Blood Orange Avocado Quinoa & Kale Salad

This flavorful blood orange avocado quinoa & kale salad proves that some salads are anything but bland. Loaded with flavor and full of nutritious ingredients, it makes for a super satisfying lunch or quick dinner. To round out the meal, feel free to mix in your favorite cooked beans or serve with grilled chicken or shrimp on top.

This website is devoted to baking, but from time to time, we enjoy sharing savory recipes for lunches and dinners too. Some of our favorite salads are published including this strawberry bacon salad, a Southwestern chopped chicken salad, and this kale pesto salad. These salads, along with many of our savory recipes, are what we serve most often at home and we love the fact that these dishes make it onto your tables too!

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Tell Me About This Blood Orange Avocado Quinoa & Kale Salad

• Flavor: This salad is a smorgasbord of flavor. Together, nutrient-dense kale and quinoa create a robust base for creamy avocado and homemade blood orange vinaigrette. It becomes this giant citrusy and creamy foundation on which we load even more goodies such as walnuts (I used candied walnuts), blue cheese, and chopped blood orange.
• Texture: While the flavors are unbelievable, the texture of the salad may be your favorite part. The cellulose in the kale breaks down, and the super tender leaves then soak up the flavor of the blood orange vinaigrette, blue cheese, and avocado. Quinoa adds substance, so this is a very hearty and satisfying salad.
• Ease: This is a very simple dish and actually tastes best if you prepare it ahead of time. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl, make the dressing, and then toss them together.
• Time: Set aside about 15 minutes to prepare it.

Choosing the Right Ingredients

1. Moro blood oranges: If you’ve never had a Moro blood orange before, you’ll be pleasantly surprised how naturally sweet they taste. Moro blood oranges are usually the most colorful of the blood oranges, but you can use any blood orange OR regular orange when preparing this recipe. I always enjoy baking/cooking with blood oranges because they add so much natural bright color. We’ll use blood oranges (or regular oranges) in the dressing, too.
2. Avocado: Creamy, ripe avocado makes such a tasty addition to this salad. Sometimes when I’m mixing all the ingredients, I’ll mash the avocado into the kale leaves.
3. Blue cheese: If blue cheese isn’t your favorite, use something like gorgonzola, feta, or goat cheese.
4. Walnuts: I usually use store-bought candied walnuts for this particular recipe, but you can use regular walnuts, homemade candied nuts, pecans, or almonds. No matter which you use, chop them up before adding to the dish. You can also use sunflower seeds. You’ll enjoy the crunch of nuts or seeds in each bite.
5. Blood orange vinaigrette: Let’s talk about this pink blood orange vinaigrette. Ditch anything store-bought because NOTHING compares to its fresh flavor. We’re combining olive oil, white wine vinegar, blood orange juice, lemon juice, honey, sea salt, and pepper. Shake it all up and pour on top. We make this homemade salad dressing often and use it on nearly any salad. It’s a tasty marinade for chicken, too.
6. Add some protein: To round out the meal, feel free to mix in your favorite cooked beans such as black beans or chickpeas or serve with grilled chicken or shrimp on top.

If you’re looking for more ways to incorporate kale into your diet, try it in this green smoothie. You can’t even taste it! It’s also a fantastic addition to this creamy butternut squash mac and cheese and my green of choice in this maple-roasted squash kale salad.

More Favorite Savory Recipes

• Black Bean Burgers
• Walnut Crusted Chicken
• Vegetarian Pumpkin Chili
• Biscuit Vegetable Pot Pie
• Quinoa Patties
• Baked Lemon Garlic Salmon

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