Superfood heaven
This post is a nod to my cousin Pat in Burlington who introduced me to a variation of this dish - at that time my idea of superfood hell would have been the thought of a "Kale & Quinoa Salad". What dish could possibly sound more worthy or self-satified than this? Au contraire, as it happens!
I have tweaked this recipe to suit me (and what I had left in the fridge after the excesses of the Festive period) and it's fab!
I put a good chunk of this salad in a jar to take to work for tomorrow's healthy lunch. We ate it with some slow roasted ribs that had been cooked in a dry rub of smoked paprika & brown sugar - it all came together very well.
Recipe
500g bag of chopped Kale
A good glug of EVO oil
A handful of raisins
Another handful of toasted pecan nuts - chopped
200g tricolour quinoa
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
70g creamy Goats cheese
You could use pomegranate seeds or blueberries (instead of the raisins) or walnuts or pine nuts (instead of the pecans) or Feta or Grated Mature Cheddar (instead of the Goat's cheese) - or leave out the cheese and make it vegan. The beauty of this salad is it's flexibility. It's a great, robust salad that suits winter and it's comfort food very well.
Method
Trim all leaves of the hard centre core ribs. Cut into small, bite-sized
pieces and massage in olive oil with your hands for a good few minutes (this will break down the hard texture of the kale). Set aside and leave to macerate for 10 minutes or until all the components of the salad are ready to mix together.
Toast the pecans for 7 minutes in a hot oven, cool & chop
Rinse off the quinoa and put on to boil with twice the amount of water to quinoa for 10 minutes, add 1/2 a tsp of slat to water.
Mix the creamy cheese with the lemon juice.
Toss all ingredients together and test for seasoning.
This salad will last for 2-3 days and actually improves as time goes on.