Kale, Eggplant & Quinoa Salad
This is another combo recipe where I've mixed a few recipes into 1, based in what i had in the fridge and i felt like for dinner! I used to be mildly allergic to eggplant so didn't have a lot growing up but that seems to have passed and now I can't get enough!
This takes about an hour to make and serves 3-4 as a main or 6 as a side. It goes great with some steak or lamb chops! It also keeps well for the next day, so handy for lunch.
Ingredients
1 large eggplant
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup white quinoa
1 red capsicum
1 zucchini
1/2 bunch of kale
Dressing
1 clove garlic crushed
1.5 Tbs white wine vinegar
3 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp caster sugar
Method
Cut the eggplant into 2cm cubes and sprinkle with salt and leave in colander while you get everything else ready. Cut the capsicum into strips, the zucchini in half, lengthways then cut into1 cm thick chunks.
Salt the vegetables and start to cook off in batches, until charred but still have some bite to them,
Now start on the eggplant, cooking off in batches until soft and caramalised. See picture. You'll need a couple of tablespoons of olive oil for each batch.
For the kale, strip away the leaves into bit size pieces and spray with olive oil and cook in a hot pan in batches, for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook the quinoa in 1 cup of water over a medium heat, until all the water has gone. once ready add this to the bowl with vegetables and mix well.
Put all of the dressing ingredients in a jar and mix until well combined then pour over the salad and toss.
Tips
Drain the excess water from the eggplant. Salt helps do this. Also the more oil you put in the pan when cooking the eggplant, the tastier it will be. Sad i know!
