Crunchy Kale and Quinoa Salad with Tahini
Kale massaged until it softens, quinoa toasted before boiling, and a lemon tahini dressing thick enough to coat. Keeps for three days without wilting.
Nutrition Info (per serving)
- 470
- Calories
- 14g
- Protein
- 24g
- Fat
- 52g
- Carbs
Ingredients
- 200 g kale
- 150 g quinoa
- 300 ml water
- 1 sweet potato
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 80 g pomegranate seeds
- 60 g toasted almonds
- 4 tbsp tahini
- 2 lemons
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- Salt and black pepper
Instructions
- 1Heat the oven to 200C fan. Peel the sweet potato and cut it into 2 cm cubes. Toss with 1 tbsp of the olive oil, the ground coriander and a pinch of salt, spread on a tray, and roast for 25 minutes until the edges caramelise.
- 2Rinse the quinoa well under cold running water. This washes off the saponins, the bitter natural coating behind most complaints that quinoa tastes soapy.
- 3Tip the drained quinoa into a dry saucepan and toast it over medium heat for 3 minutes, until it smells nutty and the grains start to pop.
- 4Add the water and a pinch of salt, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 13 minutes. Take it off the heat, leave it covered for 5 minutes, then fork it apart and spread it on a plate to cool.
- 5Strip the kale leaves off their stems and tear them into small pieces. Put them in a large bowl with the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil and a pinch of salt.
- 6Scrunch the kale firmly with both hands for a full 2 minutes. It will darken, shrink by about half and turn silky. This is what makes raw kale pleasant to eat — thirty seconds does nothing you can taste, and a spoon cannot apply the pressure.
- 7Make the dressing. Grate the garlic and whisk it with the tahini, the juice of 1.5 lemons and the maple syrup. It will seize into a stiff paste, which is normal — keep whisking and add cold water a tablespoon at a time, 4 to 6 in all, until it loosens into a smooth pourable cream.
- 8Roughly chop the almonds.
- 9Toss the kale, the cooled quinoa and the roast sweet potato with most of the dressing, then season.
- 10Scatter over the pomegranate seeds and almonds and spoon the rest of the dressing on top. The nuts go on last so they stay dry and crunchy.
Most kale salads are unpleasant for the same reason: raw kale straight from the bag is tough, and dressing does not fix it. Two minutes of physical work does.
Massaging kale, and why it works
Kale leaves are held rigid by cellulose in the cell walls. Squeezing them hard with salt and a little oil breaks those walls down mechanically, the same way kneading develops gluten. The leaves darken, lose about half their volume and turn from leathery to silky.
Two minutes is the number. Thirty seconds does nothing you can taste. Do it before anything else goes in the bowl, and use your hands - a spoon cannot apply the pressure needed.
This is also why the salad keeps. Massaged kale does not wilt in dressing the way lettuce does, so a portion in the fridge on day three is still good.
Toast the quinoa
Quinoa boiled straight from the packet tastes of very little. Three minutes in a dry pan first, until it smells nutty and the grains start popping, gives it a toasted depth that survives the boiling.
Rinse it first, though. Quinoa is coated in saponins, bitter compounds the plant uses to deter insects, and most of the complaints about quinoa tasting soapy come down to skipping the rinse.
Spreading it out to cool afterwards stops it steaming itself into a clump.
The tahini dressing will seize
Add lemon juice to tahini and it will immediately stiffen into a thick paste. This alarms people the first time and it is completely normal - tahini is an emulsion, and acid breaks it before water rebuilds it.
Keep whisking and add cold water a spoonful at a time. It goes from stiff paste to grainy sludge to smooth, pale cream, and the whole process takes under a minute. Cold water works better than warm.
Building for texture
The salad has four textures on purpose: silky kale, soft grain, caramelised sweet potato, and the crack of almonds and pomegranate on top. Losing any one of them flattens it. Add the nuts and seeds last so they stay dry.
Nutrition
Kale is one of the densest common sources of vitamin K, and a portion of this salad carries several times a day's requirement, plus a lot of vitamin A. Quinoa is one of the few plant foods with a complete amino acid profile, and tahini and almonds bring calcium, magnesium and copper.
At 470 calories with 14 grams of protein and around 11 grams of fibre, it works as a light main course or as a substantial side. To make it a full meal, add a tin of drained chickpeas to the sweet potato tray for the last ten minutes.
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