Chopped Kale & Quinoa Salad with Honey-Lemon Vinaigrette

Kale, delicious cooked or raw. I've recently begun a love affair with raw kale as a substitute for romaine lettuce and mixed greens in my salads. With its mild flavor, it takes well to vinaigrette, grains, and cheese - all of which are in this salad recipe!

This is a salad that I pack regularly for lunch, but can also be a great side dish to accompany your main course, like chicken or salmon. It's light, bright, and bound to leave you feeling good about your low-calorie lunch decision.  

1/2 cup quinoa, cooked
5 cups kale, chopped & stems removed
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

For Honey-Lemon Vinaigrette:

3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon parsley
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
dash of finishing salt

Serving size: 4 

Allow the quinoa to fully cool before adding it to the kale - this will prevent your kale from wilting.  

Mix the chopped kale with quinoa and grated Parmesan cheese. 

In a small bowl, whisk olive oil, lemon juice, honey, garlic powder, parsley, black pepper, and salt together until smooth. 

Spoon over the salad and toss until the greens are fully coated. 

Sprinkle a few grains of salt as a finishing touch on the salad before serving.

Parmesan Cream Cheese Dip: Thanksgiving Edition!

I hope that you are all in good health and high spirits! I fled Baltimore this week to spend time with my awesome family and fiance, Travis, in Atlanta. Travis and I are both devoted foodies.. well, foodies in the sense that I cook and he eats. Our favorite moments spent together are buying ingredients for recipes and eating the final product while we watch some ridiculous tv show. As this week was Thanksgiving, we decided to whip up one of our favorite appetizers for the family to eat while waiting for the other food to finish cooking. This is a recipe that I tried a few years ago (original recipe), but we have since added ingredients to create a richer flavor for the holidays.

WHAT YOU NEED: 

1 1/2 cups milk 

1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese 

1/2 cup dried Romano Parmesan cheese 

16 ozs cream cheese (cubed) 

2 tsp minced garlic 

1/2 cup of chopped green onion

cracked black pepper to taste 

1 large loaf of sourdough bread (cubed) 

1 circular loaf of bread to act as a serving dish (optional) 

Cut out a large circle in the center of your circular sourdough loaf. Remove additional bread from it as necessary in order to create a bread bowl. Set aside.

Under medium heat, stir the milk and grated Parmesan and Romano until melted in the pot. Gradually add the cubed cream cheese, garlic, green onions, and bacon bits. Stir until smooth. Allow the ingredients to cook together for about 7-10 minutes on simmer, stirring occasionally. Chill the mixture in the fridge for at least 1-2 hours or until cool. Pour the mixture into the hollowed out bread bowl. Garnish the sides of the bowl with the green peppers and tomatoes. Dice your other loaf of sourdough bread and serve. Don't be afraid to eat veggies or other varieties of bread with this dip! 

We didn't use the bread bowl this time around. I'll update the picture at a later date with a fancy bread bowl :)

Enjoy the wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and I'll see you next week!