Eating For Your Future/Kale Quinoa Salad

A year ago, I was diagnosed with moles on both of my retinas that have the potential to become cancerous. I now see a retinologist every 6 months, have my eyes dilated, and an ultrasound is done to determine if there have been any changes since my last check up. Thus far, I've been fortunate, no changes, no cancer. My next appointment is at the end of this month and of course there's always a little apprehension. I'm lucky in so many ways, but especially so in that my husband has insisted to be by my side at every visit. 

When I initially saw the specialist, he told me that it is imperative that I eat a very plant rich diet. I've always had a fairly healthy diet, it's just more focused now.

I was recently looking for a breakfast dish that would be a little higher in nutrients than my favorite bowl of oatmeal and I came across THIS recipe for a Kale and Quinoa Salad. Not only is it good as a salad, but warmed up, it's great for breakfast too. In fact, I'm on my second batch. I can be a little lazy in the morning, so I love that I can make up a batch and then just take out what I want and quickly warm it up. I basically followed the recipe, but as you can see below, I added quite a bit more kale and rather than tear the kale, I chopped it up. Rather than 1 cup of chopped kale, I added 3 cups. 

I love blueberries, and I try and buy bunches when they are in season and keep them in the freezer for use over the winter. So rather than blackberries, I added blueberries.

Quinoa is a great source of protein, but I love nuts and they do add a little more protein, so I usually top the salad off with roasted slivered almonds.  

I suggest making the salad up and allowing it to sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours and allow the dressing to really soak into the quinoa. One last change I made, rather than a lemon, I used the juice of 1 lime in my dressing. I also reduced the oil to 1 1/2 tablespoons rather than the 3 tablespoons.
As I said, this recipe is great as a salad. It can be served as is, over salad greens, and even for breakfast. If you enjoy the addition of a little cheese, some fresh feta or a good blue cheese would nice too.
Enjoy!
Rhonda