Kale, Quinoa and White Bean Summer Salad with Tahini Miso Sauce

Recipe by Jessica Blanchard

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I admit that the past few weeks have been frantic.  Finishing up a ten-month month Dietetics Internship at Tulane while managing the studio and my pregnancy is enough to sometimes make me feel like I’m going crazy.  What keeps me going is good healthy fuel.  I haven’t dedicated as much time to cooking as late as I would like.   This recipe pleasantly surprised me.  I was looking for a healthy, tasty, vegan, gluten-free dish to bring to our final internship potluck.  I liked the result so much that I grabbed my camera and snapped a photo so that I could post the recipe.

Kale, Quinoa and White Bean Summer Salad with Tahini Miso Sauce

1 lb kale, chopped and washed (see notes below)

1 cup quinoa

1 cup cooked Cannelli beans or 1 can of beans, drained and rinsed

Cook quinoa on stovetop or in rice cooker.  I use 1 3/4 cups water for 1 cup of quinoa in the rice cooker.   If cooking on stovetop, boil 1 3/4 cup water, add quinoa and cook until water is mostly evaporated, cover and steam for additional 2-3 minutes.  Quinoa cooks very well in a rice cooker – this saves effort and is my preferred method.

Use large pot with steamer basket, add 2 cups of water to pot, place kale on steamer and cover.  Steam 6 minutes, until kale starts to wilt slightly.  Remove from heat and put into large bowl.    Add cooked quinoa and rinsed cannelli beans.  Add tahini miso sauce and mix well.

Tahini Miso Sauce 

1 Tablespoon Miso

3 Tablespoons Tahini

Juice of 1/2 lime

1/3 cup water

pinch of cayenne pepper

Mix all ingredients together, or put into blender/food processor and give it a whirl.

Recipe notes:  I have fallen in love with the 2 lb bags of kale that Rouse’s (our local supermarket) sells for $2.99.  This saves the time of washing and chopping, and you can’t beat the price.   I use the pressure cooker to cook kale.  It takes 4 minutes once the pot starts to whistle.