Berry Citrus Kale Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

Need a quick and easy salad to brighten up your weekday lunches? This Berry Citrus Kale Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette is made with simple, clean eating ingredients and takes minutes to pull together!

There are only a few days left in January, which means my clean and green challenge is coming to an end. If you’re a first time reader of the blog, you should know that I’m mostly into clean eating, but my New Year’s challenge was to incorporate green veggies and/or fruit into every meal during January. And to help with this challenge, every blog post throughout January featured a green fruit or veggie.

I’m not going to lie. It was difficult sticking to this challenge for every meal. Lunch. Dinner. No problem. I love salads. And they were a go-to for many meals.

But I knew breakfast would be a challenge. Toast with peanut butter and chia jam is my all-time favourite breakfast. It’s quick, easy and totally comforting. And there were a few mornings I woke up craving it. So I ate it! And that’s okay. Because this challenge was more about expanding my use of ‘green’ ingredients in the kitchen, not about restricting myself.

As for lunch and supper, I really tried to think beyond my usual spinach or arugula salads. So I challenged myself to create different types of salads, with creative toppings and salad dressings. I also ventured into green soups, smoothies and snacks!

In case you missed any, here’s a quick round-up of the ‘green’ recipes I shared throughout the month:

• Cilantro Jalapeño Edamame Hummus – a new favourite snack in our house!
• Winter Sunshine Salad with Honey Citrus Dressing – homemade salad dressings are clean, easy and my new favourite thing to make!
• Mango Avocado Oatmeal Smoothie – a fibre-filled smoothie parfait. Dessert or breakfast? Your choice! 😉
• Turkey Stuffed Collard Greens – almost like a cabbage roll, except clean eating and spicy!
• Spicy Sweet Green Pea Soup – what can I say? Sweet green peas and spinach. It doesn’t get any greener than this!

Given my new obsession with homemade salad dressings, it should come as no surprise that my final recipe for this clean and green January is a Berry Citrus Kale Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette.

This salad includes pretty basic ingredients:

• Kale – I used a blend of red, green and tuscan kale.
• Berries – blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, and of course, raspberries.
• Citrus – Cara Cara oranges are my favourite and they are in season now. Yay!
• Quinoa/brown rice – I actually used a brown rice blend with barley, green lentils and red quinoa.

With all those ingredients, this Berry Citrus Kale Salad packs a bit of a nutritional punch. Antioxidants, vitamin C and fibre!  Plus, the sweetness from the berries and the vinaigrette makes this salad taste more like a sweet treat than a healthy lunch!

If you like this salad, please feel free to share! In addition to Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest, Crumb Top Baking is now on Twitter!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Berry Citrus Kale Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

Berry Citrus Kale Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette pulls together simple, clean eating ingredients like kale, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries and oranges. It’s a great way to get in some antioxidants, vitamin C and fibre, so load up on this goodness for your weekday lunches!

• Author: Leanne
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Total Time: 10 minutes
• Yield: 2 bowls 1x
• Category: Lunch; Supper

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

For the vinaigrette:

• 3/4 cup fresh raspberries
• 3 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp maple syrup

For the salad:

• 4 cups of kale, stems removed, chopped
• 1 Cara Cara orange, divided
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3/4 cup of quinoa or brown rice, cooked
• 3/4 cup fresh raspberries
• 3/4 cup fresh blackberries
• 3/4 cup fresh blueberries
• 4 large fresh strawberries, sliced

Instructions

To make the vinaigrette:

1. Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend on high until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Pour into a dish or mason jar for storing and serving. Makes about 3/4 cup. Store any leftovers in the fridge and use within 2-3 days.

To make the salad:

1. Add the kale to a large bowl. Cut the orange in half. Reserve half for slices to add to the salad. Squeeze the juice from the other half of the orange into a small dish and stir in the oil. Pour over the kale and massage the leaves for a few minutes.
2. Divide the kale into 2 bowls, and top with the quinoa or brown rice, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries and orange slices. Drizzle on the dressing.
3. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge and enjoy within 1-2 days.

Notes

1. If you’re making this salad in advance, I would wait to add the vinaigrette until just before serving.
2. For the quinoa or brown rice, I used a brown rice blend with barley, green lentils and red quinoa.

Keywords: Salad, Berries, Kale, Lunch