Happy little trees

Last week, Cassie set up a painting day for the family. She went to A.C. Moore (which, with her creative spirit, may be her favorite place in the world) and picked up a bunch of blank canvasses and acrylic paints for us. Then Cass set up the living room like a painting studio, using music stands instead of easels:

The makeshift easels are facing the TV because we were taking our inspiration and cues from the legendary Bob Ross, while we watched, pausing often, the "Mountain Ridge Lake" episode from his long-running PBS show The Joy of Painting:



Bob always had a great moment or two in each of his shows ("Here Are 50 Bob Ross Quotes That Will Make Today Better"), but this episode was somewhat melancholy, despite the "happy little trees" we painted. It appears that this was the first show Bob filmed after the death of his wife, which he hinted at, saying, "You gotta have a little sadness once in a while so you know when the good times come. I'm waiting on the good times now."

Most of us grumbled some while we were at it about how bad our paintings looked. But then a funny thing happened: when everyone considered the paintings a few hours later, with fresh eyes and after the paintings had dried some, they all actually looked pretty good. Oddly, none of them look all that alike and certainly nothing like Bob Ross's painting, but they're all inviting in their own way. And anyway, it was fun to do something creative for a while, even if none of us will ever paint van Gogh's Starry Night or write Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Maybe Bob was right, and “every day [really] is a good day when you paint.”

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After the painting, I created this kale salad, at Dylan's urging. No one liked this one as much as the other Massaged Kale Salad with Sweet Potatoes and Pomegranate Vinaigrette, but that one really is exceptional. This kale salad is, however, still very good and also much quicker and easier to make than the other one. It definitely needs something sweet though to counterbalance some of the bitterness of the kale, a point Cassie emphasized by saying that it would be better with sweet potatoes (which I think she would say about any dish, but still). Part of the problem was that, for Cassie's benefit, I swapped out the raisins in the original recipe for tart cherries, when a better choice, in retrospect, would have been a sweet dried fruit like dates.* Like most of Gena Hamshaw's recipes, we de-veganized this one and ditched the nasty-sounding hemp seed and nooch topping in favor of real Parmesan cheese, which gave the salad a Caesar-like feel. And anything with farro in it pretty much has to be good in my book.

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*Update: I made this again using chopped dates and it was a big winner, so much so that I'd actually go with chopped dates over raisins going forward.

Massaged Kale Salad with Farro and Cannellini

Adapted from Power Plates (2018) by Gena Hamshaw

Time: ~30 minutes

The cooking time will vary depending on what type of farro you use. The instructions in the front of Power Plates say it'll take about 20 minutes to cook pearled farro using the pasta method (as here) until it is al dente (tender but still chewy), but mine is usually ready in about 12 to 15 minutes, so start checking the farro after 10 minutes. I think Hamshaw also makes a big mistake in not salting the water she cooks the farro in, which means the farro essentially contributes chewiness but no flavor of its own to the dish, which is a shame because I love its hearty taste.

Farro
2 cups (472 grams) water
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt, or 1½ teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
130 grams (~¾ cup) semi-pearled farro, rinsed (see note)

Dressing
53 grams (¼ cup) extra-virgin olive oil
30 grams (2 tablespoons) freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ teaspoon (2.5 grams) Dijon mustard
1 medium garlic clove, microwaved for 15 seconds with the peel on, then peeled and minced
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
a few twists of freshly ground black pepper

Salad
1 large bunch (~1 pound) dinosaur/Tuscan/Lacinato kale or red Russian kale
1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (you can substitute Great Northern beans)
35 grams (¼ cup) raisins or chopped dates
15 grams (¼ cup) grated Parmesan cheese, preferably on a Microplane

    1. For the farro: Bring the water to a boil in a medium saucepan. When the water boils, add the salt and stir to dissolve. Stir in the farro. Lower the heat, cover, and cook, adjusting the heat as necessary to maintain a steady simmer, until the farro is al dente (tender but chewy). Start checking at 10 minutes (see note). Drain in a small colander. Set aside to cool.
    2. For the dressing: Meanwhile, whisk all of the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl.
    3. For the salad: Stem the kale, then cut it crosswise into ¾-inch strips. In a large bowl, use your hands to vigorously squeeze and massage the kale until the leaves are uniformly darkened and slightly wilted, about 1 to 2 minutes depending on what type of kale you use and how strenuously you massage it.
    4. Add the cannellini, raisins or dates, and drained farro to the kale. Whisk the dressing to re-combine, then pour over the salad ingredients. Toss gently until well combined. Sprinkle the Parmesan over the salad and toss gently again to distribute the cheese evenly. Taste for seasoning. Serves 4.