Festive Kale and Quinoa Salad With Cranberry Orange Dressing

Ironically, while this yummy salad is festive with the colours of Christmas (okay maybe more pink and green than red and green, but close!), I took it to our family Hanukkah party...hey it's pretty hard to come up with a blue and white salad...blueberries and cottage cheese maybe?

Anyways, this is great for a pot-luck because it is served at room temperature and balances out some of the super 'healthy' ingredients with a bit of sweetness.

Salad

1 cup quinoa

1 lb organic baby kale
1/2 cup juice-sweetened cranberries/cherries and goji berries
1/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds), or sub sunflower seeds

Dressing

1 cup cranberries
2 tbls orange rind
Juice of 2 oranges
2 tbls maple syrup or honey
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 tsp salt

Cook quinoa according to package instructions and let cool.  Toss with kale, berries and seeds.

For the dressing, place cranberries, rind, juice and sweetener in a small pot and bring to a boil.  Turn heat down to low and simmer until cranberries begin to burst.  Let cool.  Pour into a food processor or blender and add vinegar, oil and salt.  Puree until desired consistency (personally, I like it with small pieces of cranberry still intact).  Pour desired amount of dressing over salad and mix well.  Refrigerate leftover dressing for up to 2 weeks.

This recipe was submitted to Vegetarian  Mamma's Gluten-Free Friday and Lisa's Kitchen No Croutons Required.