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Kale Salad with Blueberries, Beets, Quinoa and Avocado

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We are blessed with three very large vegetable gardens. This week, our task list was large for the “veggie volunteers”: tying up the cucumbers and tomatoes, doing our second planting of lettuce, picking and processing kale, beets, and swiss chard, and our other ongoing tasks such as weeding, mowing, string trimming, and watering. We’ve been in near-drought conditions here on the Cape, so we were grateful for our unexpected late Saturday afternoon rain shower.  
There is nothing more satisfying to me than harvesting the vegetables you have grown from seed and then being able to create something tasty and delicious. I always wonder if God might be smiling at the pleasure He gives us when we co-create with Him.
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Kale Salad with Blueberries, Beets, Quinoa and Avocado
SERVINGS
8
CHANGE SERVING SIZE
COOK TIME
PREP TIME
1hour
READY IN
1hour

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Rinse the quinoa with cold water in a sieve. Place in a saucepan with 1 1/2 cups cold water and 1/2 tsp salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cover, cook for an additional 10 min. or until the water is absorbed. Remove from heat and let sit until cool.
  2. Make the vinaigrette by combining all the ingredients and whisk well. Adjust taste, adding a bit more honey if you want a sweeter version.
  3. Using a spiralizer, spiralize your beets on the "Angel Hair" or "Spaghetti" attachment. You can also buy them already spiralized if you want to skip this step, or you can grate or julienne them by hand. You do not need to cook the beets, they are eaten raw. Set aside.
  4. Place the chopped kale in a large bowl and add the dressing. Massage the dressing into the kale with your hands.
  5. Add the quinoa to the bowl along with the blueberries and feta cheese and toss gently.
  6. Put the salad on a platter or in a serving bowl and add your avocado chunks. Top with your spiralized beets. Sprinkle with toasted almonds or sunflower seeds, if desired.

The spiralizer is a kitchen utensil with fine blades that can slice raw vegetables and fruits into an assortment of shapes. If you don't have a spiralizer - simply grate the beets, or julienne them by hand.

Shakshouka!

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On a recent pilgrimage to Israel, I encountered the cultural phenomenon that is the traditional Israeli breakfast: Fresh vegetable salads, an abundance of fruit, creamy bowls of hummus, smoky eggplant baba ghanouj, borekas, and pastries of every description. The pièce de résistance, however, was the warm and savory shakshouka. Featuring delicately poached eggs, spices and vibrant herbs, I knew I needed to make this when I returned home.

Fun to say (shak-SHOO-kah) and even more fun to prepare, this delicious souvenir from the Holy Land warms me from the inside out!

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Rating: 5
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Shakshouka!
SERVINGS
6
CHANGE SERVING SIZE
COOK TIME
20minutes
PREP TIME
15minutes
READY IN
35minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Warm the oil in an oven-safe skillet (I used cast iron) over medium heat. Once oil shimmers, add onion, bell pepper, and salt. Cook until the onions are translucent.
  2. Add garlic, tomato paste, cumin, and paprika. Cook, stirring constantly until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
  3. Add crushed tomatoes with their juices and cilantro. Stir, and simmer for about 5 minutes.
  4. Off the heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Make a well near the edge of the pan with the back of a spoon and crack the egg into it. Spoon a bit of the tomato mixture over the whites to contain the egg. Repeat with remaining eggs, and season with salt and pepper.
  5. Put the skillet to the oven and bake for 8–12 minutes, checking often after 8 minutes. Cook until the egg whites are an opaque white and the yolks have risen a little but are still soft.
  6. Take the hot skillet out and place on a heat-safe surface. Garnish with fresh cilantro or a crumble of feta and enjoy!

Savory Greek Rice

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There are certain tastes and flavors that never leave our memories no matter how much time may have passed since we first experienced them. Such is the case with me and the aromatic Greek rice my mother so often made for our family when I was growing up.

As with almost all of her cooking, she seldom, if ever, referred to a recipe. She simply relied on an innate sense that never seemed to fail her. One of my favorite foods she frequently made in this manner was this garlic flavored rice. Here’s what she did: Into a favorite skillet she simply poured some olive oil, heated for a minute or so, added some dry rice, few cloves of fresh garlic, let it sizzle, then a few cups of water pinch of salt and a generous fistful of fresh chopped parsley, lowered the heat, put the lid on, and left it alone till she was ready to serve it to us.

We loved this with lamb which we often had, and also enjoyed having it as the stuffing for a whole roast chicken.

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Savory Greek Rice
SERVINGS
6-8people
CHANGE SERVING SIZE
people
COOK TIME
30-40mins
PREP TIME
20mins
READY IN
50-60mins

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Heat olive oil in skillet until hot, add dry rice and stir until it becomes slightly golden.
  2. Add garlic cloves and let cook until softened, crush with fork; add water, and parsley.
  3. Cover tightly and let slowly simmer till desired doneness. Add pepper to taste.