Kale and White Bean Salad with Pumpkin Seed Pesto Dressing

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Kale and White Bean Salad with Pumpkin Seed Pesto Dressing gives both summer and fall vibes! In this dish, you’ll enjoy the coolness of a crisp salad and hearty fall flavors from pumpkin seeds, cranberries, and kale.

What You’ll Need:

• 1 large bunch of kale
• 2 cups of cooked quinoa
• 1 can of garbanzo beans or any white bean
• 1/3 cup of sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup of dried cranberries

For the dressing:

• 1 cup of cilantro
• 4 cloves of garlic, can be previously crushed or whole cloves
• 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast, my favorite brand is Bob’s Redmill
• 1/3 cup of pumpkin seeds
• dash of salt

Tools:

• blender
• wire mesh colander
• small pot
• cutting board
• knife
• can opener
• lemon juicer
• large salad bowl

How to Make Kale and White Bean Salad

To make the salad, first cook the quinoa. Preparing quinoa is easy.

First, measure out dry quinoa and place into a wire mesh colander. Since quinoa is tiny seeds, it is important to use a wire mesh colander so you do not lose the majority of your quinoa down the drain. Rinse the quinoa well under cold running water.

Next, add the rinsed quinoa to a small pot and add 2 cups of water. Turn the heat on medium-high and wait till the water comes to a boil. Then, reduce the heat, cover the quinoa, and cook for another 15-20 minutes.

In the same or another colander, rinse the kale with cold, running water. Remove the kale stem and chop or tear the kale into bite-size pieces.

Put the kale into a large bowl and massage it well. Massaging the kale helps to make it tender and easy to chew.

Open the can of white beans, drain the liquid in the can, and rinse the beans well with cold, running water. Draining and Rinsing the beans helps to remove about 40% of the sodium in the canned beans.

Add the rinsed beans, quinoa, dried cranberries, and sunflower seeds to the bowl of kale.

Preparing the Pumpkin Seed Pesto Dressing

First, rinse the cilantro well in a colander under cold running water. Then, remove the cilantro leaves from the stems. Measure out one cup of cilantro leaves and last, add them to the blender container.

Rinse the lemon well. Slice the lemon in half. Using a lemon juice, twist till the lemon is fully juiced. Add the lemon juice to the blender container.

Add the remaining ingredients to the blender container- pumpkin seeds, olive oil, nutritional yeast, garlic cloves, and salt. Blend the ingredients on high until the dressing is a smooth paste.

Once the dressing is prepared, pour it on top of the kale and white bean salad. Stir well. Finally, scoop into serving dishes and enjoy!

Variations

• Pesto can be made with any nut or seed. If you prefer to not use pumpkin seeds, try almonds, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, peanuts, walnuts, or cashews instead.
• Any leafy green can be used in the pesto. If you prefer to not use cilantro, try basil leaves, baby spinach, or kale instead. Check out my other pesto recipe for a different twist on pesto.
• Traditionally pesto is made with parmesan cheese. As an alternative, I used nutritional yeast to make this recipe vegan. You can use parmesan cheese instead if you would like.
• For the white beans, I used garbanzo beans (also known as chickpeas). Other white beans could be used instead. For example, cannellini beans, navy beans, or Great Northern beans are great alternatives.
• Dried cranberries complement this salad well, however, you can use any dried fruit. For example, golden or black raisins, chopped dried apricots, dried figs, tart, dried cherries, or chopped dried prunes would work too.

Make Ahead & Storage Tips

Kale and white bean salad with pumpkin seed pesto dressing should be used within 3 days of preparing it. Store it is an airtight container in the refrigerator. The salad keeps well for 3 days even after the dressing is applied.

Other Pesto Recipes

Be sure to check out my other pesto recipes next!

Vegetarian Pesto Pasta Dish

Pesto Tofu