This Kale Quinoa Salad with apples, chickpeas and currants will brighten any winter’s day. Hearty and delicious, it is packable, vegan and can be made ahead! Perfect for potlucks, gatherings and midweek lunches.
Be with those who help your being.~ Rumi
I’m so excited to share one of Tonia‘s recipes today. Some of you know Tonia from the former restaurant we had together, called Mizuna. She currently lives on San Juan Island and will start sharing her recipes here on the blog! Her Winter Happiness Salad is made with Lacinato Kale, quinoa, chickpeas, apples and currants and really does bring a smile to your face when making it. At least it did for me.
It’s hearty, full of protein, vegan, and has great flavor. A delicious salad to make ahead, and use for mid-week lunches!
KALE Quinoa Salad ingredients
- Quinoa
- Lacinato Kale
- Chickpeas
- Flat-leaf Italian parsley
- Apple
- Scallions, chopped
- Dried currants, craisins or raisins
- Lemon zest ( about 1 medium lemon)
- Spices: fennel seeds, coriander seeds
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Vinaigrette:
- Lemon juice
- Apple cider vinegar, plus more to taste
- Maple or honey
- Miso paste (adds depth, richness & probiotics!) white, red or brown
- Salt, pepper, smoked paprika
- Extra virgin olive oil
How to Make Kale Quinoa Salad
- Cook the quinoa!
- Once the quinoa is cooked, it’s just a matter of a little happy chopping, then combining the ingredients together.
Dried currents give the salad a little natural sweetness and added texture.
Toasted fennel seeds and coriander seeds add a delicious flavor. Plus, both are amazing for supporting the digestive system.
3. Massage the kale with a little olive oil and salt beforehand, tenderizing it and making it much more pleasant to eat raw. Make sure to remove any tough veins.
4. Place the tenderized kale along with the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and drizzle with the flavorful vinaigrette.
5. Then gently combine. Feel the happiness start to bubble inside you.
Storage and Serving suggestions
What I love about this hearty vegan salad is that it can be made ahead, and holds up well for 4 days in the fridge – making it ideal for Sunday meal prep and midweek lunches. It’s also a great salad to make ahead for potlucks or gatherings! 
On the homefront: Today is Tonia‘s birthday, and perhaps it was because I am reminiscing about our sweet lifelong friendship – I can’t help but tell you an interesting story about us. Tonia and I were born in the same hospital, 10 days apart. We lived in the same housing complex while we were babies. Our moms worked in the same hospital. We grew up in the same town, just a couple of miles apart, but strangely, we had never met!
It wasn’t until we both went away to boarding school hundreds of miles away from home, in northern California that our paths finally crossed. Looking back, I know it was providence.
There are souls that you meet on this journey of life that feel destined. Our friendship has grown, deepened and endured the natural ebbs and flows that come with being in a relationship, living, and residing in different places.
Though we both experienced so many changes, her love and friendship have felt constant, grounding, and supportive. We can go months without speaking, yet I still feel her loving energy, like the sweetest scent in the air.
Today is Tonia‘s birthday and I’m feeling especially thankful for her and all the wisdom, groundedness, and inspiration she has given me for most of my life. AND – I’m so excited to share more of her beautiful energy and presence with you here too, through her recipes!
Enjoy the Winter Happiness Salad!
More favorite Quinoa Salads!
- Lemony Quinoa Chickpea Salad
- Southwest Black Bean Quinoa Salad
- Carrot Quinoa Salad
- Moroccan Quinoa Salad
- Quinoa Asparagus Salad (aka Spring Tabouli)
Kale Quinoa Salad (aka Winter Happiness Salad)
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 1x
- Category: salad, vegan,
- Method: tossed
- Cuisine: Northwest
Description
This Kale Quinoa Salad with chickpeas and apples is like happiness in a bowl. A vegan salad, packed full of protein, nutrients and flavor.
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked Quinoa ( 1 1/4 cup dry)
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 1 bunch Lacinato Kale, de-stemmed, cut into one inch pieces
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- pinch of salt
- 1 bunch flat leaf Italian parsley, rinse and finely chop
- 1 large apple, chopped into small bite sized pieces.
- 2 scallions, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups chickpeas, (15 ounce can, drained and rinsed, if using canned)
- 1/3 cup dried currants
- 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest ( about 1 medium lemon)
***Fennel and Coriander are both amazing for supporting the digestive system.
Vinaigrette:
- 1/8 cup lemon juice
- 1/8 cup apple cider vinegar, plus more to taste
- 1 tablespoon honey (sub maple syrup for vegan)
- 1 teaspoon miso paste (adds depth, richness & probiotics!) white, red or brown
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
Get quinoa cooking and cool to room temperate. (Quinoa can also be made ahead of time and refrigerated until ready to use.)
Make the vinaigrette: whisk all ingredients together, except the oil, in a small bowl, then slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking.
Toast fennel and coriander seeds in a cast iron skillet (or any pan will do) and give them a few stirs until they just start to give off their lovely fragrance, about 30 seconds. Grind with mortar and pestle or spice grinder.
Rinse and pat dry kale leaves and remove ribs and stems. Place in a large bowl and add the 2 teaspoons olive oil and a pinch salt. Rub the salt and oil in the leaves with your hands to tenderize the kale.
Add the cooled quinoa, parsley, apple, scallions, chickpeas, currants, lemon zest and ground spices to the bowl with the kale and toss gently with the vinaigrette.
Taste and adjust salt and vinegar, adding more to taste.
Options for a heartier salad: top with feta and/or toasted walnuts when serving.
Makes about 6 1/2 cups
Notes
Serves 4-6 for a hearty lunch. Or 8-10 as a side dish. Makes delicious leftovers. Fantastic to make ahead and refrigerate, giving flavors a chance to fully develop.
If making ahead, taste right before serving and add more vinegar/ and or salt if necessary.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 228
- Sugar: 9.6 g
- Sodium: 429.7 mg
- Fat: 9 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 32.8 g
- Fiber: 5.8 g
- Protein: 6.4 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Love the recipe! Delicious and nutritious! How many days can I eat it for after I can make?
4 days!
Really, really good! Lots of flavor, crunchy, filling. So yummy!
Yay!!!!
Am I missing something? there are less than 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the whole salad but 30 grams of fat per serving if 8 servings? I can’t figure out how this salad could have 240 grams of fat total in whole salad. It looks delicious but am hesitant to make if fat content is so high. Is it possible there was a typo?
Sometimes the recipe calculator is glitchy. I will double check!
Ok there was a glitch, it is accurate now!
Delicious! Thank you for this. My 16 and 13 year old and I made this together and all really enjoyed it. They wanted to take it for lunch tomorrow also!
Great to hear! thanks, Monique! xo
Another winner from Feastingathome.com! I didn’t have currants, so I used raisins. I didn’t have miso, so I used Tahini. I love recipes like this one that can be adapted to use what I have. And now I am experiencing Winter Happiness 🙂
So happy you like this!
My husband and I really enjoyed this recipe as we have with all of your vegan recipes. The flavours came together nicely. I try not to use any oil in my cooking but I splurged and used a 1/2 tablespoon…perfect!
Glad you enjoyed this Jan!
I’m looking for make-ahead dishes for a party, so this sounds great. But how far ahead can I make this; is two days too far ahead of time? Thank you.
No I think it would be fine!
Not a fan of parsley — any suggestions for alternative herbs that would fit the flavor profile? Thanks!!
I think cilantro would taste good! Or some basil?
Really delicious and different kale salad that’s perfect for fall. Have made it three weeks in a row for lunch… definitely a keeper!
Awesome! So happy you like it!!!
Hi Sylvia,
What type of miso do you recommend? Red, white, dark brown, etc? Is there a specific brand that you use? I hope to make this recipe for a potluck this weekend and I hope you are able to respond! 🙂
White!
Hi Sylvia,
What type of miso do you recommend? Red, white, dark brown, etc?
I hope to make this salad for a potluck this weekend so I hope you can respond! 🙂
Thank you for such wonderful recipes.
I prefer using white miso.
I hate it when people rate a recipe and did not follow the recipe, then I ended up doing that thing. Without alot of blah, blah, blah, I just used what I had on hand. I used collard greens instead of kale. I went with tahini instead of miso and a red onion instead of scallion. I love this salad. It was just as delicious the second day. I still plan on making it per the recipe.
Hi Sylvia,
This winter salad turned out amazing! So full of flavor and so incredibly healthy! Thank you so much for sharing!
Made this tonight. My 2 teenaged daughters and my grain averse hubby loved. Thanks for the recipe. And I love your story about Tonia.
This salad is outstanding. My husband looked skeptical…then tried it…and loved it. Success!!!
Love this!
So good. Nice for anytime of the year!
I’m going to make this for a potluck tonight.
This is a home run: healthy, delicious and different.
Yay! I love this one too! Im so glad you enjoyed. 🙂
Absolutely LOVED this salad. It was voted onto the family supper rotation list, an impressive feat to be sure. Thanks so much for delicious recipes. My family enjoys it whenever I make a new one of yours.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I love this one too, so hearty and flavorful!
Delicious – loved this salad! I added the toasted walnuts at the end and it was exactly what I was craving. Thanks so much – love all your recipes!
LOVE love LOVE Winter happiness salad!!!
“Feel the happiness start to bubble inside you.”
This is beautiful.
Thank you.
“Feel the happiness start to bubble inside you.”
This is beautiful. Thank you.
Sylvia,
This looks delicious ! I love your blog and congratulate you on all your work for this. I am a former (and current) customer of Mizuna from way back…it is still my favorite place to spend an evening.
All the best in your endeavors,
Robin
Awww that is so sweet to hear! So glad you are still enjoying the restaurant!