Kale & Quinoa Salad with Balsamic Dijon Dressing

This month we're excited to feature a recipe from Austin food blog Mylie's Kitchen. Mylie's Kale & Quino Salad combines crunchy and colorful textures with a whole-grain and greens base. Briefly marinating the salad in a light dressing of olive oil, vinegar and Dijon yields tenderized greens that entirely circumvent the need for cooking while the flavor of fennel adds an elevated flavor element. This makes for a lovely accompaniment to a protein entrée or eaten as meal on it's own! 

INGREDIENTS:

• 2-3 cups leftover cooked Quinoa *
• 1 head Kale, washed, dried, thick middle ribs removed*, and thinly sliced
• 1 Apple, diced
• 1 bulb Fennel, quartered and thinly sliced
• 1 bulb Kohlrabi, peeled and diced
• 1 cup Pine Nuts, toasted
• 1 cup Raisins
• 1/4 cup Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
• 1/4 cup Dijon Mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• fresh ground pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

Toss all ingredients, let sit 30min or more, and enjoy! (We substituted cashews in place of the pine nuts as we didn't have any of those tasty little guys hanging around and it was still delicious!) 

*If preparing Quinoa from scratch combine 1 cup dry quinoa and 1.5 cups water in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil over high, reduce heat to low and simmer about 20 minutes until water is absorbed. Allow Quinoa to cool (spread out on a platter if in a hurry) and toss with the rest of the ingredients.