Meatless Monday: Baked Sweet Potato with Lemony Quinoa and Kale Salad

When the weather starts to warm up, I shift away from comfort foods and start to crave simple, fresh meals. I also spend less time cooking, and more time relaxing outdoors.

This meal is a perfect example. It required minimal prep, tasted incredibly fresh and healthy – and gave me some extra time to sit outside in my tiny city backyard, reading in the warm breeze.

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
2 cups water
Handful of kale, stems removed
1 sweet potato
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Pumpkin seeds (or other seed)
Lemon

Salad dressing

1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp maple syrup
Salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Poke a few holes in the sweet potato, and bake for 30 minutes, or until easily pierced with a fork.

Meanwhile, bring quinoa to a boil in water, and turn the heat down to medium to cook for 15 minutes.

Combine salad dressing ingredients and set aside.

Combine cooked quinoa with garlic cloves, salt, pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon.

Cut cooked sweet potato in half and sprinkle with salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.

Drizzle handful of kale with salad dressing, and top with pumpkin seeds.

-Katharine Watts, associate web editor