This Baked Salad Will Make You Look Forward To Eating Vegetables

By  Kristen Garaffo
Two images of baked kale salad with crispy quinoa. The first image is a small white and black speckled bowl of dark orange crispy quinoa being poured onto baked kale salad in a cream bowl with a brown rim. The second image is the same kale salad bowl with the crispy quinoa on top. @justine_snacks/TikTok

The cold months are all about cooked greens and warm bowls, or as TikTok creator Justine Doiron (@justine_snacks) calls it — baked salad. The creator recently shared a recipe for baked kale with crispy quinoa that looks absolutely delicious. It's time to put the summer produce aside and embrace the warmth of cooked veggies.

What is a baked salad exactly? "It's a salad where everything's baked. Groundbreaking, I know," Doiron jokes at the beginning of the TikTok video, as she's seen chopping kale and cabbage. "Fall and winter greens are just dying to be served warm," she says — and we agree.

Placing the greens on separate baking sheets, Doiron suggests cranking your oven to 450 degrees, and roasting your cabbage for 20 minutes, while adding the kale during the last five minutes. We see the creator drizzle avocado oil on the greens and season it with salt and pepper, while also rinsing and preparing the quinoa.

Three images: The first is raw@justine_snacks/TikTok

Lightbulb moment: Did you know you can make quinoa in a rice cooker? Doiron shares that she recently learned this, and it makes cooking your quinoa a breeze. After she takes the greens out of the oven and adds them to a bowl, Doiron uses the same baking pan for the quinoa that's about to go into the oven. She drizzles chili oil over the quinoa, or if you don't have that in your pantry, she suggests olive oil and red pepper flakes instead. The quinoa will become crispy in the oven at 375 degrees for twenty minutes.

In the meantime, Doiron makes a quick agrodolce, or a sweet and sour condiment that will go over the greens. She adds honey and water to a pan with rosemary and sage, topped with a little vinegar and salt.

The creator then pours the agrodolce into a bowl of red onions, and adds the mixture to the bowl of cooked greens. Finally, the greens are topped with crispy quinoa fresh out of the oven, and the baked salad is complete.

Four images: The first is cooked quinoa on a baking sheet being drizzled with chili oil. The second is red onions in a bowl with agrodolce and a spoon@justine_snacks/TikTok

Needless to say, commenters are fans of warm veggies and crispy quinoa. "I will now be trying crispy quinoa and I have a feeling it will be my new favorite thing," one user wrote.

Some have even tried it, even though they were a little unsure about it. "I was ultra skeptical about the agrodulce but I concede. It slaps," said another.

We now have a delicious reason to eat all our vegetables this season. You can find Dorion's full recipe here.

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