Spring Kale Salad with Beet Tahini Dressing, in spite of everything (RECIPE)
"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." - AnaïsNin
My friend Alice is currently giving her apartment a makeover. In introducing new life forms into the space, she’s been mulling over buying a very nice white rug that while beautiful, is prone to spots and stains. It’s going in the living room, where people convene with their red-hued adult beverages that spill when too much of these beverages have been consumed.
“I need to just eat on my dining table,” she said, determined to work around the rug of her dreams. “Yup. But if you like eating on it, you have to get another rug,” I reminded her.
Alice’s rug dilemma is symbolic. We’ve all faced similar decisions. Not necessarily related to interior decorating. But we’ve had to choose between the safe option and our heart’s desire, which always seems to be the riskier option. And no matter how prepared we feel to take that risk, we know there will be unavoidable pitfalls along the way. But also, we come closer to achieving great happiness in doing what we want and having the life (or rug) we want.
Lately, I’ve been faced with all sorts of decisions. Naturally risk-averse, I’ve had to train my brain to shut up and yield to my gut. That means, making a ton of adjustments to accommodate the untested, untried paths. Turning “unafraid” into a state of being. Accepting that fear results from putting myself out there to do ME, in spite of everything.
Anyway, Alice has decided to buy the rug––and a couple pairs of fancy house-slippers for the guests with dirty feet. (You know who you are!) There’s still a chance her pristine new rug could get roughed up a bit, but I’m sure she’ll deal with it when the time comes. All that matters is she’s going for the thing she wants and I don’t think she’ll be disappointed with the outcome.
RECIPE
Spring Kale Salad with Beet Tahini Dressing
Serves 2 or 4 small appetizer portions
This salad came together after I stumbled upon leftovers of all my favorite things in the fridge. I wasn’t sure what the outcome would be though crossing my fingers that the end product would be tasty and well-balanced. Sure enough, it was.
Ingredients
Dressing
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons tahini
1 small cooked beet or ½ cup chopped
1.5 tablespoons minced shallots
½ tsp salt
¼ cup water
1 large bunch kale or about 3 to 4 cups chopped, stems removed and set aside
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil + 1 tablespoon extra for buckwheat
1 cup buckwheat
1 ¾ cups filtered water
1 cup cubed purple sweet potatoes
½ cup sliced watermelon radish
½ cup sliced gala apples
Black and white sesame seeds
1 tablespoon chopped chives
Directions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Bring buckwheat and water to boil in small pot over medium heat. Lower heat and put the lid over and cook for about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, puree dressing ingredients in a blender until texture is smooth. Set aside.
Toss kale stems in a small bowl with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Place on small roasting pan and toast in oven for about 15 minutes until browned and crispy. In a separate pan, add sweet potatoes simultaneously for about 15 minutes until edges are browned and center is soft.
Combine roasted sweet potatoes, roasted kale stems, apples, radishes, and raw kale leaves. Toss with dressing. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and chives. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Leftovers ready to be reshaped, retugged, remade.
The dressing looking calm before the storm.
Don't you dare throw away those kale stems! Too crunchy to eat raw? Roast them with some oil and lemon juice. OR just pickle them.