Normann and Kale
I think I was having one of those right-place-right-time moments last Friday. I happened to be scanning my Facebook feed and noticed that Normann Copenhagen, one of my favourite Danish designers, was having a one night sale at the flagship store between 7-10pm. I went last night.
Copenhagen’s design aficionados were out in full force. Young, old- everyone and their mother were at the store to get their hands on some iconic “discounted” Danish design products (they were also selling Acne, Hay and a few other brands). I arrived at quarter after 7 and there was already a line out the door.
I grabbed a bunch of items as I walked through the narrow sale corridor onto the main floor, only to put three quarters of it back. If you’ve ever been to a sample sale of any kind, you know the drill– grab what you can get, then edit and delete. I snapped this picture of the crazy line and posted it on Instagram while I was board of waiting.
The check-out line was the killer. Why did I attend such a claustrophobic-yet thrilling event? I was on a mission to obtain a dining room light. My husband and I waited close to 35 minutes in the check out line to get our large Hang Lamp in white. We also scored a Tablo table in warm grey and a potato peeler (my husband’s wish). Not too shabby!
I got my design fix for the week and now onto more important matters such as nutrition. On the weekend I must have opened a dozen or so tabs on kale. Some of the more standout recipes included the ones from here, here and here.
Nothing was really piquing my interest, so I decided to a mix and match and invent my own dish. I call it “The spicy kale, quinoa, amaranth salad with miso glazed sweet potatoes and pesto.” If that is not the longest title for a salad, I don’t know what is. All I know, is that when I ate it, it was really, freaking good.
Here’s what I did:
1 Find yourself a big bunch of kale. I found a big bag of kale at my local green grocer down the street. For some reason, I have not seen kale in the major grocery stores.
2. Wash your big bunch of kale and remove any wilted ends. I also removed the leaves from the thick, tough spine, because it is rather unpleasant to chew on and then I chopped all the leaves up into strips.
3. Start making your quinoa/grain mix. I mixed 3/4 cup quinoa, 1/4 cup amaranth to 2 cups of water. I also added in a teaspoon of vegetable bullion and a pinch of herbs du provence. Put your grains and water in a pot, bring the water and grains to a boil, then turn down the heat and let it simmer for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes, I killed the heat and let the quinoa/amaranth mix sit for another 5-7 minutes (still covered) to finish cooking. The grains have to cool down before they become salad, so I transferred them into a big porcelain dish and let them do their thing while I got back to making my spicy kale.
4. Mince some scallions, garlic or onions. Heat up a frying pan with olive oil, put your scallion, onion or garlic in first until it starts to brown. Then throw in your big bowl of cut up kale into the frying pan and start to stir the leaves around right away. The kale will start to turn bright green quite quickly. Note-you are not trying to wilt the kale in the pan. You are simply trying to bring out its bright green colour and lightly cook the leaves. As the kale cooks, I throw in a big pinch of chili pepper flakes and mix it all together. Take the kale off the burner and let it cool.
Next- I mixed the cooled grains and cooled kale together in a big bowl. I topped the salad with cut up miso glazed sweet potatoes that I made over the weekend (I used this recipe and substituted squash for sweet potatoes and it was good!) followed by two big spoonfuls of almond-basil pesto.
Mix it all together and you get a salad that is sweet, spicy, crunchy, garlicky, pesto-ey, and full of protein and calcium. This salad is now going to be a staple in my house.
I have made my declaration on the Internet!
The flavour combination was to die for and you can switch it up with whatever you have on hand. Want more protein, throw in some chickpeas. Want more crunch, throw in some raw cauliflower, or snap peas. The options are endless-
Let me know if you try it!
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Hi, my name is Lamb. I am part globetrotter, part foodie, part researcher, part writer. I enjoy travelling around the world uncovering design inspired travel experiences from hip hotels and cool boutiques to stylish restaurants and interesting small businesses.
I am currently based in Copenhagen where I am enjoying new Nordic cuisine and Scandinavian design.
To read more about me, see the 