Kale and Grapefruit Salad

Dressing:
2 Tablespoons Canola oil
1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
          Whisk together in a large bowl.
Add:
3 cups baby kale
3/4 cup grapefruit sections
1/4 cup red onion, sliced
          Toss to coat.

Tim's Notes:  This salad is the perfect gem to serve with the Spinach and Feta Quiche with Quinoa Crust.  A couple things to note.  I used olive oil in the dressing.  The original recipe used canola oil because they were watching the fat content.  I also used red wine vinegar, and it was okay.  The important thing is to use some kind of wine vinegar because it has a nice bite to it.  And I don't know what kind of utopian world these people live in, but I think most of us aren't going to be able to get baby kale.  We are just going to get the great big curly leaf kale.  If this is the case, I would remove the tough ribs, and just use the leafy part.  I chop the kale fairly fine, and I mix it with the dressing to coat it evenly.  I let it sit a few minutes to let the vinegar and salt soften the kale a bit before adding the other ingredients.  I cut the grapefruit sections into three pieces for easier eating.  Same with the red onion.  After mixing up this salad, I also let it sit again just because it helps to soften the kale.  This salad is good chilled.  If you choose to make it with the quiche, make it while the quiche is in the oven.

For those of us who are single and not going to want to make the whole salad (it is not going to carry over well!)  make individual portions as needed.  I use the full amount of dressing, about 1 1/2 large kale leaves (tough ribs removed and cut fine) 5 sections of grapefruit (each cut into three pieces) and about 2 Tablespoons red onion.

Spinach and Feta Quiche with Quinoa Crust

Crust:

2 cups cooked quinoa, chilled
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 large egg, beaten

Filling:
1 teaspoon canola oil
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 (5 oz.) bag baby spinach
1/2 cup (1%) low-fat milk
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
4 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1.5 ounces feta cheese

1. For the crust, preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Combine quinoa, pepper, and egg in a bowl, stirring well.  Press mixture into bottom and up sides of a 9 inch pie plate coated with cooking spray.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.  Cool.
3. For the filling, heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Add oil and onion; saute 3 minutes.  Add spinach; saute 3 minutes.  Remove from heat; cool.

Combine milk and next 5 ingredients in a bowl; stir with a whisk.  Arrange spinach mixture over crust; pour egg mixture over spinach.  Sprinkle with feta.  Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Tim's Notes:  When making the spinach onion filling, make sure to saute in a big pan.  High sides work well.  Once the spinach is wilted a little, things will be fine, but when first adding the spinach, there is a lot of volume to it.  This recipe was constructed to be lower calorie.  Thus the canola oil and the 1 % milk.  Olive oil, and 2 % milk are also fine.  The second time I made this, I also added a couple of mushrooms, and by a couple, I do mean TWO... finely chopped.  This is a tightly constructed recipe and there isn't a lot of wiggle room for extra ingredients (unless you were to use a deep dish pie plate).  I sautéed the mushrooms with the onions.  I also served this quiche with the suggested  kale/grapefruit salad, which I will post separately.  I like recipes like this because while the quiche is baking, you can make the salad and clean up the dishes. Someone asked me if the quinoa crust would be good for sweet fillings.  I honestly don't know, but experiment if you like.  I would omit the black pepper.  Maybe add cinnamon, or another sweet spice like nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, or allspice?  It might be good with a vanilla or custard filling, again, with a little cinnamon or nutmeg, perhaps?  Again, we're off the map, so you'd be on your own!