aprilstarchild | Nummers!!

Quinoa and Kale and Mushroom Stuff:

Half cup uncooked quinoa--I used red quinoa just on a whim, it looks really pretty
One bunch young kale
Two cloves garlic, more or less depending on your personal love affair or lack thereof with garlic
Two cups shiitake mushrooms
A few tbsps olive oil
Apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
Tamari, Shoyu, or soy sauce--whichever you have on hand

De-stem the shiitakes and dice small. Mince or press the garlic and cook it on low with the oil for a few minutes, stirring often, don't let it brown. Add the mushrooms and put on the lid. Stir every few minutes. Meanwhile, rinse and de-stem the kale and slice halfway down each leaf and then in quarter-inch slices width-wise.

When the mushrooms are reduced and have put out a bit of water, add the kale. Stir relatively frequently until the kale is cooked--you might want to taste a bit of it here and there, some people like their kale mushier or firmer than others. .

Meanwhile (don't I love that word?) rinse the quinoa--if you don't rinse that stuff it sure as hell is nasty. Boil a tad less than a cup of water, add the half-cup rinsed quinoa, and cook for around fifteen minutes. Little white rings will cook and pop off the quinoa, which is kinda neato. Normal quinoa (not red) when cooked, looks like itsy-bitsy rolled up condoms, it's so freaky.

When the kale is done, add a tiny amount of vinegar (I think I used a little less than a quarter tsp) or lemon juice, it makes it taste so much better. Also add shoyu etc. to taste (half to one tsp).

Mix up the cooked quinoa and the kale stuff. Makes about two servings, very tasty.

Quinoa is a whole grain that doesn't taste like one--it's light-tasting, but it's got lots of fiber and has a good amount of complete protein. Kale has iron and calcium. Supposedly shiitakes are good for your immune system.

This dish made me crave orange juice. Which isn't a bad thing, because Vitamin C helps you absorb iron.