Last night I made this for dinner. Lots and lots of veggies, plus local (Pure Luck) goat’s milk feta and a lovely glass of wine = a perfect dinner.
The charred carrot bruschetta came from a Martha Stewart recipe, and the raw kale salad was an attempt to recreate the lovely kale salad I had at Ambrosia. So half of our meal was cooked veggies, and half was raw veggies. And it was all lovely. Below are the basic recipes I used, plus any changes I’d make for next time.
By the way, it was soooo nice to cook a meal at home. And drink lovely wine, and then sit down with my love and watch a movie on the telly. Leisure time is highly underrated. 🙂
Charred Carrot Bruschetta
- 1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into big chunks
- Olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Crusty Italian bread, sliced
- 1 garlic clove, cut in half
- Handful of Italian parsley, torn into small pieces
- Red wine vinegar
- Crumbled feta cheese
Arrange the carrots on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil; sprinkle with kosher salt and toss until all carrots are coated. Roast the carrots in a 400F oven until soft and blackened in spots (about 45 minutes). Toss into a bowl and mash, adding a drizzle of olive oil as needed to make it mushy.
Meanwhile, toast the bread slices until nice and crispy. Rub the cut end of the garlic clove on one side of each slice of bread. In a small bowl, toss the parsley with a tiny drizzle of red wine vinegar and a handful of crumbled feta.
To assemble, spread each slice of bread with some carrot mash, then sprinkle with parsley salad.
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living magazine.
Notes: My carrots were a bit stringy – next time I think I’d use bigger hunks of carrot so it doesn’t dry out (I sliced mine kinda thin).
Raw Kale Salad
1 head lacinato kale (also called black or dinosaur kale, though next time I’ll try it with regular old kale, just because it’s easier to find and brighter green, I think), rinsed well
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Lemon juice
Avocado
Cherry tomatoes
Roasted sunflower seeds (though at Ambrosia they use hemp seeds, and I think toasted sesame seeds would also rock)
Slice kale into thin shreds and place in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Using your hands, massage oil and salt into kale for a few minutes – you will notice the kale change texture and color, until it almost looks cooked. Toss in some lemon juice (I used the juice of half of a lemon), diced avocado, and halved cherry tomatoes. Sprinkle sunflower seeds over top.
Notes: I think it helps to just keep massaging – a few minutes at the least, to get the kale to a nice, soft-but-crunchy consistency. And I’m excited to try this with regular kale, though I’ve read it may require a bit more massaging to make it softer.
