Warm Kale Salad with Farro and Feta

I know, I promised you pictures and stories about my trip to La Paz. And you will get them. But first (and while I’m getting that image-heavy post ready), I want to share a delicious salad for when you’ve over-indulged. Maybe you’ve eaten too many cheeseburgers lately, or had a crazy night out on the town, or went on vacation and ate out for every meal for a week. Whatever the reason, you need a bowl of grounding, healthful food.

“Templefood” is the phrase I’ve borrowed from Nigella Lawson for this. Templefood is nurturing in a bracing way; it’s what you eat when you need to remind yourself that it’s time to settle down and care for your body. Importantly, your body includes your tongue. Tonic though it is, Templefood must be delicious. If it’s not delicious, it’s merely health food – and who wants to eat that stuff?

For me, the best Templefood includes lots of vegetables – especially green vegetables – or grains or both. This, of course, has both.

I started with the dinosaur kale I’d gotten in my CSA box. (Dinosaur kale is also known as black, Tuscan, or lacinato kale, but how can I pass up the chance to call something “dinosaur kale”?) Kale is a trendy ingredient lately: I saw it hailed in a magazine recently as the world’s healthiest food. You can buy bags of kale chips, which are lighter than helium balloons and cost six bucks. Seriously, that’s three dollars an ounce. And menus are featuring a lot of raw kale salads, which someone apparently thinks is a good idea. But to my mind (and jaw), raw kale is like cabbage crossed with leather. I am utterly uninterested in eating a whole bowl of the stuff.

Dinosaur kale is less staunch than regular kale to start with. Lightly cooked, it is sweet and tender without losing its chew. To get it to just the right texture, I used a technique I like with baby spinach: Instead of submerging it in boiling water, I placed it in a colander and poured a teakettle of boiling water over it. This just blanches the greens without leaving them waterlogged or, in the case of baby spinach, having them reduce to nothing.

With my blanched kale prepared, I tossed in a bunch of other healthful, tasty ingredients: farro, white beans, sun-dried tomatoes, onion. Tossed with olive oil, lemon juice, and feta cheese, topped with a few Marcona almonds for crunch (some julienned carrot would have been great for even more texture), it was a delicious, simple supper that made our tongues and our bodies happy. Home again, and content.

More Templefood: Carrot Halwa, Salad Nicoise, Curried Winter Vegetable Soup, The Farm Cafe’s Eggplant Burgers, Spiced Breakfast Bulgur with Dried Fruit

Warm Kale Salad with Farro and Feta
Serves: 2 as entree, 4-6 as side Time: 20 minutes

1 bunch dinosaur kale, cut crosswise into thin shreds
1 kettle of boiling water (about 6 cups)
1 cup cooked farro or other whole grain
1/2 cup cooked white beans
1/2 cup julienned carrot, optional
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons red onion, diced
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup Marcona almonds or other nuts

Place the finely shredded kale in a colander in a clean sink. Slowly pour the contents of the kettle over the kale to wilt it. Drain and place in a large bowl.

Add the farro, beans, carrot (if using), tomatoes, red onion, and 1/4 cup feta cheese to the kale. Add the lemon juice and toss, then drizzle on the olive oil and toss again. Taste; add salt if necessary (this will depend on the saltiness of your feta) and more lemon or oil if you like. Grind on some pepper and toss one more time.

Divide into serving bowls and top with the almonds and remaining feta cheese.
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