Kale & Quinoa Salad

The first time we ever tried a recipe with quinoa in it (to make these tacos, which I highly recommend, btw) Steve came home from that week's grocery store run and said that there were a lot of different flavors of "kwin-o-ah" (emphasis on the "o") and he wasn't quite sure which one he should get. I honestly had no clue what he was saying at first, which quickly became hilarious and adorable when I realized he was talking about quinoa. And that's my funny, if not anti-climactic, story about quinoa. In Steve's defense, I will never run the risk of misspelling it since I say "kwin-o-ah" to myself just about every time I write it out. Thanks, man.

Last night we tried another kale salad recipe. And despite the common denominators of kale and chickpeas, this one is really pretty different from the chopped kale salad we tried during CSA Week 1, which is exciting. Yay for variety! And like the first kale salad, this too was delicious.

Kale & Quinoa Salad on enjoy it

Used From Our CSA
kale
scallions (in place of red onion)

Thoughts on the Recipe
- We halved this, because I did think we would have enough kale for the full version. But as I washed and chopped it, I did start to feel like it was a lot more than I initially guessed we had. So I made the full amount of dressing just to make sure we wouldn't wind up short on that. We had a little dressing leftover in the end, which will be great on any green salad later this week. In fact I would definitely make just the dressing again to have on hand on it's own - simple but it works!
- I saw the note in the instructions to add the dressing early on (to help wilt the kale) a little late in the process of getting everything ready. It's good advice and next time I'll definitely do that first, before cooking the quinoa or chopping the onion. 
- The leftovers today were great. If you plan on having any, I'd just recommend leaving the cashews out and adding them in as you eat it. Cashews get all weird and rubbery after sitting in a dressed salad for a while. Anyone else experienced this?

So there you have it: a delicious kale & quinoa salad. Let me know your thoughts if you get the chance to try it out! I'll post again soon with a Week 3 recap, and some links to other recipes we used this week that I didn't write about in detail.

Simple Green Smoothie

Today I actually have a recipe of my own to share - if you can even call it a recipe when you throw a bunch of ingredients into a blender and turn it on.

I'm pretty new to the green smoothie game (born in January out of that lovely post-holiday feeling of: i-am-going-to-punch-myself-if-i-don't-eat-something-that-is-not-a-baked-good-or-piece-of-candy-real-quick) and have only tried a few different recipes. Nothing too fancy yet. Part of the problem is that our "blender" (read: cheap novelty smoothie maker) is really not the best and every time I use it I worry that the little machine is about to take on its last frozen banana. Poor thing even struggles with the ice cubes. Maybe someday we'll front the money for something more legit, but until then I'll probably keep things pretty simple in the smoothie department.

Makes a great on-the-go snack!

Used From Our CSA
dinosaur kale

I really like the chocolatey-peanut taste of this smoothie. It's something a little different, and is a nice go-to if you don't have a ton of other fruit immediately on hand. I find this to be a good snack-size portion for me, but it could easily be doubled to be shared or serve as more of a meal replacement. It's also been a great way this week to work through our CSA kale, which we didn't make any other specific plans for meal-wise.

Ingredients
- 2-3 pieces of kale, stemmed (or 2-3 handfuls of fresh spinach for a milder flavor)
- 1/2 frozen banana
- 1 T natural peanut butter
- 1 T cocoa powder
- 1/2 c. almond milk
- 4 ice cubes

Blend all ingredients together and add more almond milk as needed, to get your desired consistency.

My advice is to cut and peel the banana first and throw it in a plastic container or bag in the freezer. Your future self will thank you when you are not trying to peel a rock hard, ice cold banana. See the above picture and learn from my mistakes, because half the time I forget to do this and it is never pretty.

Do you have a favorite green smoothie recipe? Feel free to share in the comments.

Chopped Kale Salad

The first recipe I made using some of our Week 1 ingredients was a total hit. We have actually already made it twice for two different dinner gatherings with friends. It seems to have been a hit with them, too! I will definitely return to this recipe in the future.

Chopped Kale Salad on What's Cooking Good Looking

Kale is not something we cook with regularly at all. But when I spotted this recipe online a few months ago, I thought it looked so delicious that I pinned it right away, knowing we would probably get some kale in our CSA. I mean, just look at the photos on her site - they make this dish look a heck of a lot more appetizing than mine do. The sweet in the chickpeas, mixed with the crunch of the almonds, creaminess of the avocado, and the awesome dressing (I loved the taste of ginger in there) all came together to make this a fast favorite. And the kale makes a perfect backdrop to the flavor/texture party that's going on here.

Used From Our CSA
kale (used half the bunch each time, so it's all been used now: wahoo!)
Egyptian walking onion/red scallions (used in place of green onion the first and second times respectively; both were fine substitutions)

Thoughts on the Recipe
- I think you can easily get away with 1/4 c. or less of sesame seeds. But I always feel like recipes call for more sesame seeds than are really needed. They are not cheap! We have had luck in the past getting a bigger, less-expensive bottle of them found with the Asian food, rather than the tiny bottles that are shelved with the other spices.
- I know it's not a CSA item, but avocado is never an "optional" ingredient in my book. It elevates everything!
- I loved that ginger flavor in the dressing so much, and will probably add more next time I make this. Why not?
- This was the perfect dish to make and take. We tossed the dressing in right before leaving home and it held up great.
- Leftovers are really important in our home, so I also think it's worth mentioning that this was still great on day two. I probably wouldn't hang on to it much beyond that.

Still great on day two!

I now have one kale recipe in my pocket that I feel confident about. What's your favorite thing to make with fresh kale?