Kale - The Superfood!

I'm growing quite a few kale plants this year but haven't used it in very many ways other than in coleslaw, in soups and stews, etc.  I've resolved to branch out and use this valuable plant a lot more in the future.  To this end, my daughter-in-law has lent me her copy of "The Book of Kale" which gives lots of information on just how terrific kale is as well as growing instructions and how to use kale.  I'm truly amazed at how jam-packed kale is with goodness!

The other day I served a simple salad of young kale leaves chopped up, apple chunks and a dressing of 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1 Tbsp honey and salt and pepper.  My husband loved it! Now that's truly amazing because I've always had a problem getting him to eat cruciferous vegetables!

Fresh ingredients for a tabouli salad

My daughter-in-law's book has some wonderful-looking recipes, and today I tried out Tabouli with Quinoa and Kale.  Everything was ready to be picked in the garden except, of course, the tomatoes.  Last year's garlic is starting to deteriorate, but is still better than most of the garlic found in the stores right now.  Likewise, the flat-leaf Italian parsley is starting to go to seed, but there are still good leaves to be found. I picked a variety of young kale leaves - Siberian, Red Russian, Lacinato - and pulled up some of my Apache scallions.  The lovely purple of the base adds colour to the salad.  And even the quinoa was grown in my garden!  The cup required for the salad used about a quarter of my harvest from last year.  No wonder I'm not planning on planting it again!

Tabouli with Quinoa and Kale

2 cups of water (plus stems from kale and parsley)
1 cup quinoa
1 cup minced kale leaves
1 cup minced parsley
2 large cloves garlic, finely minced
1 cup scallions, chopped
2 large tomatoes, chopped

Dressing

1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp fresh mint leaves, chopped
salt and pepper

Boil the stems of the kale and parsley with the water for a couple of minutes, then strain out the solids.

Add the quinoa to the vegetable stock, bring to a boil and simmer gently for 15 minutes.  Cool and then add to remaining ingredients except the tomatoes.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and add the tomatoes just before serving.  Keeps well (without the tomatoes) for several days.