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This Rainbow Kale Quinoa Salad is loaded with carrots, red cabbage, bell peppers and tossed with a creamy ginger dressing – This recipe is nut-free, has no added sugars, vegan, and gluten-free.
Recipe originally published in 2017. Photos updated 2019 – Same delicious recipe!
Prepare yourselves. We’re getting deep today…
I’ve been thinking a lot lately – about how my outlook on wellness has completely shifted over the past few years, and what living a healthy lifestyle really means. From worrying about every ingredient that went into my body to finding peace with food and letting go of the control. I finally feel like I am in a place where I actually understand the meaning of balance, or at least what balance looks like to me.
As I was preparing the red cabbage for this kale quinoa salad, I was snacking on some pieces. And it brought me back to three or four years ago, when I went on a beach trip with some girlfriends. Leading up to the trip I remember worrying about what I would eat while we were there. I worried about whether or not I would drink alcohol (extra calories). I was also afraid I wouldn’t be able to find anything remotely healthy, so I brought a lot of my own snacks. I brought some go-t0 healthy snacks like energy balls, carrots, hummus… and then a ziplock bag of raw red cabbage.
Who brings a bag of red cabbage to the beach. Who does that? Unless you actually do because you truly REALLY enjoy it… But that was not the case here.
I distinctly remember packing that bag of cabbage strips, telling myself, “This will be a good snack.” I snacked on those cabbage strips and told myself I was being healthy. That I was basically a better person for choosing to snack on cabbage instead of grabbing something (much less healthy but way more delicious) from the hotel bar.
I still have this picture of my friend and I from that trip. I look at it and think “Wow, I was quite thin then…” But in my mind I was no where near where I thought I “should” be. That was probably the year I was also getting comments from close friends and family that I was getting “really skinny” but brushed them off because I didn’t feel like I looked any different. I was just eating healthier and working out was all. It’s weird how our mind works, isn’t it? [Read More…]
