By Helen Westwater
LA OLA FRESCA

##From the kitsch pinky prawn and avocado cocktail of the 70s, to the militant 80s pasta, brocolli tuna mix…or the 90s high-flying yuppie, tricolor mozarella, tomato, avocado, balsamic. As much as music and art, great salads also can encapsulate the aspirations and imagery of a decade. So, what will the salad of the current decade be?

As health and environment issues push society towards a less meat-based diet, a new genre of power salads have arrived. Gone are the days where salad generally meant something involving a hopefully not-limp lettuce. The salads of 2021 instead are packed with protein and energy-rich foods. They are given names that make you feel you will be imbued by the forces of a samurai warrior just by eating them, ready to take life on at a heightened pace. This summer recipe is indeed one of those. It combines amino acid-rich quinoa, good fat coconut milk and sesame oil, zinc-rich incredible ginger, anti-oxidant watermelon and, of course, that oh so popular super food, curly kale.

All hail the Kale Salad!

Ingredients

1 cup of quinoa, cooked
1 small bunch of Kale with stems removed and leaves chopped (for about a total of 4 cups kale)
Scant coconut oil to massage into the kale
1 cup of coconut milk
Juice of 1 lime
1 inch grated fresh ginger
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp sesame oil
1 and a half tablespoons soy sauce
1 medium slice of freshly cut watermelon, chopped into cubes
1 red onion finely chopped
Sprinkling of coconut flakes
Sea salt and cracked black pepper
Scant handful salted pistachio nuts

PREPARATION

Mix the liquid ingredients with the fresh ginger and leave to stand.

Next, get friendly with your kale and massage the coconut oil into it.

Heat the oven to 180C, Gas mark 4

Spread the kale on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Lightly salt.

Toast in the oven until the leaves start to crackle slightly. Just before it is ready, add the finely sliced red onions and the cumin seeds. Remove from oven before they start to burn.

Mix the quinoa with the prepared coconut and lime dressing. Mix in the kale, red onions and cumin seeds. Chop the watermelon and mix in with the salad. Finally, top with pistachio nuts to decorate.

La Ola Fresca
C/ Musico Magenti, 11
Tel: 610 026 305 (For reservations)
Zona Benimaclet
www.laolafresca.com
www.benimacletentra.org