Kale and Quinoa Salad

If you follow food trend at all, you would know that kale and quinoa have become really popular in the recent years. This salad combines the two super food in an easy and tasty way.  It makes for a nice hearty side or a light meal.  I imagine the left-over will make a fabulous lunch and I’ll find out tomorrow! (ETA: It did make for a wonderful left-over lunch!)

The recipe is from a member on Tasty Kitchen.  I’m re-writing it here because I’ve modified the recipe slightly to suit my family’s palate and appetite.  The original recipe’s serving size is for 8.  My family must have a bunch of pigs, but there’s no way that would feed my family with left-overs.

We ate the salad with some flounder topped with lemon capers sauce.  Perhaps because I didn’t have a starch, but the three of us almost finished the entire salad.

Go over to Tasty Kitchen or to the original recipe site, Forty Cakes for some much nicer step-by-step photos.

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Massaged Kale and Quinoa Salad

Prep time: 30 mins  Inactive Cook time: 30 mins

Serves: 4 for hearty portions, 8 for smaller sides

Ingredients

For the vinaigrette
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 lemon, juiced
1 small clove garlic minced fine
2 – 3 tablespoons agave nectar (or honey for non-vegan) to taste – I used 2
*can also substitute with brown sugar, 1 – 2 tcp

For the salad
2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled
1 large bunch kale, washed well, stemmed and chopped or ripped to small pieces (about 8 packed cups)
1/3 cup dried cranberries (I like Ocean Spray Craisins)
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1 – 2 sweet, crisp apples (Fuji or Gala good options), chopped
salt and pepper to taste

*optional non-vegan ingredient – crumbled feta cheese

Directions

For the vinaigrette
In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic and the agave/honey/brown sugar and set aside.

For the salad
In a large bowl, combine the kale and the vinaigrette. Massage the vinaigrette thoroughly into the kale for about 5 minutes. The volume of the kale will decrease as the kale become tender. Set aside for another 10 to 15 minutes for the kale to become more tender.

Add in the quinoa and toss together with the kale. Add the walnuts, cranberries and chopped apples. Season with salt and pepper, to taste and thoroughly toss some more.

Haitian Legumes

I have a Haitian friend who’s always bragging about how her children love to eat this vegetable dish she makes that contains carrots, green beans, spinach, cabbage, eggplant, and red pepper. All that vegetables in one dish?  And her kids gobble them up?  Of course I had to give it a try. Plus, I’m always looking for new ways to use up the 1/2 head of cabbage that’s languishing away in my vegetable drawer.

This is my friend, “Sexy Mama”.

Pretty, isn’t she?

This is the dish.

Not as pretty to look at, but certainly tasty to eat all mixed up with steamed rice.

Sexy Mama tells me that this very traditional Haitian dish doesn’t really have a name. It’s just called legumes (vegetables in French). But go to any Haitian household or restaurant and order legumes and you’ll get a rendition of this dish.

This an easy one-pot dish to make and traditionally made, it requires very little work aside from some vegetable preparation.

I always like to follow the directions of a new recipe to the letter so I can see how it’s supposed to taste. Subsequently, I’ll modify to my own taste and whim.

I loved the result from the traditional directions. All the vegetables got cooked down soft and mushy, perfect for mixing it up with rice. I can eat rice mixed with stuff (the legumes here or curry or Korean stew or anything similar) all day long.

D and S liked the taste well enough, but not the texture. They like their vegetables with a little more crunch and texture. They like being able to distinguish the carrots from the green beans.

In my second go around, I modified the recipe to allow for shorter cooking time resulting in more texture and the results were prettier, too. The vegetables retained their color and shape better with short cooking time.

However it’s cooked, the taste is sublime.

Here are some of fresh ingredients. I didn’t bother taking photos of the frozen stuff. My friend recommends the Maggi brand chicken bullion.

In my second attempt, I chopped the cabbage smaller and cubed the eggplant rounds.

Start the dish by sauteing briefly the garlic and onions in oil. Then add in the red pepper and stir for another few seconds. Then add the tomato past and bullion cubes and stir until well mixed and looks like the photo below.

You’ll need a large pot, preferably a non-stick or a dutch oven to prevent burning. I’m using a 4.5 qt dutch oven… I think. I would say use 5.5 or larger to be safe.

Per my friend’s directions, layer other ingredients in the following order: shrimp, frozen green beans, lima beans, spinach, carrots, eggplant and cabbage. Cook covered on low heat for 30 minutes, turn all the ingredients over and cook uncovered another 15 minutes or until the liquid is reduced.

The directions below is my modified directions from my second attempt which is shown below.

Serve it with plain steamed rice or rice and beans.

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Haitian Legumes

Prep time: 10 mins     Cook time: 30 mins

Serves: 6 – 8

*For vegetarian option, use vegetable bullion cubes or broth and leave out the shrimp.

Ingredients

3 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 small onion, diced
1 small red bell pepper, diced
2 cubes chicken bullion (preferably Maggi brand)
3 tablespoon tomato paste
3 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/8 inch thick or less rounds
1 medium eggplant, peeled and cut into medium sized cubes
10 ounces frozen cut green beans
10 ounces frozen shopped spinach
1 cup frozen baby lima beans
1/2 head cabbage, sliced 1/2 inch pieces
1 pound medium-sized shrimp, cleaned and de-veined (optional or can use other meat)

Directions

In a large non-stick pot on medium heat, add olive oil. Sauté garlic and onion for a minute or until the garlic starts to turn golden. Add peppers and stir. Add chicken bullion and tomato paste. Break up the bullion and stir until pasty. Add carrots, eggplant, and lima beans, stirring in between until all the ingredients are coated.

Turn down the heat to low. Add green beans, spinach, cabbage and shrimp as the final layer. Cover and let it simmer for 15 – 20 minutes or until the vegetables start to soften.  Uncover, stir and cook for another 10 – 15 minutes to reduce the liquid liquid.

Serve with plain rice or with rice and beans.

Gaji Namul (Seasoned Eggplant)

Gaji namul (seasoned eggplant) like other banchan are easy to make.  We use Chinese eggplants because of the thin skin.

I made gaji namul last week along with saengsun jun and this is the only good photo of the dish.

An aside – Gaji namul is another good left-over namul to use for bibimbap.  Bibimbap does not have to be complicated.  It doesn’t even require hot rice.  The next day, I threw left-over rice, gaji namul, egg, soy sauce, gochujang and some chopped kimchi into a frying pan and made a really yummy “bibimbap”.

Okay, back to the eggplant.  Chinese eggplant can be found in any local Asian supermarket, but if you don’t have access to one, you can use the American variety.  Just peel the skin first.

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Gaji Namul (Seasoned Eggplant)

Prep time: 5 mins     Cook time: 10 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredient

3 Chinese eggplant (or 1 American, skinned)
2 cloves garlic, finely minced (Soso finds raw garlic a little too spicy so I use 1)
1 stalk scallion, chopped
1 tablepsoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon toasted crushed sesame seed
1/4 teaspoon gochugaru (Korean hot pepper flakes), alternately skip or use black pepper for more kid friendly version
salt and pepper (if not using gochugaru) to taste

Directions

Slice each eggplant lengthwise in half, then cut crosswise into 2 inch pieces. Place into a steamer with boiling water and steam 10 – 15 minutes or until tender. Alternately, place the eggplant into a microwave safe bowl with 1/3 cup water, cover with plastic wrap and cook for 10 – 15 mins or until tender.

Drain eggplant and set aside to cool. When cool, squeeze out any excess water. Using your fingers, shred eggplant into strips. Mix the rest of the ingredients with the eggplant. Serve with steamed rice or use to make bibimbap.