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The Holy Kale

(First published April 20, The Sunday Independent)

Kale is unforgivably trendy. During London Fashion Week, kale ice-pops were on the menu. I imagine one levitates with virtuousness after horsing into such a lolly. Every glossy magazine on the circuit seems to have a kale smoothie recipe by an equally glossy celebrity.

I fear what’s next. Cauliflower juice?

Truth is, kale is almost celestial. One leaf of this supergreen would have an acre of broccoli blushing.

For a start, it has more antioxidants than the much-coveted blueberry. We like antioxidants for their moves against damaging free radicals loitering in our system. Think Lara Croft in the blood stream.

Gram for gram, kale has almost twice the vitamin C as an orange. This vitamin is hailed as our skin’s greatest ally against aging (and dodgy office bugs). And kale’s stock of iron is even higher than spinach. Bad luck Popeye.

I’m still trying to make friends with this super-veg. It’s not easy. But here’s one way it canters onto our dinner table (see below). We love roasting the leaves on high for 8 minutes, and dusting with some sea salt, cumin and garlic granules. That’s also fab, and worthy of flirting with the next time a DVD night hollers.

Kale Pesto

This recipe is lightly adapted from “A Change of Appetite,” Diana Henry’s accidental pilgrimage to the rich lands of nutrients and superfoods.

I love it so much, I keep it under my pillow (the book, not the pesto).

We regularly serve kale pesto tumbled through a plate of baby potatoes and goji berries, but Diana recommends wholewheat linguine. For a double dose of greens, she adds steamed broccoli too. Expect a cavalry of antioxidants to charge through your veins.

300g Irish kale

5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

10g flat-leaf parsley

2 good quality anchovies, drained of oil

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

50g grated Parmesan or pecorino cheese (cashews work well for a dairy-free version)

Big pinch of chilli flakes

Photograph “A Change of Appetite” by Diana Henry

Wash the kale well, and strip the leaves from the tough stalks. Toss the stems onto the compost, or juice them with apples and lemon for a ‘detox grenade.’ Stop sniggering, I’m almost serious.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil, drop the leaves in and cook for 5 minutes. Strain the hot water, and transfer the cooked kale to an ice bath to keep its neon green glow and stop it cooking any further. Dry the bunched leaves thoroughly. I use a salad spinner for 2 minutes.

Put the chilled cooked kale into a food processor with the remaining ingredients. Briefly pulse for 5-10 seconds until you reach your desired consistency. We don’t want a puree, so go easy on the buttons Sargent. You’re aiming for little flecks of kale and anchovy. We doubled the quantity of anchovies, but I don’t think Diana shares my fetish for these chaps. You might not either.

Taste, and air punch. We used Desmond and Gabriel cheese made in Schull Co. Cork by Bill Hogan (who happens to be a former employee of Martin Luther King. You like him already, right?) Hogan is an outrageously talented artisan and cheese maker. His produce is like aged Irish Parmesan. This kale pesto is part shrine to Hogan, part shrine to Henry.

Bring it into the office with you, and let everyone rub your halo.

April 21, 2014

Lunchbox, Salads & Suppers, Sides, Vegan &/or Raw, Videos

Cooking Supergrains – Quinoa

It’s much easier to cook quinoa than pronounce it.

Once you give this super-grain a shot, you’ll be outraged couscous ever seduced you.

Cooking Quinoa – a 60 second demo from Susan Jane White on Vimeo.

What’s so snazzy about quinoa? Here’s the jazz from a post last January with a recipe for black garlic quinoa, and another for smoked paprika and cumin quinoa. Below, I’m including the recipe for Beginner’s Quinoa from the video above, to help get you started.

1 cup quinoa
1 & 1/2 cups stock or well-seasoned water
8–12 juicy baby tomatoes, halved
flesh of 1 avocado, roughly chopped
1 mild chilli, de-seeded and sliced
handful of rocket, chives, cress or coriander, roughly torn

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion
sea salt flakes and a few twists of the black pepper mill

Wash the quinoa very, very well in a sieve under running water. Some grains have a pesky bitter coating.

Transfer to a heavy-based saucepan. Bring to the boil with the stock or well-seasoned water and cook for 12–15 minutes with a lid on. The longer you cook it, the softer and stickier it becomes. If you prefer it this way, add a little extra time and water.

Take the pan off the heat as soon as the quinoa has drunk up all the water. Let it sit on the countertop and fluff up in the residual heat of the lidded saucepan.

Leave the quinoa to cool a little before stirring through the remaining ingredients. Adding olive oil too early often makes it soggy. Give the black pepper mill a few twists and add a smattering of sea salt flakes.

You could pack the quinoa into an empty container for lunch at the office. I use the cardboard ones from my local deli’s salad counter. They seem far snazzier than my manky old Tupperware.

Some rice cookers have a special ‘grain’ setting that works perfectly for quinoa. Mine is the Tefal 8-in-1 rice cooker. I measure 2 Tefal cups of quinoa, and fill the basin to level 2. Press grain setting. Perfectly fluffy quinoa in 45 minutes.

April 4, 2014

Sides, Vegan &/or Raw

Cumin & Coconut Roasted Fennel

Fennel is rich in phytochemicals like anethole and other terpenoids. These snazzy compounds apparently help reduce cramps, gas, bloating and all manner of trouser trumpets.

But wait! Fennel is also good for women! If you’re expecting or nursing a tiny tot, fennel provides protective folate and vitamin C. As a brew, it is said to also work wonders on indigestion, intestinal unease and lactation. In one piece of research, drinking fennel tea helped reduce instances of colic in breast-fed babies by up to 40%. Many mummies have reported that fennel tea helps with their milk supply too. (No more boob talk, I promise).

The texture of raw fennel is satisfyingly crunchy like white cabbage, only much sweeter in taste. It’s fairly swell with red onion and beetroot, kissed with a simple Thai sauce made from the juice of one lime and a tablespoon each of raw honey, nam pla fish sauce and unrefined sesame oil. But on chilly February afternoons you’ll find it hard to beat this recipe.

Cumin & Coconut Roasted Fennel for 4:

3 bulbs of fennel

2 tablespoons extra virgin coconut oil

1 tablespoon whole cumin seeds

1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds

sprinkle of sea salt flakes

1 small unwaxed lemon

Preheat the oven to 200 Celsius. Cut each bulb of fennel into quarters, lengthways. Don’t be tempted to slice the bum off, as the bulb will fall apart and you will be left with loads of bitty pieces rather than thick wedges. Place on a baking tray.

In a pestle and mortar, crush the salt, cumin and coriander seeds together into a paste. Mash in the coconut oil and drop onto the tray of fennel. Roast for 5 minutes, remove from the oven and toss until the fennel wedges are now coated with the fragrant oil. Return to the oven and roast for a further 20 minutes, or until they colour on one side.

Lightly grate some lemon zest over the tray of roasted fennel, as soon as they hit the dinner table. This side should feed 4-6 polite mouths. When left unsupervised, I’ve had guests pillage half the tray before it reached the dinner table. It might therefore be prudent to make allowances for thirsty hands, and double up on quantities. Just saying.

March 5, 2014

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