kale quinoa apple pecan salad with feta

Salade Kale Quinoa Apple Pecan with Feta

1&1/2 cups water or vegetable broth

3/4 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup dried cranberries

6 cups curly leaf kale, washed, rinsed, trimmed and chopped

Sea salt

1 Fuji apple, cored and thinly sliced

1 small shallot, thinly sliced

1/3 cup toasted pecans, chopped

2 ounces crumbled Feta

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Piment d’Espelette, to taste, or a generous pinch

Freshly ground fermented white pepper, to taste

In a medium saucepan bring the water or vegetable broth to a boil and add the quinoa, reduce heat to low.

Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes or until water is absorbed and quinoa is tender. Fluff with a fork and place the cranberries on top. Cover the pan and let steam for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the kale in a large salad bowl and season with the sea salt, rub in about 1 teaspoon salt and massage with your hands until kale looks slightly wilted, about one minute.

Add quinoa, cranberries, apple slices, shallots, pecans and feta to the kale, tossing to combine.

Make the dressing in a small bowl, whisking mustard, oil, maple syrup, lemon juice, Piment or mild chili powder with fermented white pepper to taste.

Pour dressing over kale salad tossing to combine.

Comments

springtime chamomile tea cake with strawberry icing

Good grief, Easter is in the rear view mirror and we are deep into this new year. And once again it's tea time at my house. This chamomile tea cake is a beautiful sweet addition to any tea ritual, especially my favorite, chamomile tea, which I rediscovered in my hotel room in Carmel earlier this fast moving year. I highly recommend a slice of chamomile tea cake with strawberry 🍓 icing with a cup of chamomile tea to just take a moment and slow this year down. Baking with tea is both creative and fun. Earlier this year I made Earl Gray sugar cookies which are made using the same method of infusing the butter with loose tea. For my tea cake I also rubbed the lemon zest into the sugar -another way to lend a pop of citrus to your baking. The strawberry icing is made using freeze dried strawberries, I pulverize them in my spice mill and then they are pressed through a fine sieve into the confectioner's sugar. In addition to using lemon zest rubbed into the sugar for the cake

braised romano beans with heirloom tomatoes and purple leaf sweet basil

Romano beans braised in heirloom tomato sauce, shallots and garlic make an easy summer side dish -excellent served with grilled fish and potato purée. I know because that's what we had for dinner last Saturday night. I happily used purple basil from my own herb pots that are now watered with leftover shower water. We have many more months of drought ahead of us in California and apparently mask wearing when in public, no not in the car. I appreciate our farmers markets more than ever, thank you farmers for romano beans and heirloom tomatoes and also myself for the fresh purple basil. Such a treat to find fresh romano green beans at the farmers market; they hold up to a fairly long, about 20 minute braise and become tender in the tomato broth from the heirloom tomatoes. 🍅 This is one of those simple good veg recipes. Ingredients and Recipe for Romano Beans with Heirloom Tomatoes and Purple Leaf Sweet Basil Serves 2-4 1 pound fresh romano beans, washed and trimmed 2 tablespoon

pear jam with saffron infused honey and cardamom

Pear Jam with Saffron Infused Honey and Cardamom The summer after high school I worked sorting Bartlett pears at the Scotts Valley Fruit Exchange in Lake County California. I thought I would never touch or eat another pear again in my life. But, here I am years years later making pear jam in my kitchen with pears, honey and saffron grown in Lake County. A few weeks ago My husband and I went to visit friends in Kelseyville at their finca, they generously supplied me with the pears from their orchard-Finca Castelero- for my jam. I will never forget getting up early in the morning and riding my bike across the valley from my cousin's house to work a long hot day sorting pears. I remember thinking whoever came up with the idea of creating a cooperative to sort, pack and send pears from family farms, including my cousin's family farm on what is now called Hendricks road, to markets all over the country really had a good idea! I never looked at pears in the grocery store the s

Tarragon and Chives

Search This Blog