Well, it’s safe to say I ate enough food tonight to feed a band of ravenous gorillas. The Taste of Little Italy gets me every time.

I sit here in sheer bliss after all the delectable food, but also sheer misery, as my stomach fights back because of all the food I pushed into it.

It’s actually very hard to look at pictures of more food right now due to my mass consumption this evening.

Not one thing I ate tonight was healthy either. Not one.

It was all loaded with deliciously fresh mozzarella, Parmesan or ricotta, tomato sauce or cream sauce, pasta or bread…you get the picture.

This salad on the other hand, is almost too healthy for ones own sanity. Almost…

It’s a good thing it’s really incredibly delicious. So delicious that I’ve had it for three meals now and still crave more.

I suppose it’s fairly normal to crave something healthy like this after eating out for lunch/dinner for 4 days straight last week.

Yes, four days.  The fried oyster tacos at Oyster Fest on Saturday really put me over the edge though.

This salad was the ultimate detox and boy, oh boy, did it work. I felt better instantly with just one bite of my friend, sautéed kale.

The garbanzo beans gave a little substance and texture, and the lemon adds a zing that is very necessary for the completion of this meal.

Lemon & Kale Quinoa Salad

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa, cooked

1/2 14-oz can garbanzo beans

1 lemon, juiced

1 small bunch of kale, torn, stems removed

1 tomato, diced

1/4 cup basil, chiffonade

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon garlic salt (or garlic powder)

1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Directions

In a large skillet, sauté kale in olive oil on medium low heat for about 10 minutes, until wilted. Turn off heat.

Stir in tomato, garbanzo beans, basil, garlic salt and pepper. Add quinoa and lemon juice then toss to combine.

From the Little Yellow Kitchen,

Lauren