Kale Salad with Miso Dressing

CSA season is just around the corner and that means you might find yourself with more kale than you know what to do with. Well I've got the just the recipe for you that was inspired by a trip to Trader Joe's where a new product has arrived -- MISO!

Josh and I lo-ooo-ve miso. We put it on fish and it's just delightfully salty and flavorful. Usually we get it in a huge chunk from our local Asian grocery, but now that we have a baby, it's best not to add another store to the list. So thanks TJs for always having something new in store for us and making life just a tad bit easier.

Ingredients:

• 6 cups of kale, washed and torn
• 1/2 cup of craisins
• 1/2 cup of almonds (either chopped, slivered, or sliced)
• 1/2 tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds
• 2 scallions sliced

Dressing:

• 1 rounded tablespoon of miso (white or yellow)
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• several good shakes of garlic powder and ginger powder (mmmm maybe 1/8 tsp each? ugh I really need to measure for you!)
• 2 tbs (plus a little more) of sesame oil
• 2 tbs of another oil like canola, grapeseed, or peanut
• 2 tbs greek yogurt
• dash of sugar
• dash of white pepper

Whisk all of the dressing ingredients together and taste for modifications. Especially since I'm terrible at measuring for you (again, so sorry!).

Place kale, craisins, scallions, and almonds in a bowl and toss with the dressing. Then add sesame seeds and toss again. 

You can let it sit for 30 minutes in your fridge to marinate the kale a little or just devour. 

Truffled Farro Salad

Being the resident foodie at work, people tend to ask me what I'm having for lunch. One day I had a conversation that went a little something like this:

"What are you eating?"

"Farro"

"Pharaoh?"

"No..."

vs

Ingredients

• 1 cup farro
• Handful of arugula
• 8 oz cremini mushrooms (a variety of wild mushrooms would be delish)
• 2 tbs butter
• 1 tbs truffle oil
• 1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 bunch asparagus
• dried thyme
• 1 medium onion
• 1/4 cup parmesan chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• handful of walnuts
• salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven 350.

Place farro in a pot and fill with cold water until covered by 1-2 inches. After 20 minutes drain the farro.

Add the same amount of water back to the pot and add a dash of salt. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer, covered, for 25 minutes. If there is any leftover water after cooking you will need to drain.

While the farro is cooking cut asparagus spears on the bias in thirds. Toss with enough olive oil to coat and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake asparagus on a foil lined baking sheet for 15-20 minutes, stirring once or twice until tender.

Slice mushrooms, but not too thinly. Think 4-5 pieces for a larger cremini. Chop the onion.

Heat 2-3 teaspoons of olive oil in a pan on medium and cook the onion for 3 minutes. In a bowl mix your mushrooms with the truffle oil, then add to the pan with the butter. Cook for 5-10 minutes then sprinkle with thyme, salt, and pepper. Make sure you don't cook the mushrooms for too long. You want them tender but still with body.

Remove from heat and cool in a bowl. Add cooked asparagus.

Place farro into a mixing bowl and add your arugula. When you mix it in, the arugula should wilt. Set aside to cool.

When farro and vegetables reach room temperature, you can combine them.

Add cheese and parsley then mix.

Toast handful walnut halves in your mushroom pan to toast, chop, and top each serving.

Shout out to my hunnie for inventing this one!!

Quinoa Crusted Eggplant Parmigiana

Eggplant Parm has to be one of my favorite guilty pleasures. But who likes feeling guilty? Not me, especially since I get enough Jewish guilt from the women in my family. So the challenge became, making a healthy eggplant parm without it being a soggy mess.

My grandfather has always grown prize eggplants that my bubbe thoughtfully prepares. Growing up I would eat these aubrigene beauties, baked, with a layer of marinara tossed pasta. In my own kitchen I follow this process, which often leads to the sauce soaking in and ruining the fried eggplant crust.

Like many days, I was having a long drive home and dreaming about cooking up something creative. It was in that moment that a light went off -- QUINOA. There was my answer. I would grind it down to a granular flour and then follow my normal steps.

This is what you'll need:

- 1/2 - 1 cup of quinoa ground by either a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle to about a quarter size of the normal quinoa grain (if it's flour consistency you've ground too much and it might not be as crispy)
- 1/4 cup or so of shredded hard cheese like pecorino or parmesan
- seasoning such as garlic powder, oregano, salt, pepper, parsley
- egg whites
- pasta (whole wheat penne is what I use)
- marinara sauce (I whip up my own, but I also like Rinaldi)
- eggplant
- mozzarella
- olive oil spray*

Step 1:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the eggplant into 1/4 inch thick slices. Place a layer of eggplant in a strainer and sprinkle kosher salt so that it is on each piece. Repeat until all layers are salted.

Step 2:
While the eggplant is sitting in the salt grind the quinoa. Once you have reached the right consistency dump it into a mixing bowl and add the shredded hard cheese and any seasoning you would like. This basically makes a "seasoned quinoa crumb."

Step 3:
Rinse the eggplant thoroughly so that no salt is left behind. Then get another bowl for your egg whites. The amount will vary depending on your eggplant size. I use the pourable ones to make it easy and adjust as I go.

Step 4:
Grab a cookie sheet and spray it with olive oil. Now it's time to bread! One piece at a time, dip each side of the slice in the egg whites, let it drip off some, and then into the quinoa it goes. Now place it on the baking sheet.

Step 5:
Spray the tops of the eggplant and put the sheet in the oven. Bake for 10- 15 minutes and then flip for another 10 minutes or so until both sides are golden brown.

Step 6:
While the eggplant is baking, put some water on to make your pasta. Cook according to package directions and then toss with sauce. Once that is complete, layer it on the bottom of a 13 x 9 baking dish.

Step 7:
Layer the eggplant on top of the pasta, top with sauce and mozzarella. Lower the oven to 350 degrees and bake until the cheese is melted. Let it sit for 5 minutes, cut and enjoy!

*Note: I like using the Misto for the olive oil spray. You pump it by hand and then it makes a mist. This product also allows you to select your own oil, which is awesome.

Lunching on Lentils

So if you didn't know that lentils are delicious and full of nutrients, well you know now.

Based on Self Magazine's nutrition page, one cup of cooked lentils without salt comes out to:

That's great stuff you should be eating. I know Josh and I are going to make a more concerted effort to do so. In fact, this week we made two separate dishes featuring this protein packed legume.

Lentils found their way into my belly in two forms this week: swiss chard rolls with lentils (duh) and brown rice, and a grilled lentil wrap.

While I enjoyed the swiss chard rolls, I didn't perfect it enough to share with you. Instead, we can just cover the wraps which were loosely based off of this recipe.

We left out the brown rice, used spinach, and shredded smoke mozzarella. The schmear was substituted with Stone Wall Kitchen's Hot Pepper Peach Jam.

Chickpeas, Garbanzo Beans, Choley...Call it Whatever!

Legumes are the best. Really, you don't need to be a vegetarian to enjoy their healthful and tasty benefits. Chickpeas (that's my name of choice) are one of my favorites!

Here is a simple and satisfying recipe that can be served with naan or flatbread and some yogurt.

What you need:
1 Can of Diced Tomatoes
1 Can of Chickpeas Drained and Rinsed (you don't need that extra sodium)
1 1/2 Yellow Onions
1 Jalapeno (partially seeded to your spice preference)
4 Cloves of Garlic
Cumin
Garam Masala
1 Bay Leaf
Grapeseed Oil
Immersion Blender (a gadget worth getting!)

1. In the food processor attachment of your blender, add the slightly seeded jalapeno and garlic cloves. Blend to small pieces or paste depending on what it will let you achieve.

2. Dice your onions and heat up your pan to medium. Once the temperature is reached, add about a tablespoon of grapeseed oil and wait until it shimmers. 

3. Once your onions are golden, add the garlic mixture and cook for 1 minute. Then add your garam masala and cumin to coat the surface. Mix that around until fragrant (no longer, because you'll burn it).

4. Add the can of diced tomatoes and the bay leaf. Cover and cook on low for 20 minutes. If the mixture begins to stick, add some water/stock.

5. Set aside the bay leaf and blend with the immersion blender. You can still leave it a little chunky.

6. Add the chickpeas and bay leaf and cook for another 10 - 15 minutes. During this step you want the chickpeas to absorb the flavor. So depending on how much water you added previously, you may need to add more or put in a dollop of tomato paste.

7. Remove bay leaf and serve with naan or yogurt!