Kale and Quinoa Pilaf is a delicious and nutritient packed powerhouse! The kale and quinoa are cooked together for a one-pot crunchy, nutty, lemony wonder. It’s great as a side dish or a healthy, good-for-you lunch. It’s really really good.
Kale and Quinoa Pilaf
I recently found a huge bag of cut fresh kale on sale at Target. I normally don’t buy fresh kale as it’s notoriously buggy, but this one was so cheap and so pretty I decided to take a chance. Shockingly, it was incredibly clean (way to go Target!) and I set about finding recipes that had fresh kale. Divine intervention had me finding a recipe for One-Pot Kale and Quinoa Pilaf in an email from Food 52. While I knew that I had to make some modifications to the recipe, I really liked the idea of the Kale and Quinoa Pilaf being made in a single pot, with the kale being simply steamed on top of the almost-done quinoa. I also liked combining all the nutritious elements of kale and quinoa with the protein of sliced almonds and the tanginess of freshly squeezed and zested lemon. This is a recipe that’s great as a Shabbat or weeknight side dish with the leftovers making a healthy, quick lunch. This is going to be a year-round go-to recipe.
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Here’s the version from Food 52. I made mine dairy-free and changed several other ingredients. The kale steaming with the quinoa step is quite genius though.
Making Kale and Quinoa Pilaf
While there were aspects of the original Food 52 recipe that I really liked, I knew I wanted to change a bunch of ingredients to make the recipe friendlier. Here’s what I did.
Making the Kale and Quinoa Pilaf Dairy Free
I generally prefer to make my side dish recipes dairy free so they can be used during my Shabbat meat meals. To that end, I changed the goat cheese to plant based feta, which is equally creamy and tangy. It’s a good substitution using an equivalent amount of plant based feta from Follow Your Heart. I really like the Follow Your Heart feta crumbles and just happened to have some in my fridge (bonus!).
You can see the creamy, tangy plant based fet peeking out between the crunchy, nutty quinoa and almonds.
What the heck is Lacinato Kale?
I’m going to be honest, I had no idea what lacinato kale was and had to Google it. According to Wikipedia:“Lacinato kale grows 60 to 90 centimetres (2 to 3 ft) tall[11] and has dark blue-green leaves with an “embossed texture”; its taste is described as “slightly sweeter and more delicate” than curly kale[12] and “slightly bitter [and] earthy”.[13] The lacinato variety is sometimes called dinosaur kale because its bumpy leaves may resemble what dinosaur skin looked like,[14] and perhaps because the unique appearance of the leaves is evocative of primordial flora. Because of its taste, it has been called “the darling of the culinary world”
Lacinato Kale
That’s a lot of information about kale. If you’d like to use the lacinato kale, wash and check it for bugs, be my guest. I was super happy to use my Target sale bag of pre-cut, pre-washed, relatively bug-free kale. It worked well and was delicious.
I used everyday pre-cut bagged kale and it worked and tasted great. Feel free to upgrade to the lacinato kale.
Substituing Sliced Almonds for Pine Nuts in Kale and Quinoa Pilaf
More honesty about to happen: Sliced almonds are way cheaper than pine nuts. I rarely use pine nuts. While they may be delicious in recipes like pesto, I don’t keep them in my pantry as I find it hard to justify the cost. In this recipe the slivered almonds are super crunchy and tasty. As with all of my recipes: You are the Executive Chef in your kitchen. If you decide to use pine nuts instead of slivered almonds go ahead! Let me know what you think if you do!
Plant Based Kale and Quinoa Pilaf with Slivered Almonds. I really liked the flavor and crunch of the slivered almonds. If you prefer pine nuts, feel free to use them instead.
Here’s the Recipe for Kale and Quinoa Pilaf
Kale and Quinoa Pilaf was created as a side dish for a dinner or Shabbat/Holiday meal, but you can add another protein like tofu, chicken or beef and make it a meal!
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Kale and Quinoa Pilaf
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: Plant Based
- Diet: Kosher
Description
Kale and Quinoa Pilaf is a delicious and nutritient packed powerhouse! The kale and quinoa are cooked together for a one-pot crunchy, nutty, lemony wonder. It’s great as a side dish or a healthy, good-for-you lunch. It’s really really good.
This recipe is based upon the recipe for One-Pot Kale & Quinoa Pilaf from Food 52.
Ingredients
- 2 cups salted water
- 1 cup quinoa
- 3 cups kale, washed & cut into 1-inch pieces stems removed
- 1 meyer lemon, zested and juiced
- 2 scallions, minced
- 1 tablespoon toasted walnut oil
- 1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds
- 1/2 cup plant based feta cheese
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- additional plant based feta, sliced green onion and toasted slivered almonds for garnish
Instructions
- Bring the water to a boil in a covered pot. Add the quinoa, cover, and lower the heat until it is just enough to maintain a simmer. Let simmer for 10 minutes, then top with the kale and re-cover. Simmer another 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and allow to steam for 5 more minutes.
- While the quinoa is cooking, take a large serving bowl and combine half of the lemon juice (reserving the other half), all of the lemon zest, scallions and walnut oil.
- Check the quinoa and kale when the cooking time has completed—the water should have absorbed, and the quinoa will be tender but firm, and the kale tender and bright green. If the quinoa still has a hard white center, you can steam a bit longer (adding more water if needed).
- When the quinoa and kale are done, fluff the pilaf, and tip it into the waiting bowl with the remaining ingredients. As the hot quinoa hits the scallions and lemon it should smell lovely. Toss to combine.
- Gently fold in the slivered almonds, feta and the remaining lemon juice, seasoning with salt and pepper.
- Serve warm or cold garnished with additional feta, green onion and slivered almonds if desired.
Notes
You can substitute pine nuts (original recipe) for the slivered almonds if you like.
Feel free to use another oil like extra virgin olive oil instead of walnut oil.
If you want to make this recipe dairy, use 1/4 cup of crumbled goad cheese.
To make this recipe Kosher for Passover, leave out the plant based feta or make it dairy using goat cheese. You can also make your own plant based feta. Here’s a recipe I found (but haven’t tried) https://cadryskitchen.com/vegan-feta-cheese.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 254
- Sugar: 1.2 g
- Sodium: 620 mg
- Fat: 11.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 31.1 g
- Fiber: 4.4 g
- Protein: 8.8 g
- Cholesterol: 1.6 mg
Here’s how I made it on Instagram @koshereveryday!!
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Like Plantbased Quinoa Kale Pilaf you actually don’t need the oil and cooking the quinoa and kale could be less than 15 minutes just put it in hot water and it cooks. Leave out the oil which is the cause of every health pronlem; slivered almonds whole good fats are the fats to serve.