Monthly Archives

September 2014

Food

Culinary Pursuits: Warm Kale Quinoa Salad

September 16, 2014

I’ve officially been a PhD student for a month now and so far, so good. Balancing a full course load with my research assistantship and taking time to just breathe has been a challenge, but I’m hanging in there. No rest for the weary! Fortunately, I’m surrounded by good people and that has made all the difference. It also helps that I have a great space to come back to after a long day. I love my apartment (especially my kitchen). It’s so nice and spacious so I feel like I have to put it to good use. One of the first dishes I made in it was this warm kale quinoa salad. It was too yummy not to share the recipe so check it out below!
Ingredients:
1/3 cup of coconut milk
1 cup of quinoa
Kale (6 cups)
4 cups of sweet potatoes
15 oz can of black beans
15 oz can of garbanzo beans
curry powder
sea salt
Olive oil spray

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Dice two medium sized sweet potatoes, spray them with olive oil and sprinkle on some sea salt.
Pop them in the oven for 35-40 minutes
Follow package instructions for cooking quinoa. I like to add sea salt and curry to the water I use to cook the quinoa so it’s more flavorful.
While quinoa is cooking, cook the beans (adding curry powder and sea salt to taste) on medium to high heat for 3-4 minutes (Don’t drain the sauce from the beans. You’ll use that for the kale).
Once the beans are done stir in the kale one cup at a time until it shrinks in volume.
Once quinoa is done add coconut milk and stir.
Add the sweet potatoes and the kale-bean mix to the quinoa and stir.
Optional: Garnish with goat cheese and sliced honey roasted almonds.