Kale and Hearty

It's still wet, rainy, cold and grey.  It makes me want to bake, and eat, then roast something, then eat.  You get the picture. Not necessarily a good thing!  But kale is good. And quinoa. And goat cheese.  All three together? Very good, indeed. 


I enjoy browsing through food-related websites and blogs and recipe collections.  There are thousands - I mean tens of thousands out there!  But one, Food52, is a great resource. They have weekly contests that anyone can enter, have a very useful question forum, and recently started posting articles from other resources that might be of interest. 


But I digress. What I wanted to tell you about was the kale, quinoa and goat cheese.  I found it on Food52. They chose the recipe as an editor's pick. I thought it sounded good, Mr. Smartipans was not so keen.  But I made it, we ate it and now both consider it a welcome addition to our eating repertoire. In addition to wonderful flavor, it has the added bonus of being a one-pot meal since quinoa is a whole protein. (I was not so lucky as to convince Mr. Smartipans of that, though, and we used it as a side dish to some pan-seared salmon.)


AND it's quick and easy to make. I literally completed it all in 35 minutes and was eating it straight out of the mixing bowl! I tweaked the original recipe by deensiebat, her blog Mostly Food Stuffs is a real treat.


Enough of this - let's get this pot cooking!

Get the quinoa going in a pot large enough to hold both the quinoa and uncooked kale - I used a 2 quart with a tight lid. Then chop up the kale to add about 8 minutes into the cooking.

While the pot is steaming, toast the pine nuts, grate the citrus zest and squeeze the juice. Blend the juice with the olive oil, add the zest and pour it into the bottom of the serving dish.  Then sprinkle the crumbled goat cheese and scallions over the vinaigrette.

Stir in the steamed grain, greens and pine nuts, enjoy the tangy aroma of citrus and melting cheese. Serve up or eat it out of the bowl! I know you're gonna love it!
Now that was quick and easy - and way better the than bake, eat, roast, eat road I was headed down!


Here's the recipe


Kale and Quinoa One-Pot

SERVES 2-4

·         2 cups salted water

·         1 cup quinoa

·         1 bunch kale (or Swiss chard), washed and chopped into 1" lengths

·         1 lemon, zested and juiced

·         ½ orange, zested and juiced

·         2 scallions, minced

·         1 tablespoon toasted olive oil

·         3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts

·         1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese

·         salt and pepper

1.       Bring the water to a boil in a covered pot. Add the quinoa, cover, and lower the heat until it is just enough to maintain a simmer. Let simmer for about 8 minutes, then top with the kale and re-cover. Simmer another 8 minutes, then turn off the heat and allow to steam for 5 more minutes.

2.       While the quinoa is cooking, take a large serving bowl and combine the citrus juice, the zest, scallions, olive oil (you can substitute walnut oil if you desire), and goat cheese (or feta, if you prefer).

3.       Check the quinoa and kale when the cooking time has completed -- the water should have absorbed, and the quinoa will be tender but firm, and the kale tender and bright green. If the quinoa still has a hard white center, you can steam a bit longer (adding more water if needed). When the quinoa and kale are done, scoop it into the waiting bowl with the remaining ingredients. Toss in the pine nuts to combine, seasoning with salt and pepper, if needed.