Eating the Rainbow

Sometimes I don't know what I'm looking for until I've already found it. I've been trying to cook more healthfully lately, but it can be a little bit of a challenge.
In an effort to find something to cook that would fit into my mom and dad's healthy lifestyle, I found myself in a bit of a pickle. Magazine recipes are so exciting (I want to try them all), but so many of them favor flavors accentuated by delicious-making fats. It seems like every other excitingly vegetable-centric recipe I find calls for 1/2 a stick of butter, which kind of defeats the purpose. Instead of my trusty Gourmet arsenal, I found myself thinking fondly about the flavorful quinoa and kale salads that I had eaten at a macrobiotic restaurant in Los Angeles, M Cafe. Problem solved.
Scarlett quinoa and emerald kale. I remember reading about the importance of using juicy descriptions of healthful foods to make them more exciting to people (not just kids). Apparently it really encourages people to consume food they otherwise steer clear of. These seem like a perfect example: rethinking beets and kale, which have been stuck in a rut of steamed-blahness and making them exotic and exciting and delicious (and all this without any butter). It's not as difficult as it sounds.
The best thing? Both of these dishes are delicious, and they won't make you die. Plus, the dressing for the kale is seriously good. I intend to re-appropriate it as a replacement for all those other ok-but-not-amazing ginger peanut butter dressings out there that I have made do with in the past.

Emerald Kale
Adapted from M Cafe

1-2 bunches of kale (if you want left-over 2)
1/2 cup almond butter (or peanut butter)
1 Tbsp ginger (grated/chopped finely)
1/2 Tbsp garlic (grated/chopped finely)
1 Tbsp honey
4 Tbsp soy sauce (I used Bragg's)
3 Tbsp rice vinegar (brown rice vinegar if you have it)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

First make the dressing: mix together the nut butter, ginger, garlic honey, soy sauce vinegar and cayenne (I kept it simple and mixed it by hand, but it would probably be creamier mixed in a blender).

Put a large pot of water on the stove on high. Wash the kale well to get off any bugs and dirt. When the water is boiling, cook the kale in it for about 3 minutes (it should be a deep bright green), and then quickly remove the kale from the hot water and plunge it into some ice-water to shock it. Squeeze the excess water off of the kale, and dress it with the sauce.

Scarlett Quinoa
Recipe from M Cafe

Dressing
2 tsp umeboshi (plum) vinegar
1 tsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp dill pickle juice
1 Tbsp olive oil

Whisk together the ingredients and set aside (refrigerate).

1 cup quinoa (I used red quinoa)
1/2 cup finely diced/shredded red beets
2 cups vegetable broth or water
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup diced persian cucumber*
2 tsp chopped chives
1 tbsp chopped dill
1 tsp fresh lemon zest
salt to taste

In a medium sized pan mix together the beets, broth/water, olive oil and lemon juice. Cover and bring to a boil. Stir in the quinoa, cover, and reduce the heat to low. Cook for about 15 minutes, be careful not to overcook it. Remove from heat and drain any excess liquid.
Fluff the quinoa and transfer to a serving bowl and refrigerate until cool. Once it is cool, stir in the cucumbers, chives, dill and lemon zest. Stir in as much dressing as desired, and salt to taste.

*I used a regular cucumber but I peeled and seeded it.