Healthy Cooking #2: Superfood Salad To Pack In Your Lunches Next Week!

While hunting for this week's meal prep recipe, I stumbled upon the most delicious salad I've ever had. I know that's a pretty bold statement, but I fully stand by it! This salad is amazing. I think the real secret is the homemade dressing recipe, which is both healthy and delicious.

I tend to be wary of packing salads as my lunch, because between my long work day and my Pure Barre class after work, I tend to be pretty hungry by the time I get home, so I always want to ensure I'm eating something filling enough to get me through the day.

That's why I've been so excited about this most recent find! It's packed with so many delicious sources of protein, I didn't get hungry at all - major accomplishment for me considering I'm #NeverNotHungry.

I made one slight modification to the original recipe and swapped the goat cheese for feta because I'm not a huge fan of goat, and it was still delicious! I think whatever your preference, the salad is still great.

Serving Size: 4 (I added a little bit extra of everything and doubled the dressing recipe so I'd have enough for all 5 workday lunches! I love dressing, so I knew I'd want a little bit extra).

Salad Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa (I made 1.5)
1 large bunch of kale (I used a packaged box)
2-3 cups of spinach (optional, for more texture and larger salads)
15 oz. can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 cup blueberries
4 oz. goat (or feta) cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup of sliced almonds (you can usually find these in bags near the fruit/vegetable aisle!)
1 avocado, chopped (I added this the moment before I ate the salad so it would be fresh!)
Dressing Ingredients: (Again, if you prefer more dressing, double everything below)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice (I love lemon, so I increased this to 1/2 and it was great!)
2 tablespoons of honey
1.5 teaspoons Dijon Mustard
1/4 teaspoon of salt
a pinch of black pepper
Directions:
Either use a rice cooker for quinoa and place two parts water to 1 part quinoa (so 1 cup quinoa = 2 cups of water) OR
Rinse and drain quinoa and place with 2 cups of water in a small saucepan, bringing it to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to a low setting and cook for about 15 minutes until the water has been absorbed/evaporated. Let cool on the side.
Whisk together all of the dressing ingredients in a large bowl.
Once the quinoa is cool, add it to a bowl with all of the salad ingredients. Toss gently to combine evenly. If saving salads for meal prep during the week, separate into containers and add avocado + dressing right before eating for freshest results.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I have! As always, if you have any questions or comments please post them below and thank you for any votes and/or follows!