Friday, August 17, 2012

Quinoa Salad with Navy Beans, Kale, and Caramelized Onions

quinoa salad with kale, navy beans, and caramelized onions

I meant to use all five of the onions that have been in the pantry all summer for this, but three of them turned out to be hollow paper lanterns, their oniony insides having fed the long pale green fingers of the next generation. It still tasted pretty good with just two onions, but more wouldn't hurt.

Sauteeing is a little preview of fall, and also notice that I'm cooking the onions and the quinoa in the same pan as a part of my neverending dish reduction initiative, but it also happens to marry the flavors pretty well.

3-4 onions
olive oil
3 Tbsp cider vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
one can navy beans
a bunch of kale
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water

Peel, halve, and slice the onions. Heat oil in a large saucepan over low heat, add the onions, and let them cook until caramelized. At first you can leave the onions to brown by themselves, stirring occasionally, and then towards the end, stirring constantly until they are are evenly browned.

Meanwhile measure vinegar into a large bowl and add a generous amount of salt and pepper. Drizzle the olive oil over the vinegar and whisk it in. Rinse and drain the navy beans and marinate them in the vinaigrette.

Trim and finely slice the kale. If you made a double recipe of pinto beans, put away about two cups for green salads. Toss the kale by the handful with the rest of the navy beans and vinaigrette, I use my hands for this and rub the vinaigrette into the kale.

When the onions are done, add them to the kale and beans.

Put the quinoa and water in the same pan over high heat. Bring to a boil, scraping up the browned bits. Lower heat and simmer for fifteen minutes. Remove from heat, fluff it up a bit, and add it to the marinated beans and vegetables.

Very good slightly warm, also good cold from the refrigerator with a little bit of sriracha or salsa to wake the flavors up.