Recipe: Clean Eating Quinoa Salad

This salad is an office favorite. Not only is it delicious, refreshing and filling, but it's super healthy! Kale is one of the most cleansing foods you can get your hands on, and we use protein-packed quinoa, red and yellow bell peppers, shallots and sunflower seeds to really give you that cleansing kick you need. The red wine vinegar and olive oil dressing pulls it all together for a fantastic finish. At only 208 calories per serving, you'll be packing this for lunch every day!

Here's how to cut those bell peppers:

Pro tip: To cool the quinoa down fast and safely, thinly spread it out on a rimmed baking sheet and chill it in refrigerator for 45 minutes to an hour.

Recipe: Clean Eating Quinoa Salad

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 13-15 minutes + 1 hour chill time
Yield: 8 servings
Serving size: 1 cup

Ingredients

• 4 cups water
• 2 cups quinoa, dry
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
• ¼ cup fresh basil, minced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 cups kale, coarsely chopped small
• 2 tablespoons raw unsalted sunflower seeds
• ½ teaspoon salt
• black pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

1. Heat a medium saucepan over high heat. Add 4 cups of water and the quinoa. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 13-15 minutes until quinoa is cooked.
2. Remove quinoa from heat and let stand for 5 minutes; uncover and fluff with a fork and set aside in refrigerator to cool.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the cooled quinoa, red and yellow bell peppers, basil, shallot, kale, sunflower seeds, salt and black pepper.
4. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the red wine vinegar and olive oil. Pour the dressing over the quinoa mixture and stir together to combine.

Nutrition Information

Per Serving: (1 cup)
Calories: 208
Calories from fat: 55
Fat: 4g
Saturated Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 152mg
Carbohydrates: 33g
Fiber: 4g
Sugar: 2g
Protein: 7g
SmartPoints: 5

3.1 The nutrition content of recipes on Popculture.com has been calculated by Registered Dietitian, Jessica Penner, of Smart Nutrition.