Massaged Kale, Fig, and Quinoa Salad

A hearty salad tossed in a sesame-mirin dressing and topped with toasted almonds. Pairs well with a warm soup or seafood and is lovely with a glass of white wine or a hard cider. Join Guest Chef Danielle Premo as she shares one of her favorite recipes.

You will also learn how to massage kale, what mirin is (also the inspiration for her food blog name), which brand makes the best mirin and why and how to quickly de-stem a kale leaf.

SERVES FOUR (420 calories per serving)

SALAD INGREDIENTS
2 cups cooked red quinoa
1 large red bell pepper, diced
1 medium carrot, grated,
6 dried calmyrina figs, diced
6 cups chopped lacinato kale, de-stemmed
1 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup toasted almonds, chopped

DRESSING INGREDIENTS
2 T mirin
2 T champagne vinegar
1 T honey
1 tsp lime juice
1 T toasted sesame oil
1 ½ T extra virgin olive oil
¼ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp pepper

DIRECTIONS

Mix the cooked quinoa, red pepper, carrot and figs together in a large bowl.

Make the dressing by combining mirin, champagne vinegar honey and lime juice. Once combined slowly add the sesame oil while whisking to emulsify. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Chop the kale into bite size pieces. Put kale in a bowl and sprinkle with a teaspoon of salt and begin to massage the salt into the kale for about 2 minutes. The kale will decrease in size considerably and a green liquid will begin to build up at the bottom of the bowl. Drain the liquid from the kale with a strainer and squeeze out any additional liquid.

Add the kale to the quinoa, and toss to combine. Add the dressing and toss again. Serve salad garnished with chopped almonds.

Danielle Premo is a PCC Cooking Instructor and author of the food blog Mirinette. She graduated from Bastyr University with a Bachelor of Science degree in nutrition and culinary arts. Her passion is for creating and sharing meals with others, and building community through food. With a whole foods focus, she is continually inventing new recipes and conducting experiments while dancing around the kitchen to her favorite records. Having plenty of experience in vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free cookery, Danielle particularly likes to introduce people to all the unique vegetables, grains and legumes that compliment a balanced diet. She hopes her classes will inspire others in the realm of creative food concoction while choreographing their own kitchen dance.