14 May 2014

Lekker: Warm Roasted Kale, Broccolini & Chickpea Salad with Burrata

Hello hello! Last night I got back into the kitchen after almost a month away from recipe testing and let me tell you, it is SO GOOD FOR MY SOUL. I exclaimed to my friend Baer that there is absolutely no doubt that this is my passion in life. Cooking brings me so much joy, relaxes me, challenges me, and is the best never-ending entertainment. How fortunate that I picked a passion that is so easily practiced!

On to dinner, then. Everyone in the food world is "over" kale now, though whether it's because it's become too mainstream (cue my "snobby hipster bullshit" alarm) or just because we all got over-saturated with it for awhile I can't be sure. Personally I can't be bothered with trends (I am still wearing distressed denim and ask me if I care) so *I* still love roasted kale like mad, though, and since the broccolini was looking so utterly bright green and wonderful in the shop I decided to toss this salad together. It takes about 10 minutes, tops, and manages to be warm, filling, crunchy and creamy all at the same time.


Warm Roasted Kale, Broccolini & Chickpea Salad with Burrata
serves 2

What You Need
1 bunch fresh kale torn into large pieces (It looked so hardy and good in the store that I decided to work from fresh instead of using the usual pre-washed bagged stuff as I usually do. I think this helped control some of the possible bitterness in kale, and come on, it's idiot proof to rinse the leaves and tear them into large pieces. Remember that kale, like spinach, cooks down tremendously so err on the side of more rather than less when estimating raw kale.)
8 ounces (about one small bunch) broccolini (In case you don't know, broccolini is like baby broccoli. It has longer, more tender stems and larger buds on the "tree tops." I prefer it over regular broccoli for roasting, hands down. Trader Joe's carries it, though you can often find it at farmer's markets, organic food stores, gourmet markets, Wegman's, Publix, etc. as well.)
1 tin chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans, same thing) rinsed and drained
salt & pepper
red pepper flakes or chili powder, to taste (I probably used about a teaspoon of chili powder, maybe a tad more)
olive oil for roasting
juice of about 1 lemon
4 ounces burrata cheese, roughly sliced (Burrata is a type of mozzarella, but instead of being simply a solid ball of mozzarella it's got this delicious creamy center. It's oozy and rich and melts ever-so-slightly on top of the salad to give you the "necessary" richness for such a *healthy* salad!)

What You Do
1. Heat your broiler on high. In a large bowl, toss together the broccolini, torn kale, chickpeas, salt, pepper, and either red pepper flakes or chili powder with a bit of olive oil until just coated. Spread out onto a baking sheet (you might need to use two; don't crowd the pan too much otherwise things won't roast properly) and broil for 6 minutes, tossing once at the 3 minute mark.
 
 Like dis.

2. It'll be done when the kale is just turning brown in spots and the broccolini is bright green. Squeeze the fresh lemon juice over all and top with the sliced burrata. Serve warm.

10 May 2014

Lagniappe: I'm Back!

Well, kinda.

Hi all! Do you all remember me? Sorry for the long lapse in posting, but I do have a very, very good reason, namely, that over the last month I quit my job of three years, packed up my stuff and moved 1000 miles away from DC back to central Florida to go back to college at the University of Florida. April was filled with case finalisations at work, endless packing, pantry clean-outs, and many many going away parties--the last of which was epically thrown by my incredible friends and fellow Chivers that wound up raising $1000 for a charity very near and dear to my heart, the Hanne Howard Fund.

Yes, that's me, front and center. With the crown. Don't act like you're in any way surprised.

Being back in Florida and starting this new chapter of my life is a good thing, but I'm not sure yet what that means for this blog. My Dad is a very active, athletic individual who tries to eat very clean and lean, so de facto when I'm with him I'm somewhat restricted in what I can cook. We eat a lot of salads. Like, A LOT. So I think you can expect more "healthy eating" entries here, though I promise I won't be doing salads 24/7 because even I get bored of that pretty easily.

Another caveat is that I'm a college student now, so, there's that money thing...in that I DON'T HAVE IT. I'm being forced to trim my grocery budget to about half of what it used to be (*sob*) so I'm challenging myself to be more creative with less. No more short ribs at $14 a pound for awhile. I'm also cooking out of a tiny student kitchen I share with two other roommates with limited supplies which is even more entertainingly challenging.

If you think the cocktailing is going anywhere though, you're mad. I may be a college student (and yes, I've already enjoyed wine out of a box--DON'T HATE) but that doesn't mean I'm resigning myself to guzzling bathtub gin jungle juice only!

I have a few entries in draft that I'll work on getting up soon as I work on getting settled and established in this new life. Until then, eat and drink well my friends.