Herbs, Food & Love Recipe for Herbal Kale Quinoa “Love Nuggets”

Once again,  we had a wonderful GATHERING  at  A THYME FOR HERBS on this last Saturday…so many wonderful beings showed up and were present, thank you, thank you, thank you….At each of these GATHERINGS all of the food that are created and shared will be in  the up coming book, HERBS, FOOD & LOVE Cookbook…which is really great for me, because I have all you wonderful “food tasters” out there who give me feed back on all of the recipes, once again I am filled with Gratitude and Love for all of you.  Everyone seemed to like this one and  I was asked to share this one before the book is published…so here you are..

HERBAL KALE QUINOA “LOVE NUGGETS”

(My adaptation from Cheryl ‘s recipe at Everyday Dishes)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees; lightly grease a baking pan(cookie sheet works best)

2 1/2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled; 4 cups kale, cleaned, deveined and chopped small; 3 large eggs, beaten; 1 tsp. sea salt;  1/4 cup fresh parsley;  1/2  yellow onion, diced; 1/2 cup chives, chopped; 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated;   3 cloves garlic, minced; 2 tbsp. nettles, dried; 1 tbsp. alfalfa, dried; 1/2 tsp. basil, (using *chiffonade technique); 1/2 tsp. tumeric; 1 tsp. cilantro;  1 tsp. flaxseed, ground;  1tsp. eluethero; 1 tbsp lime juice;   3 tbsp. lemon juice;  3/4 cup of finely ground bread crumbs(I used gluten free bread and ground my own); 3 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil(EVVO) and a dash of cayenne pepper(to taste); garnish with Limes or Lemon and always with  a huge dash of Love & Gratitude.

 1. In a medium mixing bowl combine quinoa, eggs, parmesan cheese, chives, nettles, basil, tumeric, cilantro, alfalfa, flaxseed, eluethero, salt and cayenne.                                                                       2.  Over medium heat let your skillet warm  up then add EVVO, let it heat until just before it smokes( the oil will kind of “wink” at you…don’t let your pan smoke)   add  the onions and garlic and sweat for about 3 minutes, then add Kale until it is soft and bright green in color. Let cool for a few minutes.

3.  Add quinoa mixture and kale mixtures in a large bowl, then mix in bread  crumbs, lime juice and lemon juice, and mix,  I used my hands to mix(got more love into it that way).  The texture should be just sticky enough to hold together nicely.

4.  These can be made as patties, but I prefer them in 2-3 inch rolls. Place them on a lightly greased baking (cookie)pan, and leave in oven for 17 – 2o min. or until the bottoms are browned nicely, then  flip them and bake another 5 minutes ( this always depends on oven temperature variables);  remove from oven, these can be served hot from the oven or at room temperature (they are yummy with sour cream or greek yogurt as a dip)

*Chiffonade Technique:  This is for leafy vegs. or herbs like basil, stack the leaves into a little pile and then roll the pile up as if it were a cigar.  Then, you cut the cigar into little threads, or ribbons.   When chopped rather than using this technique,  both basil and mint will quickly turn black because the enzymes in them do not react well when exposed to oxygen, this is the least invasive way to work with these herbs

I hope you have a much fun as I did making this recipe, Lots of Love, From My Heart to Your Heart and many, many Delicious Blessings.       Dixie