Meet Our New Moxies

A recipe dished up by Mariah Butler:

KALE SALAD WITH GARLICKY CHICKPEAS

Cook time: 30 minutes. Serves 2-3.

For the salad: 

  • 1 bunch of kale, destemmed and loosely chopped or torn
  • 1 tbls. olive oil
  • 1 tbls. lemon juice

For the chickpeas:

  • 1 head garlic
  • 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 2 tbls. olive oil (1 1/2 for chickpeas, 1/2 for roasting garlic)
  • 1 tsp. cumin
  • 1 tsp. paprika
  • 1 tsp. powdered ginger 

For the dressing: 

  • 1/4 cup tahini
  • 2 tbls. olive oil
  • 1 1/2 lemon, juiced
  • 1 tbls. maple syrup or honey
  • Pinch of salt and pepper
  • 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
  • Hot water (to thin)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel apart individual cloves of garlic, but leave skin on. Put the garlic on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes until garlic is fragrant and slightly browned.

While the garlic is roasting, heat 1 1/2 tbls. olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add chickpeas, then cumin, paprika and ginger and stir to coat evenly. Sauté for 5 minutes, stir, sauté for another 3-5 minutes and stir again. 

Once the garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze each clove out of the skin. It should come out easily! Add garlic to the chickpeas, smashing the cloves a bit, but being careful not to smash the chickpeas. Stir and sauté for a few more minutes. 

Add dressing ingredients to a bowl and whisk to combine. Add hot water as needed to thin.

Add the kale and 1 tbls. each of olive oil and lemon juice to a large bowl. Before adding the dressing, massage with your hands to soften the texture and lessen the bitterness of the kale, making it easier to digest. Add as much dressing as you want and toss.

Top with chickpeas, serve, and enjoy! 

Mariah Butler, Manager of Education

Mariah is an educator, urban grower and home cook. She believes that food can heal our bodies and strengthen our relationships with each other and the Earth. She sees access to healthy, locally grown and culturally appropriate foods, and the spaces where they are grown, as a human right. Born and raised in Philadelphia, she graduated from Temple University in 2016 with a degree in Public Health. She has worked for organizations such as Norris Square Neighborhood Project, Greener Partners and Farm to Families, and is involved with the Soil Generation Solidarity Group and Young Farmers Coalition of Southeastern Pennsylvania. Having worked for Food Moxie in the summer of 2017, she is excited and proud to be back with the team!

Khari Graves, Manager of Culinary Literacy

Cooking and growing have always been a part of Khari’s life. A Philadelphia native, he grew up in a family catering business with grandparents from the deep South and was able to connect food, land, culture and community from an early age. Khari began using food as a way to serve his and other communities across Philadelphia. He saw how these communities were constantly being separated from healthy food due to various systems that impact people of color, the poor and other marginalized groups. Khari hopes to build community power through programming that seeks to not simply inform, but to engage. Khari is passionate about using food and growing as a way to explore and archive cultural and community heritage and history, as well as a means of empowering communities and their residents.