This beautiful warm salad features perfectly Roasted Kale and brussels sprouts with the added treat of crispy baked quinoa and freshly grated parmesan. Top it with your favorite creamy Caesar dressing and you have a baked salad that is delicious and filling.
This Roasted Kale Salad has all of the makings of a healthy side dish or light main dish. Truthfully, its a bit like eating crispy kale chips as a salad. The edges of the kale and brussels sprouts get a deep, rich flavor from roasting and toasted quinoa adds a fantastic crunch that rivals any crouton.
If you love hearty, filling salads, try Thai Chicken Salad with Peanut Dressing or Wilted Spinach Salad for a healthy treat.
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Ingredients
- Fresh Kale: There are many kale varieties and you could use curly kale, lacinato kale, red kale, Tuscan kale or dinosaur kale. This can be done with almost any fibrous leafy green. To save time, large bags of the most common variety, curly kale are available washed and chopped.
- Brussels Sprouts: Modernly, these are only slightly bitter and cook up to have an underlying sweetness that is the perfect compliment to dark greens like kale.
- Toasted Quinoa: I used leftover quinoa to make the crispy quinoa. This is a great way to spruce up a leftover.
- Parmesan: A bit of salty parmesan cheese is the perfect way to top this salad off and add extra umami.
- Creamy Caesar Dressing: I chose to use a store-bought dressing to keep it simple, but homemade is great too. This combination lends itself to almost any kind of fun dressing, but I went for the creamy dressing to make this super healthy salad feel like a comfort food.
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions
You can make this salad your own by changing up the dressing, adding sliced red onion, feta cheese, or crispy chickpeas.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400° F conventional oven and 375° F convection oven.
- Spread cooked quinoa out on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Bake for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through.
- Clean kale by washing. Remove the stems and roughly chop.
- Lay chopped kale in a single layer on a lined baking sheet.
- Wash the brussels sprouts. Cut off the stem end and slice lengthwise to shred. Then place on the baking sheet with the kale.
- Drizzle olive oil over the cut greens and season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss to coat.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until brussels sprouts are tender and kale leaves have crispy brown edges.
- Remove from the oven, transfer to a large bowl and drizzle with salad dressing. Toss the greens until they are lightly coated and serve with crispy quinoa and freshly grated parmesan.
Diana's Tips for Success
For bags of chopped kale, spread the kale pieces out on the sheet pan and double check for remaining stems. Remove the tough stems before cooking.
You can keep this salad warm prior to serving. Hold off on adding the dressing and place the crispy greens in an oven safe serving bowl. Leave in the oven uncovered on warm for up to 1 hour. Dress the salad and add toasted quinoa right before serving for best results.
Top tip
After cleaning the kale and brussels sprouts pat the leaves dry with a paper towel to remove excess moisture. This will help the leaves crisp instead of steam.
FAQ
There are many kale varieties and you could use: curly kale, lacinato kale, red kale, Tuscan kale or dinosaur kale will work to make this roasted salad. Curly kale is the easiest to find and most budget friendly variety.
Whichever kale you choose, make sure the leaves are fresh and firm. Wilted leaves will not make nice crisp greens.
Related Recipes
- Kale Quinoa Salad with Balsamic Dressing
- Grinder Italian Sub Salad
- Pickled Beet Salad
- Italian Chopped Salad
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📖 Recipe
Roasted Kale Salad with Brussels Sprouts and Crispy Quinoa
Equipment
- 1 Sheet Pan
- 1 Small Sheet Pan
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
Crispy Quinoa
- 1 Cup Quinoa cooked
- 1 Teaspoon Olive Oil
- Salt and Black Pepper to Taste
Roasted Kale Salad
- 1 pound Kale stems removed
- 1 pound Brussels Sprouts shredded
- 2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Salt and Black Pepper
- 3 Tablespoons Caesar Dressing
- ¼ Parmesan grated
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400° F conventional oven and 375° F convection oven.
- Spread cooked quinoa out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Stir until it is well coated with oil and seasoning.
- Bake for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through. When the quinoa is golden brown and crispy, remove from the oven and set aside.
- Clean kale by washing. Remove the stems and roughly chop.
- Lay chopped kale in a single layer on a lined baking sheet.
- Wash the brussels sprouts. Cut off the stem end and slice lengthwise to shred. Then place on the baking sheet with the kale.
- Drizzle olive oil over the cut greens and season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss to coat.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until brussels sprouts are tender and kale leaves have crispy brown edges.
- Remove from the oven, transfer to a large bowl and drizzle with salad dressing. Toss the greens until they are lightly coated and serve with crispy quinoa and freshly grated parmesan.
Notes
- For bags of chopped kale, spread the kale pieces out on the sheet pan and double check for remaining stems. Remove the tough stems before cooking.
- After cleaning the kale and brussels sprouts pat the leaves dry with a paper towel to remove excess moisture. This will help the leaves crisp instead of steam.
- You can keep this salad warm prior to serving. Hold off on adding the dressing and place the crispy greens in an oven safe serving bowl. Leave in the oven uncovered on warm for up to 1 hour.
- Dress the salad and add toasted quinoa right before serving for best results.
Nutrition
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