Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Superfoods Month: Smoky roasted kale chip-tomato quinoa salad from Cooking on the Weekends

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Today's Superfood: Kale
Vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, manganese, fiber

Erika says: Say hi to a lovely guest post and recipe from certified chef and food writer Valentina Kenney Wein. Valentina spends her weekends in her "kitchen retreat," creating delicious, hearty, comforting food to nourish her family and share with her readers. Her blog is named, appropriately enough, Cooking on the Weekends. P.S. Funny how everyone wanted to write about kale, right?

When I am craving a snack - not just something to tide me over until my next meal, but a true snack - I want something that is full of flavor and at least a little bit salty.

As a teenager, that salty snack might have been a bag of potato chips or - yes, I can admit it - a bunch of Doritos. The downside to these indulgences, other than the obvious lack of nutritional value, were feelings of guilt along with unnaturally colored fingertips (bright orange).

Luckily, with age comes wisdom. Nowadays when I need a snack, I eat foods that feature actual nutritional value and way better, more fulfilling flavors!

There - have I done it? Have I made aging sound acceptable and almost desirable? Regardless, the kale chips here are an incredibly delicious and satisfying snack. 

And when they star in this dish, kale chips make for a unique and memorable entree salad. You can serve it as a main course or a side dish, for lunch, dinner, or even brunch!  

Make this delicious salad this weekend and invite some friends! Your guests will leave feeling quite contented and super impressed. And what's more, they will not leave with bright orange fingertips!

Click here for all the recipes in this Superfoods Month series





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Smoky roasted kale chip-tomato quinoa salad
A healthy salad with the crunch of roasted kale. Smoked sea salt is available at gourmet grocery stores and Whole Foods.
Ingredients
  • 2 medium-sized vine-ripened tomatoes
  • 1/2 tsp smoked sea salt
  • 2 large leaves black kale, washed and dried
  • olive oil
  • 1 1/2 cups quinoa, cooked and cooled
  • 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
  • 4 Tbsp oil from sun-dried tomatoes
  • 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.Cut each tomato into 1/4-inch slices. Drizzle olive oil on a baking sheet and put the tomato slices on top. Sprinkle them with the smoked sea salt. Place the kale leaves on another baking sheet, drizzle generously with olive oil, and sprinkle with the sea salt.Put both baking sheets in the preheated oven. Roast the kale until the leaves become crisp, about 10 to 12 minutes. The edges will be a bit darker than the center. Remove them from the oven as soon as you see this, otherwise the chips will become too dark and a bit bitter. Set the kale leaves aside to cool. The tomatoes should roast until they are sizzling and their bottoms become slightly brown, about 20 minutes. Remove them from the oven and set them aside with the kale chips.While the kale and tomatoes are cooling, add the sun-dried tomatoes with their oil and the balsamic vinegar to the quinoa. Stir to blend and season to taste with salt and pepper. Break the kale leaves into bite-sized chips and compose them on each serving plate, stacking the quinoa, kale chips and tomatoes in a pretty arrangement. Serve immediately.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 4 servings

2 comments:

Cut `n Clean Greens said...

This is a GORGEOUS salad/snack! Looks like lunch!

--Your friendly farmers at Cut `n Clean Greens

Tori @ The Shiksa in the Kitchen said...

If anybody can get me to eat kale, it's you two kitchen rockstars! Beautiful post Valentina, as always. Erika, love the superfood ideas, keep it up!

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