Salad with 12 Superfoods

Superfood Salad with 12 Superfoods – This superfood salad has 12 superfoods in it! This is a terrific dinner for cleaning out the fridge, and it’s easy to adapt to whatever you have on hand.

 Something to compensate for my fondness for sweets, brownies, and margaritas.

I enjoy pairing fresh blueberries and luscious juicy grapes with bitter greens. The dried cherries are chewy and sour, the sunflower seeds and walnuts are crisp, and the quinoa and edamame provide protein and a pleasant heartiness. The cheese lends a salty aspect to the dish and helps to balance out the sweetness of the fruit.

I included 12 of my favorite healthy salad ingredients into the dish, including kale, blueberries, grapes, dried cherries, quinoa, sunflower seeds, walnuts, edamame, oranges (orange juice), olive oil, garlic, and Greek yogurt, which I found on lists like here and this.

Tips for Making Superfood Salad Quinoa: If you’re going to be short on time this week, I recommend cooking the quinoa ahead of time when you have a few minutes to spare. This healthful salad is delicious with warm quinoa, but leftover cold quinoa works just as well.

Dried fruit: If you really want to make this a superfood salad, look for dried fruit that doesn’t have any added sugar. However, adjust the salt and pepper levels to suit your preferences.

Serving Suggestions for This Healthy Salad
This healthy salad suggestion will feed two people as a satisfying main meal or four people as a side dish as specified.

Salad with 12 Superfoods
This superfood salad has 12 superfoods in it! This is a terrific dinner for cleaning out the fridge, and it’s easy to adapt to whatever you have on hand.

INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup dried quinoa, cooked as directed on the package
1/4 cup frozen edamame, cooked as directed on the package
1/3 bunch curly kale, cut or broken into bite-sized pieces with thick ribs removed (approximately 4 to 5 cups)
1/2 cup blueberries, fresh
1/2 cup halved red grapes
if required, 1/2 cup dried cherries, diced (dried cranberries may be substituted)

1/3 cup crumbled or shredded feta, goat, or parmesan cheese
a quarter cup of sunflower seeds (I used unsalted)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (I used unsalted)
a quarter cup of orange juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 finely minced or pressed garlic clove
1 teaspoon sugar (granulated)
a half teaspoon of salt, or more to taste
a quarter teaspoon of pepper, or more to taste
1 tblsp. plain Greek yogurt (I used fat-free sour cream, but sour cream may be used instead.)

INSTRUCTIONS

Cook the quinoa according to the package recommendations, using 1 cup water to 1/2 cup dried quinoa. Half of the cooked quinoa should be transferred to a large mixing basin. I don’t use all of the quinoa in the salad and preserve the remainder. Cooking less than 1/2 cup dry quinoa is too tough for me.
Cook edamame as directed on the box. Drain and place in the mixing bowl.

Stir together the kale, blueberries, grapes, dried cherries, cheese, sunflower seeds, and walnuts in a mixing dish; put aside.
Add the orange juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper to a glass mason jar with a lid (or similar container with a cover), close with lid, and shake vigorously to blend; about 1 to 2 minutes.
Shake in the Greek yogurt for 1 minute, or until smooth and integrated. Taste and adjust seasoning to taste, adding more salt, pepper, or other seasonings as needed. Because it’ll be coating a huge bowl of unseasoned kale, veggies, and quinoa, I like a saltier dressing because it has to read salty out of the jar to appropriately flavor the salad.

Mix the salad with the appropriate quantity of dressing, toss well to blend, and serve right away. Extra dressing can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week; mix briskly before using.