Quinoa and Kale Salad with Roasted Chickpeas and Creamy Lemon Dressing
This Quinoa and Kale Salad with Roasted Chickpeas and Creamy Lemon Dressing is everything! It's fresh, light, and bright from the lemon dressing, kale, scallions, and red pepper. Then it's hearty, nutty, and salty from the quinoa, roasted chickpeas and Feta Cheese. And then you get a burst of fresh sweetness from the pomegranate seeds.
Servings 6 servings
Calories 445kcal
Ingredients
Creamy Lemon Dressing
- 1 Lemon
- 1 tablespoon Sour Cream
- ½ teaspoon Honey
- 1 teaspoon Yellow Mustard
- 1 teaspoon Italian Parsley finely chopped
- Salt, to taste
- Fresh Ground Pepper, to taste
Roasted Chickpeas
- 15 ounces Chickpeas 1 can
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon Garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Other Salad Ingredients
- 1 cup Quinoa, uncooked
- ½ cup Red Bell Pepper, diced
- 2 cups Fresh Kale leaves, sliced
- ¼ cup Scallions, sliced
- ½ cup Feta cheese, crumbled
- ½ cup Pomegranate Seeds (or halved red grapes)
Instructions
- Start by rinsing the quinoa thoroughly in a strainer and then cooking it according to package directions. Let cool in the fridge.
- Make the dressing by first, zesting the Lemon and then cut in half and add the juice from only half of the lemon to a mixing bowl. Also to the bowl, add the sour cream, lemon zest, honey, yellow mustard, parsley. Whisk the ingredients together. Add a dash of salt and fresh ground pepper. Taste for seasoning and add more salt & pepper if needed.
- Preheat the oven to 400 F degrees. Make the roasted chickpeas by first draining and rinsing them in cold water. Pat dry with paper towel and place on the lined baking sheet. Drizzle with Olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Toss to coat each chickpea with seasoning. Place in preheated oven and roast for 25 minutes.
- While the quinoa and chickpeas are cooking, dice the red pepper and finely slice the scallion. Wash the kale under cold water then strip the leaves off the stems. (discard the stems or save for stock). Stack up the kale leaves and then slice into thin strips.
- Slice the Pomegranate in half and then holding one half upside down, hit the back with a mallet or the back of your knife to knock out the seeds.
- To a large mixing bowl, add the cooled quinoa, roasted chickpeas, sliced kale, diced red pepper, pomegranate seeds, sliced scallion, dressing and crumbled feta. Then mix to combine. Enjoy!
