad (Vegan, Gluten-Free)

This healthy, Kale Quinoa Salad is so easy to make! It’s  filled with nutritious quinoa, toasted pine nuts, golden raisins and a sweet-tangy dressing. 

This is my favorite kale quinoa salad recipe, as it’s really simple to make and has just the right amount of sweetness that pairs nicely with the natural bitterness of the kale. And it’s packed with some serious nutrition, which is a huge plus.

How to make this Kale Quinoa salad:

To begin, toast the pine nuts, if necessary (if not using pre-toasted pine nuts).

You can do this either 1) on the stovetop. To do this, add raw pine nuts to a dry skillet over medium heat, and stir constantly until lightly browned; remove from the hot pan immediately.

Or, you can also bake the pine nuts at 350 F for 5-6 minutes, checking and stirring every 2-3 minutes until toasted. Check often. They go very quickly from toasted to burned (and lose flavor) so take them out as soon as they start to brown. Once you remove them from the oven, set them aside to cool.

If you are tempted to skip the toasting and just use raw pine nuts, keep in mind that toasting them brings out a really nice flavor. It’s good- but just not the same if they aren’t toasted.

Meanwhile, wash and dry the kale and break into bite-size pieces, making sure to take out the hard white rib parts.

Put the kale in a large bowl and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together the rice vinegar, maple syrup or agave, tahini, dijon mustard, lemon juice and black pepper. Stir with a small whisk until smooth.

At this point, I usually start snacking on those golden raisins. If you’ve never had golden raisins, they have a sweeter taste than their traditional cousin and I generally like them better.

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To the large bowl of kale, add the cooked (cooled) quinoa, golden raisins and pine nuts.

Add the dressing to the kale and mix all ingredients together until combined. I use my hands to get the dressing to stick to the kale better.

It’s as easy as that. Serve immediately. If planning to serve later (more than an hour), I would recommend keeping the dressing separate until serving.

I hope you love this Kale Quinoa Salad as much as I do.

In the mood for quinoa? Also try my Basil Pesto Quinoa for a simple way to dress up quinoa. 

If you make these Kale Quinoa Salad, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and tag your photo with #veggie__chick  on Instagram.