Tropical Kale Quinoa Salad is a light, healthy salad that makes a perfect lunch. Mango, pineapple and strawberries are mixed with cucumbers, silvered almonds, quinoa and massaged kale and topped with a light lime vinaigrette.

Tropical Kale Quinoa Salad

When we were in Florida we had an abundance of mouthwatering, fresh fruit.

I always forget how much better fruit is in the winter months when you are in Florida.

Of course the citrus down there during the winter is out of this world, but the pineapple, mango and strawberries were too.

I could not get enough of the fruit when we were there.

I am all about tropical fruit, warm weather and enjoying time on the beach.

Our trip to Florida this year was just what the doctor ordered.

If you follow me on Instagram you probably knew I was there because I could not stop posting pictures of beaches, sunsets and all things warm weather.

When we returned I was still in warm weather mode even though I was wearing my winter coat again.

I made a trip to Trader Joes and had to stock up on tropical fruit which led me to today’s Tropical Kale Quinoa Salad.

We are eating the rainbow today guys!

I try to make a big batch of salad each week so that I have easy lunches to eat during the week.

I have been loving quinoa in my salads lately and always enjoy a massaged kale salad.

With all of that tropical fruit waiting to be used I knew I had a match made in heaven.

For today’s Tropical Kale Quinoa Salad I massaged the kale for a few minutes using a small amount of olive oil.

I find that this helps break down the kale so it isn’t as tough and helps bring out some flavor.

I love using kale in salads like this in this Kale Caesar Salad, Kale Cucumber Tabbouleh, Kale Couscous Pomegranate Salad or this Avocado Kale Spinach Salad.

I then layered in the tropical fruit, cucumbers, quinoa and silvered almonds and then topped it with a light lime vinaigrette.

With most salads, today’s salad is very customizable to your liking.

I think that adding some red onion would be a great addition, maybe some chopped red peppers and chopped avocado.

The lime vinaigrette was a nice addition but I can see a lot of dressings working well from a simple balsamic to an orange vinaigrette to a strawberry poppyseed dressing.

One of my favorite fruits of all time is mangos.

I can’t get enough of them!

I love adding them to salads because of their soft texture, bold flavor and tropical flavors. The mango paired well with the pineapple and strawberries but you could easily use other fruits like papaya or raspberries.

If you have an allergy to nuts, just leave them out.

You can also try pumpkin seeds, pepitas, sunflower seeds or macadamia nuts.   For those of you that are always looking for a nice hearty salad that you can use for lunches or to accompany your meals this is one to try!