quinoa and blanched kale in a light side dish that has been seasoned with creole flavor to make it extra savory. There is nothing as good as Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning®, so use it!
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 30 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ½ cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
- 2 quarts water
- 1 bunch lacinato (dinosaur) kale, sliced
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 large shallot, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon Creole seasoning (such as Tony Chachere’s®)
Instructions
- Bring chicken broth to a boil in a saucepan; stir in quinoa. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer until quinoa is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes.
- Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan; cook kale in boiling water until just tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain. Heat olive oil in the same saucepan over medium heat; cook and stir shallot until softened, about 5 minutes. Add kale, cooking and stirring, until desired doneness. Mix quinoa into vegetable mixture and season with salt and Creole seasoning.
- I like to blanch the greens in the boiling water to set the color, remove some of the bitterness of the greens, and leave them minimally cooked. But it does create additional work, so you can skip this step and just cook the greens directly with the shallots to save time and effort. This side dish pairs well with simple chicken or pork main dishes. You can substitute any type of cooking greens like collards or mustard greens instead of the kale.
Reviews
I absolutely love this recipe. It has been a go to for me for a couple of years now. I leave out the salt (the creole seasoning and the chicken broth have plenty on their own), add some fresh garlic, and add additional veggies based on season and what I have around the house. Some of my favorites are mushrooms, zucchini and asparagus. I saute the garlic, shallot (or onion) and what every other veggie I am adding. Then I add the blanched kale when they are close to finished, sauteing for another 5 minutes before tossing with the quinoa. And I never measure the creole seasoning I just add to taste. I will put a bit in while I saute and add a bit after I mix it all together. It
Changed up recipe a bit (which is why it didn’t get 5 stars). Didn’t need to add salt; creole spices were enough (and only 1/2 teaspoon). I used about 1 cup of finely chopped kale as “a bunch” can sometimes be too much. I used chopped Vidalia onion instead of scallion (other than color, scallions contribute little to taste). Quinoa needs more than 10 minutes of simmer to get tender. Blanching the kale improves taste and texture-worth the extra step (can ice bath kale while cooking quinoa). I really liked this recipe and will make again.
This is one of the best side dishes I have ever made but can also be a main with chicken on top. I’m so glad I made lots because I am eating the leftovers for lunch today. I used the creole seasoning recipe on All Recipes and it was so good. The only changes I made was I omitted the salt from the kale because there was enough salt in the creole seasoning and I used onion because I can never find shallots. This recipe is going in my recipe box for future use.
I liked this enough to make it again. A good way to get in those “greens”. For the spice I used lime salt and not the Creole spice listed and it added and interesting flavor. I cooked the kale longer than suggested to get it to the consistency that I wanted. Good for a packed lunch.
This would have been WAY too salty as written. Perhaps it’s a typo to use 1 tsp. of salt and 1/2 tsp. of seasoning salt. I halved that amount, and it was borderline too salty. I also think there should be more quinoa. If I make it again, I will try it with a full cup of quinoa and watch the salt amounts.
Stirred fried sweet potatoes till tender. Added chopped zuchinni and chopped kale.
This recipe was so much better than I had thought it would be. I’m not a kale fan, but there’s no doubt about its nutritional value. I used Scots kale, because that’s what I had. I removed central stem and cut the leaves into thin strips, and I blanched it for about two minutes longer than the recipe suggested. I also added a little closer to a tablespoon of Cajun seasoning, which is already salty enough, so no extra salt added. I didn’t have Tabasco, or I would have added some of that for a little extra tang.
Too much salt. Otherwise a great recipe!
Pretty good, just use less salt
Very good but will use way less salt next time.
really tasty, instead of chicken broth I used veggie bouillon with sea salt and herbs
I added a clove of garlic and doubled the seasoning and still thought it was bland. I’d recommend tripling the seasoning and added some red peppers or something else to give it some more flavor.
Delicious! I added shrimp, a little garlic, used vegetable broth and omitted the salt. The only problem… we enjoyed it so much that there wasn’t enough! I’ll definitely make it again.
This was absolutely amazing! This was my first time having quinoa. I didn’t have shallots so I substituted with scallions… wonderful flavor. I made this with Pork tenderloin and mango salsa. Such amazing flavors combined. A winner in our home!
Holy salt overload…I love salt and it was too salty even for me. I would cut the salt at least in half next time, other than that, it was delicious and I will definitely be making it again.
This was a great recipe that the kids loved and gobbled right up! I always love recipes that are healthy and tasty!
I made this as directed, except I added some minced garlic to the pan to saute for about a minute just before adding the blanched kale. I thought it was just okay that night, but the leftovers over the next two days were delicious! (I made a double batch and ate the leftovers for lunches.) This is one of those recipes that tasted better the next day. My family didn’t love it the first night, either, and none were interested in the leftovers (their loss, my gain.) I’d give it a 3.5. I’d rate it higher if the rest of my family liked it.
Good recipe. We had fresh kale from the garden so I didn’t do the blanching step, which was a nice time saver. I didn’t have onion so just sautéed the kale in garlic and coconut oil, which adds another level of flavor to greens. I think onions would have been a nice addition. I also didn’t have creole seasoning and after a little research ended up using cajun seasoning with some extra basil, thyme and oregano, which tasted good. Added some almonds as some other reviewers suggested but probably would not do that next time since it didn’t seem to add much for us, but left it on the stove due to some timing issues so the nuts didn’t add the crunch factor others mentioned, so that could be it. Wanted to add the lemon others suggested, but also didn’t have any (hmmm, looks like we have a theme developing!); so I added a splash or two of white wine vinegar to give it a little zip. That was good, but I still think lemon would be better. Will definitely try again when I have lemons and onions!
Very good recipe. I used a bunch of swiss chard from my garden instead of kale and didn’t blanch them ,just stir fried them With the onion.
This was very good, but WAY too salty!!! I used the full amount of salt and Creole seasoning (same brand as recommended), but it was just about too salty to even eat. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice until after I added all the salt that “Tony Chachere’s” Creole seasoning has salt in it and they say to use it like salt! I will make this recipe, again, but will eliminate the plain salt altogether and just use the seasoning. I did add some toasted pine nuts to the mix, as well, and it was a tasty addition.
Added beans, half a green pepper and a couple tablespoons of vinegar. A really flavorful healthy meal.