Kale orzo pasta salad with dried cranberries, cheesy pecan parmesan and a sweet lemon garlic dressing is a delicious lunch option or side dish. Fantastic healthy and scrumptious meal prep or batch cooking recipe. This pasta salad is whole food plant-based, oil-free and refined sugar-free.
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Total Time20 minutesmins
Course: Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine: Plant Based
Keyword: kale orzo salad, kale pasta salad, orzo kale salad, vegan orzo salad
Bring a medium pan of well-salted water to a boil. Add orzo pasta and cook according to package directions, about 7-10 minutes. Stir orzo frequently, to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan (this is a common problem with orzo).
⅔ cup uncooked orzo pasta
Start tasting the orzo each minute after it's been cooking 7 minutes (or the minimum time on the package). Once it is cooked through when you taste it, drain the pasta and rinse lightly with water. Drain thoroughly and set aside in a large salad bowl to cool.
Make the Pecan Parmesan
Dry roast shelled pecans in small skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant and lightly browned, about 1-3 minutes. Be careful because they go from fragrant to burnt very quickly. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
⅔ cup shelled pecans
Once the pecans have cooled a bit (they can still be warm, but not piping hot), transfer them to a food processor, along with the nutritional yeast and pinch of sea salt. Process until the pecans are a little bigger than breadcrumbs. Do not over-process (we don't want pecan butter). Taste and adjust seasoning, as desired.
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast, pinch sea salt
Make the Sweet Lemon Garlic Dressing
In a blender (a small blender works best), add maple syrup, lemon juice, white beans (or olive oil), water, peeled garlic clove, sea salt and black pepper. Blend until completely smooth and there are no pieces of garlic or beans left. If you only have a large blender, it may be best to double or triple the dressing recipe. You can also use a small food processor as an option for making the dressing.
¼ cup maple syrup, ¼ cup cooked white beans, 2 tablespoons water, 2 clove garlic, ½ teaspoon sea salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, ¼ cup lemon juice
Combine the Salad
In the large salad bowl with the orzo, add your chopped lacinato kale, dried cranberries and pecan parmesan.
6 cups lacinato kale, ¼ cup dried cranberries
Pour dressing onto kale orzo salad. Toss to combine and let rest for 5 minutes to allow the dressing to tenderize and soften the kale before serving.
Notes
Serves 4.If preferred, reserve ½ of the pecan parmesan for sprinkling on top when serving the salad.To save time chopping the kale, buy pre-packaged washed and chopped tuscan kale and then blitz it in a food processor to make it smaller pieces.