Kirsten’s Quinoa Kale Salad

For those of you unfamiliar with quinoa it’s pretty much like rice, but better for you. For those of you who shall remain nameless (Cathy Marzi) who don’t know how to pronounce it – it’s keen-wah. I get this wrong on the regular as well. Is Queens-accent a hereditary trait?

Anyhoo – thank you to Kirsten for sharing! It’s delicious and allegedly pretty healthy.

Kirsten’s Quinoa Kale Salad
2 cup quinoa (makes 8 cups cooked)
1 small red onion
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
½ a bushel of Kale
4 artichoke hearts (the marinated kind)

2 tbsp brown sugar
4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
4 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp lemon juice
6 tbsp olive oil

1. Put some water and salt in a pot to boil – follow the directions on your package of quinoa to see how much water that is. Mine vastly underestimated so keep an eye on it. Wash quinoa in a strainer (I didn’t do this – K, why does this need to be done?).

2. While the water boils, finely dice your onion, red pepper and yellow pepper.

3.  Once the water boils, pop your Quinoa in, stirring occasionally. You may have to add more water. Just a reminder. Don’t be so literal.

4. Put another pot on with a little water in it to boi and finely chop the kale. Also finely chop the artichoke hearts. Pop the kale into your boiling water and mix the dressing in a little side bowl.

5. Drain the cooked kale and put it in a large bowl, dump the rest of your chopped stuff in the bowl and when the quinoa is fully cooked, dump that in too. You now have a giant bowl of awesome all you need to do is stir in the dressing and chill. Stir that in right away and pop in the fridge so it can all blend together.

Things Kirsten says you can add:

- Basil: I love basil, but forgot it when I went to the grocery store. Doesn’t hurt the recipe to leave it out. I bet it would be extra tasty with it in.

- Pesto: I also love pesto, but am a snob. I make my own pesto y’all and I didn’t have time to try this. If you do try it with pesto, leave me a comment. Was it scrumptious? I need to know.

Have a good snapshot of the finished product? Send it over! I forgot to take a quick picture and the salad was gobbled up too fast.

Easy Fish Tacos

This one goes out to Miss Kristen Rich who reminded me that the content in this blog is getting pretty stale.

Fish tacos have to be one of the easiest things ever to cook. They require very little cooking at all, and while you can get as fancy and homemade as you want, the basics are all simple.

Fish Tacos (for two)
Two white fish filets
Packet of taco seasoning
Shredded cheese
Small whole wheat tortillas
2 tomatoes
An avocado
Some lettuce
Sour cream
Cholula sauce

Two filets should be one package of fish from your grocery store. I like any kind of white fish, doesn’t make too much of a difference for tacos. So long as it’s fresh, you’re golden.

1. Dump half the packet of taco seasoning in a pan that will just barely fit the two filets side by side and add about a half an inch of water, turn the heat to medium. After a minute or so pop your fish in.

2. While your fish heats up in the spices a little bit, chop the two tomatoes and chop lettuce if you’re into that. I buy the pre-chopped lettuce (read as: lazy).

3. Flip your fish. At the same time, pop some shredded cheese onto a couple of tortillas on a plate and pop it in the microwave. You could get fancy here and do it in a pan, but seriously, why. You have a microwave. Use it. 20-30 seconds should make the cheese a little melty.

4. Break up the fish in the pan. If it’s fully cooked, take a bite. Need more spice? Now’s the time to add it.

5. Assemble the tacos! I like this order: melted cheese, fish, some scooped avocado, sour cream, chopped tomatoes, Cholula sauce and lettuce. I lied about the lettuce though; I hate lettuce.

Tacos are great because all the ingredients can be used for other stuff. Leftover vegetables? Make a salad! Leftover tortillas and cheese? Make a quesadilla! The tacos should take no more than 20 minutes to put everything 100% together and make about three tacos per person if you spread the ingredients out reasonably.

This is a great meal when you just want to eat something that tastes good and doesn’t take you away from the TV since the Knicks are being televised in Canada.

Quick Easy Stir Fry

I always have very lofty goals for dinner, but when it comes down to it, dinner happens during sporting events and I’d rather watch those. This stir fry takes under 30 minutes, if even that, and requires one pan. This means you can get back to your sporting event as soon as possible. Another idea is to put a TV in your kitchen.

Chicken and Green Bean Stir Fry
3-4 tablespoons sesame oil
3-5 tablespoons soy sauce
An inch or so of fresh ginger
1-2 cloves of garlic
2 large fistfuls of fresh green beans
1 small package chicken cut for stir fry
Sesame seeds
1 bag Uncle Ben’s 90 second rice

1. Fill a giant pan with water, a sprinkling of salt, and set it to boil. This is out of sheer laziness, so if you want to use a pot go for it. I like to minimize how many dishes need washing. While you’re waiting for the water to boil, thinly slice your garlic and mince your ginger. It should net out to about a large tablespoon of each item, but if you love either ingredient, feel free to add more.

2. When the water starts to boil, toss in your green beans. Don’t forget to cut the ends off. When those are done (just a few minutes, spoon one out and take a bite to make sure it’s cooked, but still crisp) drain them and leave them in the sink for a minute to cool. When they’re cool, chop them into thirds.

3. Once your pan is free (post draining the green beans) pour in 3-4 tablespoons of sesame oil. The pan should be warm already so the oil will only take a minute to heat up. Then toss in your ginger and garlic. Let that cook a little.

4. Put your chicken in the pan and sprinkle the soy sauce over it. The amount of soy sauce to use is kind of subjective to how salty you like your food. Start with a little, add more as needed. Once your chicken is cooked on one side, toss it over to cook on the other and add your green beans back in. At this point you can pop your rice in the microwave.

5. Put half the bag of rice on one plate, half on the other, and split up your chicken and green beans. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top if you want to be fancy and happen to have them in the cabinet (which I did, or they wouldn’t appear in this recipe).

6. Go back to the TV with your dinner and catch the rest of the game.