quinoa

Kale and Quinoa Salad with spicy citrus dressing

Kale & Quinoa Salad

Honestly,  I really suck when it comes to describe dishes, talk about foods in depth, explain what makes this or that recipe special. This kale salad is delicious, healthy and easy to make.  No fancy adjectives. No overuse of description words. And the fact that I can use a local food deal to prepare it makes this salad even more exciting. I hope you try it!

KALE & QUINOA SALAD with SPICY CITRUS DRESSING

For the salad:

  • 1 bunch of kale
  • 1 cup cooked quinoa (I used Trader Joe’s Organic Quinoa and cook according to package directions adding some truffle salt and pepper. To get one cup of cooked quinoa, use ½ cup of raw quinoa)
  • 1/4 cup of walnuts (slightly chopped)
  • 1/3 cup dried cranberries
  • 1 small shallot (minced)
  • 1 medium carrot shaved (use a vegetable peeler to shave the carrot in thin slices OR use a cheese grater)

For the dressing:

  • Juice of 1 small lemon
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon of Liquid Aminos (if you don’t have it in the pantry just substitute for salt)
  • ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper

Start by cooking the quinoa. While quinoa is cooling off wash kale well. Remove the ribs from the kale. Pile the kale leaves on top of each other and roll them up like a giant cigar. Thinly slice the kale.  Place it in a large mixing bowl.

Make the dressing by whisking with ‘gusto’. Taste it. Listen to your taste buds. They will tell you what to add (for me it’s usually more cayenne).

Now, this step makes all the difference so don’t skip it. Pour the dressing over the sliced kale mix and ‘massage’ it. Yes, massage it with your HANDS! Set aside and let kale marinade until slightly wilted (about 5 minutes). Add the remaining ingredients.

The salad will keep for over 4 days in the fridge depending on how fresh the kale was when you use it. When picking your kale bunch just make sure the leaves are not mushy and sad. You want happy kale with vivid color and crunchy aspect.

 The Deal

Organic Curly Kale is always 99c at our local Ralph’s

Sprouts usually has good deals on ‘in bulk’ nuts and if you are not a nut eater you can buy just enough for the salad (no waste of nuts or money)

Quinoa salad

Quinoa Salad with mango and cilantro lime dressing

For the salad all you need is cooked quinoa (I usually follow the package directions and replace water for chicken broth) and whatever veggies and/or fruits you have available. The combination for the batch in the picture was grape tomatoes, mango, purple cabbage, purple onions and corn. I wish I’ve added avocados. It would’ve made this already good salad even better.

Here are the steps for the Cilantro lime dressing:

Dice or pure in the blender:

  • 1/2 cup cilantro (go up to 1 cup if you really love cilantro)
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1/2 cup lime juice (about 3 limes)
  • 1 tbsp agave syrup (or honey)
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cumin

 

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Stuffed Bell Peppers Comfort

 

You can pretty much stuff bell peppers with anything. Add some ground beef or fresh sausage to your leftover rice, quinoa or even thanksgiving stuffing and you have the perfect filling for the peppers. These ones were stuffed with fresh chicken basil sausage, spinach and cheese. Here are the steps:

  • Wash and cut vertically  3 bell peppers, removing all the seeds and stems (I like to stuff the peppers by cutting them in half vertically and stuff each half but you can just cut the tops off and stuff the whole thing upright.
  • Preheat oven to 360F
  • Brown 3 medium fresh sausages of your choice (I used chicken basil from Sprouts) in a skillet with 1 medium onion and 2 medium roma tomatoes diced (you can substitute with ½ cup of tomato sauce of your choice)
  • Add 1 cup (or more) of cooked rice, or cooked quinoa, or cooked couscous to the sausage mixture. I used only sausage for the batch in the picture.
  • If you want the filling to be more compact you can add a beaten egg to the rice mixture before stuffing the peppers
  • Coat a baking pan with some olive oil (just enough to not let the peppers stick)
  • Place the stuffed peppers in the baking pan and top it with shredded mozzarella or parmesan cheese
  • Cover pan with foil
  • Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes remove the foil for the last 10 minutes.
  • Eat
  • Repeat