Cajun Corn, Kale & Black Bean Salad

Ok so here we go!!

First recipe of the year, and I really wanted to try using Kale. Never had it before, had a very inappropriate fear of it. I got turned off to cooked greens as a kid when my mom liked highly cooked spinach drowned in vinegar. So I admit my irrational fear of slimy cooked greens. Let's meet that head on, shall we?? (and after all of the chopping, with a mojito in hand)

In looking for recipes for this week, I knew I wanted meals that kept as much of the fresh character of the food as possible, as well as those where the CSA veggies played a big role (not oh, I'll sprinkle some scallions on this and tada, CSA dish!)

So with these beauties in hand, and really wanting to tackle kale (go big or go home)

Kale, Scallions, Swiss Chard, Garlic Scape

Cajun Corn, Kale & Black Bean Salad
adapted from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/corn-and-kale-salad/detail.aspx
Husband Friendliness: 9
Toddler Friendliness: 5 for now (he's a little selective, but did eat some!)

Prep: 15 mins     Cook: 10 mins    Total: 25 mins
Original recipe makes 4 large servings

Ingredients

• 2 cups frozen corn 
• 1 bunch kale - stems removed and discarded, leaves torn into bite-size pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 Scallions
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup pineapple juice
  1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning, or to taste 
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder 
• 1 teaspoon onion powder 
• salt, to taste

Directions
1.    Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add corn to boiling water and turn off heat. Let corn soak in hot water for 5 minutes. Drain corn over large bowl, return water to pot. (Can also be done in microwave if inclined)

2.    Let corn cool, in meantime drain and rinse black beans, chop scallions and red pepper and add to bowl with corn and beans. Stir in pineapple juice, olive oil, cajun seasoning, garlic and onion powder.

Starting to smell awesome!

2.    Return the pot of water to a boil; add kale and 1 teaspoon salt. Boil kale until bright green and tender, about 5 minutes; drain and set kale aside to cool. Once cool enough to handle, squeeze as much liquid from the kale as you can. Separate leaves and add to bowl with corn and beans.

I think this is what "bright green" cooked kale looks like? Took about 5 minutes.

4.     Chill in refrigerator for 1 hour or more. Plate. 

5.     Bask in your CSA cooking glory.

Notes:

1. For those faint of spice, reduce cajun spice to 1 tsp. This is not a spicy dish, but there is a nice little burn.

2. What happened to the chard and garlic scape? I tossed in a few torn leaves of chard, and also put in some toasted garlic scape for fun. That said, they weren't integral parts of the recipe, hence leaving them off the list and instructions. 

3. I only used about 3/4 of a bunch of kale, and the salad easily could have used twice that. I didn't want to completely break my family though, and so used a lesser amount. Will do more in the future, as the kale blended right in with very little flavor, and NO bitterness.

3. Suggested variations: Southwestern: add chopped tomatoes, substitute onion and cilantro for scallions, substitute orange and lime juice for pineapple juice. Serve with tortillas

Husband quote: "That was great. I'd eat that on some chips too!"