RECOVERED RECIPE (Roasted Kale with Crispy Quinoa, originally posted December 26, 2023) –

As many of you know, I lost the prior eleven months of melinmac cooks posts in September 2024, and I’m now trying to rebuild what I’ve lost. This is one of those posts. Luckily I saved all of the pictures on my hard drive, but the content of the lost posts, including recipes, were not recoverable. At this point I’m not trying to recreate anything more than the recipes with pictures. Hopefully I’ll build it all back over time. Thanks for being here!

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Roasted Kale Salad with Crispy Quinoa

Servings: 4

Author: melinmac

Equipment

3 baking sheets

Ingredients

TOPPING

3/4 cup uncooked quinoa (2 cups cooked)
1 T chili crisp
salt, to taste

SALAD

12 kale leaves (11-12 stems)
½ head green cabbage cored and sliced thin

AGRODOLCE

1 red onion
1 clove garlic
2 sage sprigs
1 T Olive oil
1 rosemary sprig
1/2 cup honey
2 T water
1/3 cup raisins
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven and cook the quinoa – Preheat the oven to 450 degrees, convection roast setting. Cook quinoa according to package instructions.
Prep the veg – Strip the kale leaves from the stems and give the leaves a rough chop. Wash and spin dry. Chop the cabbage into bite-sized pieces.
Roast the veg – Spread the cabbage out evenly on one baking sheet, and spread the kale out evenly on a second baking sheet. Drizzle both sheets with oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss so that the vegetables are evenly coated. Slide the cabbage into the oven first, and roast for about 10 minutes. Rotate the pan and slide the kale into the oven and roast both for another 10 minutes, or until both the cabbage and the kale are slightly crispy. Remove both vegetables from the oven and turn the heat down to 375 degrees.
Toast the quinoa – Add the cooked quinoa to a baking sheet and add the chili crisp. Season with salt to taste and toss to combine and evenly distribute the chili crisp. Roast for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through until the quinoa is slightly golden and lightly crisp.
Make the agrodolce – Thinly slice the red onion and place it in a bowl. Mince the garlic and set aside. Whisk together the honey and water. Put a small pan on medium heat and add a small splash of oil. Add in the sage leaves and the rosemary sprig. Pour in the honey mixture, it should fizz a bit, and stir until it thickens slightly, about 1 minute. Add the minced garlic, raisins, and the vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Stir again and let the mixture simmer slightly for 1-2 minutes, until it's glossy and has body. Remove the sage and rosemary and pour this over the red onion. Stir to combine.
Toss the salad – Toss together the kale, cabbage and red onion agrodolce and pile in a large bowl.
Garnish – Top the salad with the toasted quinoa and serve warm.