Making it up as I go along: Moroccan Quinoa/Kale/Carrot Salad

Struggles has inspired me to go out of my comfort zone cooking-wise lately. He's got a big love for Moroccan, so most of our dishes lately have featured the flavors of pomegranate, apricot, cumin, coriander, etc. This salad we came up with based on random stuff we had lying around. I took to the internet for some guidance on the dressing, but it's all ad hoc. I'm pretty pleased with the result. The dressing has a little kick and the salad is healthy but hearty, thanks to the heft of the kale and quinoa.

1) For the salad, mix together, in a large bowl, the following:
4 cups fresh kale, hand shredded to bite sized pieces
2 cups cooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
3/4 cup dried apricots, diced to pom seed size

2) In a small frying pan, toss 1/3 sliced almonds with the following and cook over medium heat until the almonds are toasted.
     - 2 tablespoons olive oil
     - ground coriander
     - ground cumin
     - garlic powder
     - allspice
     - ground black pepper
     - salt

3) Spicy Moroccan Dressing*:
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 teaspoons paprika
fresh ground black pepper
salt

4) Whisk it all together and toss the salad thoroughly.

* As with many things, spiciness is a personal preference, so be sure to taste the dressing before mixing it in. It's okay for it to be slightly spicier than you actually want since it'll be distributed over a lot of salad ingredients.

Moroccan Carrot & Chickpea Salad

I fully intended to make the recipe just like Heidi had it. I did! But I wrote down and purchased dried apricots instead. And I found already roasted ground cumin! And then there were the pomegranate seeds that jumped out at me! And I didn't have cayenne! So, yeah, this is another "based on" recipe. Still fucking fabulous though! Something I love is how you get heat from the dressing but it's instantly cooled by the mint and the carrots. Struggles and I enjoyed this with a simple roast chicken.

Dressing:
1 tablespoon roasted, ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (1/2 a lemon, more or less)
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
sea salt to taste

10 ounces carrots, thinly sliced on a mandolin
2 cups cooked chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans) (aka 1 15 ounce can, drained/rinsed)
2/3 cup dried apricots, quartered
1/3 cup fresh mint, roughly chopped
1/3 cup pomegranate seeds

To serve: toasted almond slices

1) Whisk together all the dressing ingredients. Taste it! Adjust to your preference. It's okay if it's a bit on the strong side, because it's going to be thin on those salad ingredients later.

2) Combine carrots, chickpeas, apricots, mint, and pomegranate seeds. I also threw in a few of the carrot tops, just for a bit of extra fancy greenery. Throw the almonds on right before serving.

3) Eat it!