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04 Jul Sweet Summer Salad…

I received one of the nicest compliments yesterday. I took this salad to a bbq at my brother-in-law‘s parents’ house. I knew it would look a little different from the other food, the pretty traditional pasta salads, slaws, etc. Frankly, I didn’t really think anyone would try it – kale, quinoa, garbanzo beans, avocado, red onion, plums, barely dressed and on the sweet side for a super hot July day. I was happily surprised to see it gobbled up, but more than anything it was the compliment from his mother (whom I admire greatly) that made my day: she said she really liked the salad, even though there was nothing in it she actually enjoys eating. Well, except the tomatoes, she likes tomatoes.

I have to give credit where it’s due: the plums were a surprise gift from a friend Saturday night and as soon as I saw what was in the bag, I knew they had to go into the salad I had planned for the bbq. Thanks, Meghan! Okay, here you go, a sweet summer salad that will delight anyone brave enough to taste it.

Sweet Kale, Roasted Chickpea and Plum Summer Salad

1/2 C quinoa (dry)
1 T+ coconut oil
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 large bunch dino kale
1 small red onion, diced
1 pint grape tomatoes, sliced in half
1-2 avocados, diced
2-3 small plums, diced
1 t cumin (more, to taste)
generous pinches of sea salt
white balsamic vinegar (to taste)
1 1/2 limes (or 1 lime and 1/2 lemon)

1. Cook quinoa according to package instructions. Remember to let rest, covered in pot (heat off) when done. Much fluffier this way. Set aside to cool while you do everything else (or make ahead the day before).

2. Heat a large pan over medium high, add cumin. Toast spice until you can just start to smell it, then add coconut oil. As soon as oil has melted add garbanzo beans (pan should be big enough for them to lay in a single layer). Sprinkle with a generous pinch of salt. I liked to cook them (stirring once in a while) until they start to brown and crisp up a little. When done to your liking. Turn off heat and set aside.

3. Clean kale (removing toughest part of the ribs) and tear into bite-sized pieces – place in a large bowl. Sprinkle with a generous pinch of salt, two or three glugs of white balsamic vinegar (~1 T) and massage with hands for 5 mins until leaves are soft and an even darker green.

4. Add to the kale: cooled quinoa, garbanzo beans, onion, tomatoes, avocado (I used 1 1/2 avocados because that’s what I had on hand – use 1 to 2, to your liking) and plums (I used three smallish and it was super plummy, so use two if you just want a hint of the plum), tossing thoroughly after each new ingredient. Note on the plums, the easiest way I found to add these was to slice each into thin longitudinal sections (still attached to the pit), then slice the other way (latitudinally, I guess), carving around the pit. Like this:

And the plum pieces will look like this:

5. Squeeze juice of one lime and half a lemon (or two limes or one lime and one lemon – whatever you’ve got around). Toss thoroughly, taste and adjust seasoning – more cumin, salt or vinegar, etc.

6. Serve it up!

By the way, leftovers make a great protein-packed post-run breakfast, especially when topped with a froached egg (half fried, half poached – my favorite) and a little sprinkle of salt and nutritional yeast. Sweet and savory delight.

05 Jun Strawberries… and Kale!

What would you do with 12 pints of strawberries? Surely you would spare one for a massaged kale salad, no?

Kale with strawberries, some green garlic and a top notch blue cheese , like this one from Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company …

= sweet, spicy, creamy, green love.

Massaged Kale and Strawberry Salad

1 bunch dino kale
1 pint strawberries
2-3 T good quality blue cheese
1 stalk green garlic
1/2 t sea salt
1-2 T white balsamic vinegar
1 t cumin, more or less to taste
handful walnuts, chopped or broken up

1. Soak kale in a big bowl of water to wash off any debris or critters. While that’s soaking, clean a pint of strawberries and thinly slice the bulb and tender bits of a stalk of green garlic. Set aside.

2. De-rib kale (strip out the tough rib), tear into bite-sized pieces and place in a large bowl. Pat kale dry. Sprinkle with salt. Massage with hands for at least five minutes, until pieces are tender. Halfway through, splash in 1 T while balsamic vinegar and work it into the kale as you continue to massage.

It should look a little like this about halfway through:

3. Toast cumin in a dry, small sauce pan. Don’t walk away, it will burn. Shake pan once in a while. It’s done when the fragrance blooms.

4. Add cumin and green garlic to salad. Toss to incorporate. Crumble blue cheese onto salad and toss to incorporate. Slice strawberries into salad. Toss to incorporate and to check for desired strawberry to other stuff ratio. (You don’t necessarily need a strawberry in every bite, but every other bite would be nice, no?) You may or may not use the whole pint.

5. Taste and add more salt, vinegar or cumin, as desired. Add walnuts.

6. Toss and toss and toss until blue cheese starts to coat everything just a little bit.

Nice sized salad for two, maybe with a cup of soup on the side. Or it’s just the right size for dinner for one… if you’re a little kale crazy like someone we know.

03 Jan Cheater, Cheater, Lentil Eater…

Sad, isn’t it. (And, I don’t mean the random crumb bits that you can see. Actually, that is sad.) Dog food, wine, a Russian rye starter I should’ve given away ages ago, apple butter, essential oils and… well, little else of any consequence. I have post-holiday empty ‘fridge syndrome. The bummer is that I came home for lunch hungry, but after receiving my holiday credit card bill the day after Christmas – thank you very much!, I was reluctant to dash to the store to spend a penny on anything, including sustenance. So, what did I do? I had a mini-meltdown during which I combed through my cupboards and freezer, digging deep into the farthest recesses to see exactly what I had in the house. You see, I’m a stocker (no, not a stalker). I have a habit of stocking up on staples when the price is right. I was determined to use up some of this stock to feed myself until the burn from said credit card bill eased. And, know what? I struck gold!

I used to be a boxed soup person, but now I’m a more of a soup from scratch person. However, in a rare moment of prescient genius last month while I was replenishing certain stocks at Trader Joe’s, I grabbed a couple of boxes of soup, just in case (I was already feeling holiday cooking burnout). So… what did I find when I was desperately digging through my pantry yesterday? A jar of green lentils and a box of Trader Joe’s Carrot Ginger soup! And, thus, the wheels started to turn: Carrot Ginger Lentil Soup! (Cooking burnout + starving + no $$ = semi-homemade-from-scratch deliciousness.)

Needless to say this is SO. EASY. and you can do it one of two ways: use the lentils dry (well, rinsed, of course) or soaked. (Not many people soak lentils, but my belly is super sensitive to legumes and beans of most kind and I’ve found that soaking the lentils and/or giving them a really long time on the stove make it a lot easier for me to digest them.) If you’re starving, don’t soak. I had a moment of clarity and a Lara Bar handy, so I opted to soak them for lunch today. One more thing: packaged Carrot Ginger soup can be really, really sweet, almost cloyingly sweet. To balance it out, I added nutritional yeast. I think it took the edge off the sweet and deepened the whole experience. Now, get souping!

Carrot Ginger Lentil Soup

1 C green lentils
~1 C Carrot Ginger Soup (a la Trader Joe’s)
~1 C water
handful kale (or spinach), de-ribbed and chopped fine-ish
1 T nutritional yeast, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Soak the lentils in 2 cups of water over night.

2. In a medium-sized pot, bring lentils (soaked, rinsed and drained) to a simmer with ~1 C water (enough water to just barely cover the lentils – you can always add more if they keep soaking up liquid or if you want to thin the soup out). Add kale, stir to incorporate. Simmer for at least 20 minutes.

3. Add Carrot Ginger Soup, 1 C to start, more if you want it more soupy.

4. Salt and pepper to taste.

5. Either add nutritional yeast to the pot, or sprinkle over individual servings.

This was very satisfying. It’s been freezing lately and although the rain has stopped and the sun is shining, I just can’t seem to warm up.

What really put this over the top for me was when I combined leftovers with Bhutanese red rice (1/2 C rice simmered in 1 C vegetable stock for 20 minutes or until all liquid is gone, then let sit covered without heat for 5 minutes before fluffing). Nutty, buttery, delicious.

Yum.