DEC
08

Savory Kale + Pineapple

Sunday morning arrived and all I wanted to do was be a little lazy, soaking in a little time to do absolutely NOTHING. But that never seems to be the case for one reason or another. This particular Sunday a little dog pressed his wet nose square between my eyes and threw a few kisses in the mix to wake me from a lazy slumber. Yes, I’m up and how may I help you? If you need a reminder to exercise I strongly encourage getting a dog. They never let you off the hook, even on Sundays!

Since I was up and had an event later in the day for which I needed to bring a dish, I decided to play in the kitchen post dog-walking. Or is it people-walking…? In the spirit of “lazy Sunday” the dish needed to incorporate foods I already had on hand. And the dish needed to be raw or vegan since I’m in the mid-way through my final 11×30 challenge for September ( … which morphed into raw/vegan after realizing (1) just how much time is needed to be raw and (2) that I really REALLY like to have cooked foods in my day).

What I had in the kitchen: quinoa, mushrooms, kale, onions and a fresh pineapple. A strange assortment to say the very least. I found this recipe on Kathy’s site and made modifications to it based on what I had on hand. Great chefs run out and buy what they need for a recipe; clever chefs use what’s already in the kitchen! And do NOT under any circumstances fear the pineapple. It’s a funky looking fruit but worth the effort to use it fresh over canned any day. Follow this tutorial on how-to cut pineapples – I promise it’s easy!

INGREDIENTS + DIRECTIONS:

Saute the following (round #1)

• 1 Tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tsp tamari
• fine black pepper

ADD IN:

• 1/2 cup red onion, diced
• 1 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced

Then add (round #2 saute)

• 1 1/2 cup fresh pineapple, diced
• 4 cups cooked quinoa
• 1/4 red onion, diced
• sauteed shiitakes + red onion from first round
• 1 cup kale, shredded
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp dried jalapeno (for spicy accent)
• to taste: splash of maple syrup and pinch of salt

When chopping the ingredients, try to make them roughly the same size for easier cooking. Sautee round #1, followed by round #2, and dish up. I loved adding a dash of Siracha sauce to the finished dish for a little extra heat!