Red quinoa, kale and poached ginger-shallot chicken salad

(serves 2)

So, this 'queen of the greens' vegetable Kale has quite a reputation. I have been hearing about it over the past year, it's from the cabbage family and it's wondrous abilities are supposed to supersede spinach in its nutritional capacities as it's high in iron, potassium, Vitamin A, C and K, as well as being a good source of calcium, good for eye health and lowering cholesterol! We finally got around to picking up a bunch so am trying out a few different recipes with our new star ingredient! It's pretty tasty and works baked, sautéd or raw - definitely will become an addition to the the vegetable repertoire!
This salad is full of a few 'super' ingredients, with the roasty red quinoa high in protein and the infamous ginger helpful for digestion, staving off the flu and anti-inflammatory benefits!

Prep time: 10 min

Cooking time: 40 min

Ingredients: 
1/2 C red quinoa
1 C water
500g chicken maryland (or fillet)
1 sweet potato
3cm cube of ginger
6-8 shallot sprigs
4 leaves of kale
1 clove garlic

Method:
1. Poach the chicken for 30-45min. Cool and shred.
2. Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Peel the sweet potato and cut into 1cm cubes, toss in olive oil, salt and pepper and roast for 30-40 min (turning at 20min).
3. Cook the quinoa in the water for 13-15 minutes until all the water has been absorbed.
4. Finely dice the ginger and shallots. Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt. Heat 1 T oil in a small pot until boiling, then pour over the ginger and shallots and mix well. 
5. In a large salad bowl, toss the shredded chicken in the ginger shallot mixture, season with some soy sauce and sesame oil to taste.

6. Sauté the kale in oil and garlic for 3-4 minutes until wilted.
7. Add in the quinoa, sweet potato and kale into the salad bowl and lightly toss with a squeeze of lemon or lime!

8. Serve warm as a main or a side, or with some kale chips!