Garbanzo Kale

2 T sliced almonds, toasted
Spritz, lemon juice
½ tsp butter, divided
2 egg whites, scrambled and chopped to bits
Ground pepper, to taste
Mrs Dash, to taste
Turmeric, ¼ tsp
¼ C onion, chopped.
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ C red cabbage, chopped
½ C canned garbanzo beans
1 small orange, peel and chopped
5 grape tomatoes, halved
65 grams Kale leaves, ripped to bite size pieces
1.5 oz white wine

• Toast almonds, dry. And spritz with lemon juice at the end. Set aside.
• Scramble the egg whites ¼ tsp butter. Add pepper, Mrs Dash and tumeric to the eggs. As the eggs harden up, use spatula to cut up in to small pieces.
• Saute the onion in ¼ tsp butter.
• Follow quickly adding red cabbage and garbanzo beans, continue to saute.
• Add, and continue sauté tomatoes and orange.
• Add Kale, and the white wine.
• Cover, simmer until kale is wilted to your desire.
• Serve with toasted almonds on top.

Considering the caloric intake from yesterday’s recipe (Savory Fruited Kale), I got out my measuring spoons and scale and tried to scale back (no pun intended). The garbanzos were nicely soft, verging on mushable. The orange added a nice hint of sweet that paired well with the vegetables, including the kale. I measured the kale because it was more than a cup, but I couldn’t put it back after ripped and preserved for a day, already.

Rated a 3.9 on the Kale Scale

Savory Fruited Kale

The savory combined with the fruit actually worked pretty well. The wine pumped the apricot bits, the dates disappeared into the midst of veggies. The good news - 22g protien and 16g fiber. The bad news: 700 calories! Hmmm... maybe I'm adding too many things to the Kale, and I have to pare it down. Besides dropping the almonds and oil.

1-2 T almonds, toasted
½ t. lemon juice
1 T olive dipping oil
2 eggs, of which beat together 1 egg and 1 egg white. Toss the 2nd yolk.
1 t ground pepper
2 t olive oil
¼ C onion, chopped
1/3 C red cabbage, chopped
1 huge radish, sliced
4 grape tomatoes, cut in half
½ red pear, chopped
3 dried apricots, cut up
2 dates, cut up
1 dried fig, cut up
1 t. of Mrs Dash
1 C stuffed with Kale leaves ripped up to bite size
2 t. fresh cilantro leaves, cut up (really, about 6-7 stems from which the leaves were cut up)
¼ C white wine

• Toast almonds, dry. And spritz with lemon juice at the end. Set aside.
• Scramble the beaten egg whites/yolk in the olive dipping oil (gives extra flavor from the herbs/vinegar/oil). Add pepper to the eggs. As the eggs harden up, use spatula to cut up in to small pieces.
• Saute the onion in olive oil.
• Add, and continue sauté red cabbage and radish.
• Add, and continue sauté tomatoes
• Add pear, apricots, dates, fig and continue sauté
• Add Mrs Dash, stir.
• Add Kale and cilantro, and the white wine.
• Cover, simmer until kale is wilted to your desire.
• Serve with toasted almonds on top.

Rated a 4 on Kale Scale.

Layered Kale Salad

Paired this Kale Salad with a baked filet of fresh Pacific Rockfish using yogurt in place of tartar sauce. Quite a good dinner, if I do say so myself.

• 2 T sliced almonds, toasted
• 2 teaspoon sunflower seeds, toasted
• 1 C Kale, 2-3 leaves, ripped up into bite size pieces
• 1 clementine orange, cut up
• 1/3 red pear, chopped up
• 1/2 nectarine, chopped up
• 2 radishes, huge, sliced
• 4 teaspoons Safeway Select Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinegar Salad Dressing, divided

- Toast almonds and sunflower seeds
- In bottom of serving bowl place 1/2 the Kale
- Put in half of the pear, nectarine and radishes
- Drizzle 2 t of the salad dressing
- Put in the rest of the kale
- Then put in the rest of the pear, nectarince and radishes. Add the orange
- Drizzle with rest of the dressing.
- Top with the toasted almonds and seeds

My Nutribase Program says this comes to about 400 calories. 10g Fiber. 11g Protein. But...24g Fat with 2.5 g saturated Fat.

Rates a 4 on Kale Scale

GROCK Salad

1 C Kale, 2-3 leaves, ripped to bite size
1/4 c savoy cabbage, grated
2 radishes, big, sliced
1 orange, clementine, peeled and cut up
10-15 grapes, sliced in half
2-3 T almonds toasted
2-3 t. oil and baslamic dressing (Safeway Select Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinegar Dressing) The only dressing on the market with no sugar, and no fake sweeteners.

- Toast the almonds in fry pan, dry.
- Shred cabbage.
- Put Kale and cabbage together in a bowl, mix up
- Add the radishes, orange, grapes.
- Serve and top with almonds and the dressing.

The grapes and orange were not enough to overcome the cabbage and kale. Thus I rated this lower on the Kale Scale.

Rated 3.5 on Kale Scale.

Recko (Radish-Egg-Cabbage-Kale-Onion)

• 2-4 T sliced almonds, toasted
• 1 T sunflower seeds, toasted
• 1-2 t. lime juice
• 1 T, Lemon Basil Olive Dipping Oil (WorldMarket)
• 1-2 eggs, scrambled
• 3 green onions, sliced
• 1/4 C onion, chopped
• 1/4 to 1/3 C savoy cabbage, chopped
• 3 radishes, sliced
• 2 large Kale Leaves, ripped into small pieces
• 2-3 T white wine or other liquid

Toast the almonds and sunflower seeds in fry pan, squirt with lime juice, set aside.

Scramble the eggs in the Lemon Basil Olive Dipping Oil (the herbs and basalmic vinegar provide a nice flavor for the eggs), set aside.

Saute the onions, then add and continue to saute to your satisfaction the cabbage and radishes.

Put the Kale on top, add the wine, reduce the heat and cover until the Kale has wilted to your satisfaction.

Add the scrambled eggs and stir up the whole concoction.

Top with the toasted almonds and sunflower seeds and serve.

Rated a 4.25 on the Kale Scale.

Kale, Cabbage, Collards

- 2-5 T. Almonds, toasted
- 1 T. sunflower seeds, toasted
- 1-2 t. lime juice
Toast the almonds and sunflower seeds while you prepare the veggies. Once toasted to your desire, remove from heat and squirt with lime juice. Stir. Set aside.

- 3 collard leaves, main vein cut out, roll leaf and slice.
Steam the collard leaves without lid (prevent browning), 5-7 minutes. While steaming, continue to prep veggies.

- 3 kale leaves, ripped into bite size pieces, set aside.
- 1/2 C. onion
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 C. savoy cabbage, chopped up
- 2-3 florets of broccoli, cut up
- 2 T Lemon Basil Basalmic Vinegar Olive Dipping Oil (Word Market)
- 2 T white wine or 1/4 cup.
Saute the onion and garlic in the olive dipping oil. Add and saute cabbage and broccoli.

- 1-2 chicken tenders (brest pieces or one small breast), already cooked, and slice for this recipe.
Add chicken to the sauted onion, garlic, cabbage and broccoli.

Add the steamed collards and continue to saute. Stir things up.

Add the kale, and the white wine. Reduce heat to simmer. Cover with lid. Wilt the kale to your satisfaction. Remove lid.

Serve and top with the toasted almonds and sunflower seeds.

Kale Scale Rating: 3.5 (The dish was fine; tasty. The chicken added protien.)

Kale Plus Nectarine, Cooked

• 2-5 T almonds, toasted and set aside


• 1 T sunflower seeds, toasted and set aside


• 2 t. lime juice


• 2 collard leaves, vein cut out, leaf rolled and sliced


• 3 kale leaves, ripped and torn into bite size pieces


• 1/4 C onion, chopped


• 1/3 C savoy cabbage, chopped


• 2-3 florets of broccoli, cut up


• 2 radishes, sliced


• 1 nectarine, cup up/diced


• 1-2 T Lemon Basil Basalmic Vinegar Olive Dipping Oil (World Market). I like to use this dipping oil as it has some herbs and such in it, and this adds a nuance of flavor to the dish.


• 2 T white wine (or 1/4 of a little tiny bottle)

Toast the almonds/sunflower seeds. While they toast, prepare other ingredients. Once almonds are toasted to your satisfaction, remove from heat, drizzle with lime juice. Stir. Set aside.

Put sliced collard leaves in steamer, lid off (prevents browning) and steam for 5 minutes or so.

In same pan that you used for the almonds, heat the olive oil.

Saute onion, then add and saute cabbage, and broccoli. Then add and saute the radishes, and the nectarine.

Add the steamed, sliced collard greens. Add the kale. Add the wine and cover the pan with a lid. Turn heat down to simmer. Cook until the kale is wilted to your satisfaction.

Remove lid, stir everything up.

Serve and top with the toasted almonds and sunflower seeds.

Kale Scale rating: 3.75

Papaya Kale Salad

Put all items in a salad vessel from which you will eat (serves 1).

• 2 kale leaves - torn, ripped for salad pieces (at least 1 cup when done)


• 1/2 papaya - cubed


• 1/2 avocado - cubed


• 3 radishes - sliced


• 5-6 grape tomatoes - halved


• 2 T - Safeway Select Oil and Basalmic Vinegar Salad Dressing (no added sugar; this is the ONLY salad dressing on the market without added sugar).


• 2-4 T - toasted almonds, sunflower seeds (toast while you are cutting and ripping the rest of the salad). Everything else can go in willy nilly, but the almonds top it off.

Rated a 5 on the Kale Scale

Kale & Egg

Kale & Egg

-- 4 collard leaves, rolled and chopped
-- 2 kale leaves, ripped to small pieces
-- 1/2 onion, chopped
-- 1/2 anise bulb, chopped
-- 1/4 C red cabbage, chopped
-- 1 T olives, chopped
-- pepper, Mrs Dash, to taste
-- 2 eggs, beaten
-- 1/4 C liquid
-- 2 T sliced almonds

Steam collard leaves 5-8 minutes
Brown onion, anise. As it cooks, add cabbage, olives, and spices.
Set the browned onion mix aside.
Scramble egg and cut into tiny pieces
Set egg aside.
Add onion mix and collard greens to fry pan.
Add the kale and collard greens.
Add 1/4 cup liquid
Cover pan, and wilt the greens. 5 mins or so.
Add the egg. Stir up. Serve and top with Almonds.

Pretty good.

Do You Eat That?

As the grocery clerk said to me as I was buying a bunch of kale, "Do you eat that?!"

Kale, a green vegetable, that is good for you, good for your bones. I so don't like the idea of eating 'greens', but I want to do right by my bones, that I decided to keep track of the various ways I am learning to prepare kale.

In one book I read recently, The Whole Food Guide To Strong Bones, I was heartened when the author said you only need 1 cup of greens per day. Only 1 cup - even I can do that!

But, I've found when you rip up 3 kale leaves for salad, and add some pear, strawberries and avocado, this is more than 1 cup of food. And it's really pretty filling.

I'm cooking for one. Some parameters I keep within to avoid exciting the sugar receptors in my taste buds: no added sugar. Be it sugar, honey, agave nectar, molasses, maple syrup, and so forth. Fruit, that I cut up and add to a recipe is fine with me. Also, no sweetner - I am not out to fool my taste buds and try to eat sweet things. These are my choices. Don't have to be yours.

Kale June 8

- 3 collard leaves, stripped of stem; rolled and cut in strips.

- 3 kale leaves, stripped of stem; ripped up and rinsed.

- 1/2 onion, cut up.

- 1/2 orange, peeled, cut in cubes

- 1/4 cup corn kernals

- 1 T chopped olives

- 2-3 T sliced almonds and a toss of sesame seeds

- dash lemon juice

-- 1/4 c liquid - wine, water, juice, beer, anything.

-- Steam collard leaves for 6-8 minutes. Lid off to keep them green.

-- While steaming those greens, brown the almonds and sesame seeds in fry pan (I use non-stick, no oil). At the end through in a dash of lemon juice. Set aside when done.

-- Brown the onion (ok use butter or oil now); almost carmelize.

-- Add orange, corn, olives to the onion, stir around.

-- Add collard leaves and kale leaves.

-- Add the liquid, put a lid on, turn temp to mid-low.

-- After 5 minutes, check and if the greens are wilted enough for you, then stop cooking; if not, keep going.

-- Once greens are wilted to your desire, stir up the greens, onion and orange.

-- Plate the greens mixture and top with toasted almonds and sesame seeds.