Just Crumbs...

    Fall is here...again. Cold weather is upon us. Its a time to start the ovens and let the baking begin. Fall is a favorite time with hayrides, cider, pies, crisp mornings and warm afternoons, beautiful colors. A great end to the dog days of summer.
     As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received two packages of Godiva Coffee. Coffee on a cool autumn morning, nothing like it. Add some flavors of the fall right along with it, and it is bliss, a great start to the day. One of the flavors Godiva sent me was the Pumpkin Spice blend. I started drooling on the possibilities I could make/bake with the brew. The other flavor was Carmel Pecan Bark, this one I drank and before I knew it, the package was empty.
     For this post I wanted flavors that represented the season. I came up with this easy recipe that can be a great start as breakfast or a delicious end as a dessert.  A pre-purchased pumpkin bread, that is a few days old, makes this recipe a quick go to dish, leaving time for fall decorating. A coffee custard poured atop sweet pumpkin raisin bread accented with ruby red dried cranberries and citrusy orange zest. Who can resist? 

I went to the Mercado Mexicano the other day and was browsing around, checking things out. I ventured into the deli and there were some interesting finds. The one thing that I found was a dip called Guacatillo. It screamed of a bright green color and it caught my eye. I had to buy it, just to try it.


I brought it home and opened it up. It was a thin, salsa like substance. The way to eat salsa right out of the container...with a chip, of course. I dipped my chip and tasted the concoction. It was good. Really Good. It was bright, refreshing, acidic, a little bit of heat. I liked it. I checked the list of ingredients on the packaging. Simple, with ingredients that were available and that I knew what they were. It contained tomatillos, garlic, jalapenos, avocados, and onion. I knew I had to replicate it. I set out on a mission and conquered it on the first try. It was that simple and that good. I roasted most of my ingredients to concentrate the flavors and blended them together to develop a nice rich flavor. I also added diced tomatoes, to give it more of a guacamole appearance. It was easy and delicious. I served it with an assortment of vegetables that I cut up and a side of tortilla chips. Easy, simple, Amazingly good.

Those may look like green tomatoes, but they're not. Those are tomatillos!

Quinoa pronounced keen-wah. What the heck is that? Well, it is a grain, a very small grain that can be very diversified from breakfast, to lunch, to dinner, and even dessert. It can be difficult to find, especially for those in the Midwest (at least when I lived there it was or when I did find it, it was very expensive).  Don't let this discourage you. I substituted (oh yes, as I usually do).


 I happened upon this recipe a year ago from Food52 (click the link for the original recipe) when I was wanting to try Kale, but didn't really know what to do with it. I couldn't find quinoa, so like I stated above I substituted. I used barley. Yep, good old cheap barley for 97 cents a pound. It worked and it was good. The original recipe called for walnut oil. I was not spending that kind of money on walnut oil, that I would use just a few times for it to sit on my pantry shelf. Now, I would MAYBE buy walnut oil, because I would use it as a substitute for some other oil that a recipe called for. Just use olive oil, I still do for this recipe. Oh and the pine nuts that the original recipe called for, yes they were substituted too. I used chopped almonds. Actually the only original ingredients I used for this recipe were the kale, goat cheese, salt and pepper (for this time and photos I did use Quinoa). Guess what it still turns out magnificent each and every time.


Did I mention how easy this was? It is. And it is all cooked in ONE pot. Clean up is easy. In the end you have a great delicious and nutritious dinner waiting for you to enjoy.


     Bring the water to a boil in a LARGE covered pot. Add the quinoa or barley, onions, and garlic, cover, and lower the heat until it is just enough to maintain a simmer. Let simmer for 10 minutes, then top with the kale and re-cover. Simmer another 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and allow to steam for 5 more minutes.
     While the grain are cooking, take a large serving bowl and combine half of the lemon juice (reserving the other half), all of the lemon zest, olive oil, nuts, and goat cheese.
     Check the quinoa and kale when the cooking time has completed -- the water should have absorbed, and the quinoa will be tender but firm, and the kale tender and bright green. If the quinoa still has a hard white center, you can steam a bit longer (adding more water if needed). When the quinoa and kale are done, fluff and transfer it into the waiting bowl with the remaining ingredients.    Toss to combine, seasoning with salt and pepper, and the remaining lemon juice if needed.