On the vegetarian salad trail: this one worked; that one didn't

[marilynfl]

Let's start with the salad that worked: Kale, Quinoa and Avocado Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette (AllRecipe.com May 2019)

I had all the ingredients, so this one was a cake walk. It was light, refreshing and hit all the marks, from crunchy & salty to creamy & bitey.

1 1/3 C water
2/3 C quinoa 1 bunch kale, torn into bite size pieces
1/2 C chopped cucumber
1/2 avocado, diced
1/2 C chopped red pepper
2 TBL red onion
1 TBL crumbled feta
1/4 C olive oil
2 TBL lemon juice
4.5 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Bring water/quinoa (rinsed) to boil, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Spread on plate to cool
Blanch kale for 1-2 minutes. Transfer to plate to cool.
Top with veggies, mix up dressing. Serve with salad.

Marilyn's Note: I had leftover quinoa from the last Superior burger batch, pickled red onion (I don't do raw onion), and a mustard vinaigrette already made. Rather than blanch the kale, I crushed it with my hands with a little lemon juice and olive oil. I also had some butter leaf lettuce so I threw that in there. Found out the red pepper had died, so I topped it with roasted Roma tomatoes. All in all, I would make this again in a heartbeat.



Now we come to the big disappointment: Roasted Carrots and Chickpeas

from: Modern flexitarian : plant-inspired recipes you can flex to add fish, meat, or dairy: Lucy Gwendoline Taylor​

This one seemed to have potential as it was only three simple ingredients: roasted carrots, seasoned yogurt,and chickpeas. I may have given it too much credit early on because I LOVE Yotam Ottolenghi's roasted tomatoes on a bed of lemon yogurt and mistakenly assumed this would fall along those lines.

Let me disabuse you of that idea right now: no...it did not.

First off, I had to drive to Asheville to find variegated carrots. I know it's a visual thing, but it seemed important. In retrospect, it was 80 miles of wasted gas for a mediocre taste element. So my mom's truism: "it's what's inside that counts...not what's on the outside" is valid here, but in the reverse. The orange, purple, white and orange carrots were pretty...but their insides were bland.

Then there was the yogurt base. Now Yotam simply added lemon juice and salt to his greek yogurt and it was perfect. This recipe adds a French curry powder which--of course--I had to make from scratch. Fortunately, I had all the ingredients, so after measuring, roasting, grinding and adding it to the yogurt, I found out it was just boring as all get out.

Then there were the chickpeas. The recipe called for "cooked chickpeas" and so I opened a small can of chickpeas and used those "as is." Maybe that was my problem, because they were hard and bland and added absolutely nothing to the dish other than a mounting sense of disappointment. Maybe I was supposed to cook them in "something" first that would have made them taste like they had a purpose on earth other than to frustrate me. I'll never know because I didn't.

I lb whole carrots
2 TBL olive oil
2 C cooked chickpeas
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp thyme leaves
pinch red pepper flakes
salt & pepper
3/4 C Greek yogurt
1 TBL vadouvan (French masala)


Roast carrots tossed with olive oil for 25-30 minutes at 350.
Toss chickpeas with vinegar, garlic, thyme and seasoning
Add vadouvan to yogurt

Spread yogurt on plate, top with roasted carrots then with chickpeas.

Marilyn's Note: So disappointed.

 

[charley2]

I am so glad you massaged the kale rather than blanching. Quinoa isn't a fave of mine but glad it was good for you.

I think most canned peas/beans from a can need just a tad more cooking and maybe especially chickpeas because they do have that harder shell you have to get rid of for real hummus!!

 

[deb-in-mi]

Yay to the first recipe - groan to the second