Dayton Diva's Kale Salad

This recipe came from the self-proclaimed Dayton Diva, Evonne Foshee - one of the members of the Amity-Dayton Cohort/Ford Family Foundation Leadership Institute. We had a potluck meeting, she brought the salad,  everyone enjoyed it so much, we got the recipe.

Her recipe goes like this:

1 chopped up bag of kale chopped more
1 apple diced
1 handful of dried cherries chopped or a handful of cranberries chopped or some of both
1 hand full of chopped candied walnuts or pecans or as I often use some salted sunflower seeds.

optional...
add some chopped broccoli slaw and chop it up finer or finely chopped cabbage slaw.
raspberry poppy seed dressing or make your own with a little balsamic some creamy dressing of some kind and some poppy seeds and some sugar or sweetener.
As you can see you can be creative here an add and subtract as you wish give me any ideas that you had at all incorporated them into my recipe I'm always looking for something new and exciting.

Here is my interpretation, for a potluck to serve 12:

• Kale. I didn't have a bag. I had two huge bunches of organic kale. I chopped up 1/2 a bunch or about 6-8 big leaves of curly green kale and it turned into about 6 cups of finely chopped kale. I "chopped" using my kitchen shears. Seeing the mound of kale, I stopped chopping.

• 2 Apples and 2-3 tsp of Lemon Juice.  After getting the ingredients in the bowl and mixed up, it seemed to want another apple, thus I used 2. After chopping/dicing apple with my Pampered Chef Chopper and putting on top of kale, I sprinkled with the lemon juice to keep it from turning brown.

• Dried Cranberries, sweetened only with apple juice. I didn't chop these, just tossed them in whole. After about 1 cup, it seemed to be enough.

• Almonds, roasted, unsalted, no sweetener. Chopped up fine with the PChef Chopper. 2/3 C.

• Broccoli Slaw. Bought a package at grocery, and used about 1/2 of it. volume wise it seemed like 1.5 cups. I chopped it up finer, with PChef Chopper.

• Dressing.  A couple Tbsp of Light Mayo tossed on the salad. A couple Tbsp of greek non-fat yogurt (plain), tossed in salad. And 1/2 cup or so of Dannon Light'n'Fit Vanilla yogurt.  My intention was to moisten the ingredients, and not slather them up with dressing. Mix it all in.

Make the salad in a huge bowl, and keep stirring or tossing with a huge meat fork, salad tongs, whatever. Once it's all combined and mixed up, load up the serving bowl.

Enjoy!  The picture, from Christmas Dinner, shows it was a hit.

Rated a  4.85 on the Kale Scale.

Kale Ham with Gorgonzola and Persimmons

Deeeelicious!!

Saute
1/2 cup Onion, chopped
2 brussel sprouts, chopped
1.5 tsp olive oil

Add and keep saute
2 persimmons (Japanese), cored, cut up, with peel intact
2.5 oz ham cutlet (precooked kind), diced


Add, lower heat, simmer, wilt the kale and reduce liquid
1+ cup Kale, ripped to bite size pieces
1 tsp Baharat (a middle eastern spice mix)
1/4 cup pomegranate juice (100% juice)

Add and scramble
1 beaten egg
1/2 tsp ground pepper

At the end, add and mix, melt the cheese
1 Tbsp gorgonzola cheese

Mix it all up and serve. Enjoy!


Rated a 4.74 on the Kale Scale.

Kale with Egg and Popping Seeds

A quick thrown together meal. It turned out to be pretty good!  I am using purple kale this week. It looks dark in the picture. But, purple food is good for you food!

Saute
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup onion, cut up
1 brussel sprout, cut up
1 tsp Shiba's Popping Seeds



Add, cover and wilt the kale, as desired (2-5 min)
1/2 cup almond milk
1.5 Tbsp date crumbles from Bob's Red Mill
1.25 cups purple kale, cut up finer than usual

After the kale is wilted, and all is mixed up, spread apart and put in the middle
1 egg, beaten with 1/3 cup almond milk

After the egg sets a bit, scramble it all up and serve.

Sprinkle with a bit of Worcestershire sauce.

Enjoy!


Rated a 4.65 on the Kale Scale.

Kale Sweet & Savory with Hot Curry Chutney

I was inspired to keep the stuff accompanying the kale to reasonably small, light mixture. I started by grabbing the dried date crumbles (from Bob's Red Mill), and then the leftover grapes from my lunch supply for the week, and finally, thought, hmmm... what about the Shiba's Hot Curry Chutney that I've not tried yet.  And thus my evening kale side was created.

The addition of the Hot Curry Chutney made for a spicy warm, initially hot, but not too much temperature. The sweet from the grapes and dates paired nicely with this heat.

Saute
2 tsp butter
1/4 cup onion, chopped up
1 brussel sprout, chopped up
 1 tsp Shiba's Hot Curry Chutney

Add and continue
20 grapes, halved
1-2 Tbsp hummus

Turn down and simmer a bit, cover and wilt as desired
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp white wine
1 Tbsp date crumbles
1+ cup purple kale, ripped to bite size pieces - put this on top of the mix

Mix it all up and serve.


Rated a 4.66 on the Kale Scale.

Aged Havarti Sauce with Kale and Pomegranate

Wanted quick and easy, which this was. Tasty, and next time I think I'd add an apple or pear to balance out the flavors. But, this was workable as a side to a Salmon Dinner.

Steam, wilt as desired
1+ cup Kale, ripped to bite size pieces

Heat in microwave or on stove top til cheese is melted
1 oz aged havarti cheese, diced
1/4 cup soy milk
1 oz white wine
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cinnamon

Mix up Kale with cheese sauce and heat through.

Add and mix up
1.5 tsp coconut, shredded and unsweetened


Serve with
1/3 cup pomegranate arils on top


Rated a 4.54 on the Kale Scale

Tuna Kale Melt

Tuna Kale Melt ... it was pretty good. I think it might have been better with a better balance of tuna and kale, but this list of ingredients is what it took to get the 1+ cup of kale incorporated into this meal. While I ate both pieces of toast/melt, one could just go for 1/2 and eat a kale salad with it. Hmm... what an idea ... I'll do that next time!

Mix all together:
1 can (4 oz) solid white tuna packed in water.
 2 Tbsp lite mayo
1+ Tbsp dill relish
1 Tbsp sliced olives

Add and mix in with the tuna:
1+ cup kale, cut up fine

Build melt by layering on 1 slice whole grain bread:
1/2 the tuna kale mixture
1 oz of aged havarti cheese

Build a 2nd melt.

Broil both until done to your desired melted-ness.
Enjoy!


Rated a 4.58 on the Kale Scale.

Savory Kale with Grapes and Persimmon

Spent the day mowing yard and other work to put the lawn to bed for the winter. Wasn't sure I wanted to bother with cooking, but this turned out so good, I'm glad I did! Very tasty! 

Saute
1.5 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1/3 cup fennel bulb, chopped
1 tsp Shiba's Popping Seed
1 tsp Ras el hanout spice

Add and continue saute
18 grapes, halved
1 persimmon, cored, chopped (leave the peel on)

Reduce heat, add, cover, wilt and let the liquid sauce up a bit
1+ cup kale, ripped to bite size pieces
1 oz white wine
1/4 cup soy milk

Mix it all up, serve and enjoy!


Rated a 4.67 on the Kale Scale.

Sweet and Savory Kale

Getting to the end of the week and cleaning out the miscellaneous from fridge. Turned out to be very tasty - the pear and persmisson were a good match for the brussel sprouts.

Saute
2 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup fennel bulb, chopped
1 fingerling potato, chopped
3 brussel sprouts, chopped

After a bit add and continue saute, lower heat and cover
1 red pear, cored and cut up
1 persimmon, cored and cut up (keep the peel on)
1 oz white wine
2 tsp white balsamic vinegar
1 tsp ras el hanout
1/4 tsp cardamon
1/4 tsp coriander
2 veggie patties (Morningstar), cut up

Steam in microwave
1+ cup of kale

Pile the sweet and savory mix on top of the steamed kale and enjoy!


Rated a 4.79 on the Kale Scale.

Mashed Squash with Shiba's Popping Seeds

Shiba's Popping Seeds formed the basis for my experiment to night. This new spice is something I picked up at the grocery store this week. The seeds are a mix of cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, bishop seeds, nigella seeds, fennel, dill seeds.  This was a great mashed side dish!

Saute til seeds' aroma is wafting
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp Popping Seeds

Add and continue til almost done
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1 brussel sprout, chopped
1 fingerling potato, sliced fine
1/4 cup fennel bulb, chopped

Add and mash
3/4 cup acorn squash, pre-cooked (using one I cooked up this weekend)
1/3 cup soy milk

Add, mix everything up and continue simmer, lower heat
1 oz white wine
1 Tbsp fig balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp turmeric ground

Steam in microwave
1+ cup kale, ripped to bite size pieces

Add kale to the Popping Seeds mix, and stir it all up.

Serve and enjoy!

Rated a 4.77 on the Kale Scale

Squash and Pear Hash on Kale

Looking around for what to do with acorn squash and a pear plus, or course, kale. Decided to create a fruit and veggie hash. It was delicious!

Microwave til done
1 acorn squash.  Cut in half, scoop out seeds. Only using 1/2 so set the rest aside.

Saute til onion is limp
1/3 cup onion, chopped up
1.5 tsp olive oil

Add and continue saute
1 pear, asian, cored, chopped fine (peel left on)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp tumeric
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Simmer with

1 oz white wine
1 Tbsp fig balsamic vinegar
1 tsp sesame seeds

Add, mix up and heat through
2 fake sausage patties, cut up
1/2 cooked acorn squash - scoop out by spoonful and add to pan

Steam till wilted, about 2 minutes
1+ cup kale, ripped to bite size pieces

Assemble on dinner plate
Steamed kale topped with the squash and pear hash mixture
10 green olives, halved (castelvetrano olives)


 Rated a 4.78 on the Kale Scale

Kale on the go ....

A couple of ways to supplement RTE meals with kale when doing some lite traveling.  All very delicious, and simple.

1.  Madras Lentils - Tasty Bites.

 Microwave the lentils in their pouch. Steam 1+cup kale in m-wave. Pour lentils atop the kale. Enjoy!










2.  Amy's Kitchen - Mexicana Casserole Bowl
Heat Casserole Bowl in m-wave. Steam 1+ cup kale in  m-wave on paper plate. Serve casserole on top of kale. Enjoy!










3.  Soupman's Lentil Soup (yes Soupman from Seinfeld, who knew you could get that at Safeway? No soup for you!).
Very tasty!  Steam 1+ cup of kale in m-wave; heat the soup. Top the soup with kale a bit at a time until both are gone. Won't be too long, this is very good soup!


4. Blockhouse Cafe Split Pea Soup
No calorie count on this one - I am sure it is the lo-cal version!  Arrived home from travels, and proceeded to do yardwork all afternoon, I found that the Cafe had soup today ... but they were just closed when I found out. I gave a call, and lo and behold, they were still there, soup was still hot. I ran over and got some. Steamed 1+ cup kale and added it to the soup. Yum!

Petite French Green Lentil Soup with Kale

I received some Lentil Soup from a friend - it's made with Petite French Green Lentils, with spices and ham. Very good. I added 1+ cup of ripped up kale to the heated up soup, and wilted the kale. Deeelicious!

I added some ground pepper, tsp of Gulden's Brown Mustard, and 6 oz of hard cider. Simmered to reduce the liquid some before adding the kale and wilting it.


No calorie count for this one.


Rated a 4.74 on the Kale Scale

Cider and Mustard Spiced Kale

This turned out to be really good! Finally, autumn and cool weather - no bother from the heat that comes from using the stove top.  The turmeric and mustard gave this side dish a nice fall glow.

Saute
 2 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup onion, chopped
2 brussel sprouts, chopped
2 fingerling potatoes, sliced thin

Add, and simmer to reduce the cider
6 oz hard cider
1 black plum, cut up
1 tsp Gulden's Brown Spiced Mustard
1/2 tsp black pepper, ground
1/2 tsp turmeric, ground
1/2 tsp Mrs Dash

Steam in microwave, 2 minutes
1+ cup Kale, ripped up to bite size

Serve
Place the cider mustard veggie mix on top of the steam kale.

Rated a 4.76 on the Kale Scale

Scrambled Eggs and Kale

Using tomatoes from my garden, this was a fairly simple dinner. Tasty too!

Saute
2 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1 brussel sprout (it's all I had)

Steam in microwave 2 minutes
1+ cup of kale, cut up to small pieces

Add and continue sauting
Steamed kale
12 grape size tomatoes, halved

 Add and scramble
2 eggs beaten with 1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp Spanish seasoning (that's the label)

Serve with a splash of Worcestershire sauce.


Rated a 4.58 on the Kale Scale.

Date Crumbles Tame Brussel Sprouts with Kale

The weather turned autmun like - yeah!  I can get back to making Kale side dishes on the stove stop.  I found that pineapple works well to make brussel sprouts palatable, but no pineapple today. What to do? I looked around and found some date crumbles I have from Bob's Red Mill - they have no added sugar, and are dusted with oat flour.

Soak
1/4 cup date crumbles in couple Tbsp of water. Set aside.

Saute
1/3 cup onion, chopped up
 2 tsp olive oil

Add and continue saute
1 red pepper, cut up
2 brussel sprouts, cut up

Add and simmer a bit
Dated crumbles and the water they were soaked in.
1 Tbsp Fig Balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp white wine

Add, cover and wilt
1-2 cups kale, ripped to bite size pieces (I ended up with about 2 cups today!)
Another 1 Tbsp of white wine and bit of water to keep the steam coming

Mix it all up an serve with a splash of Worcestershire sauce


Rated a 4.73 on the Kale Scale.

Kale Mashed - Variation

Using leftovers for the foundation of this dinner.  It was very tasty!

Layer and heat in microwave in a bowl and mix up after
1 serving of mashed blue (or purple) potatoes
1+ cup kale, ripped to bite size pieces

2 Tbsp white wine

Cook in microwave, and cut kernels off after
1 ear of corn

Cook in microwave, and cut up
1 veggie patty (Morningstar)

Mix all the ingredients together and top with
8 grape tomatoes, halved (from my garden!)

Deeelicious!!

Rated a 4.74 on the Kale Scale.

Kale Mashed

I was remembering a recipe for Bubble and Squeak from the old PBS show 'Two Fat Ladies,' but it requires using the stove top and fry pan, and it was just too hot today. So this is merely reminiscent of the real thing; not even a knock off.  I used what I call purple potatoes, but discovered they are actually called blue potatoes.

Cook in microwave - till tender
2 blue potatoes, cut up (with peel)
1.5 yellow potatoes, cut up (with peel)



Mash potatoes with
1/2 to 2/3 cup fat free milk
2 tsp butter
1 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp dill weed
1/4 tsp Ras el Hanout spice
1 tsp balsamic vinegar

Set aside 1/2 of the mashed potatoes for another meal.

Steam in microwave til limp (in Pampered Chef steamer)
1/3 cup onion
1 tsp garlic

Add and steam another 1.5 minutes
1+ cup kale, ripped to bite size pieces

Separately, heat in microwave 1 min, and then cut up
2 veggie patties (Morningstar)

Assemble in a bowl, and mix up
Mashed potatoes, kale with onion and garlic, and cut-up veggie patties

Serve on plate and splash with Worcestershire sauce  and enjoy!

Rated a 4.71 on the Kale Scale

Corn Kale with Veggie Patties

This mixture was very hearty, filling and delicious! The tomatoes were out of my garden Grow Box which turning out tomatoes more successfully than my other attempts over the last couple years.

Cook 
1 ear of corn (I used microwave)
Cut the kernels from corn
Add butter and pepper to taste.

Steam
1 cup of kale, ripped to bite size pieces

Microwave
3 veggie patties - I use Morningstar Breakfast Patties (flavored like sausage)

Assemble on dinner plate
Steamed kale
Corn Kernels
Breakfast patties, cut up
10 Tomatoes, halved

Splash with Worcestershire sauce, and enjoy!

Rated a 4.7 on the Kale Scale.

P.S. Kale

That would be Potato Salad Kale.  Delicious!  I cheated and bought a serving of potato salad, fresh-made, at the Brown Bag Deli . Cut up some kale and mixed it all together. No calorie count on this one.

The Deli has other goodies, and then there is the ice cream shop next door. Hmm... kale and ice cream... I'll have to add that to my 'try it' list!

Smoothie After Labor Day

Summer has less than 20 days left! Here's a smoothie that turned out bright green and delicious!

Blend together (Vitamix is what I use)

1/4 C pomegranate juice (100% juice)
1 C Perrier water
1 orange, peeled
1/2 cup pineapple, raw
1+ C kale
1/2 C yogurt (Danon Light'n'Fit Vanilla)
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 to 1 tsp vanilla

Blend for 1 minute or so.

Enjoy!


Rated a 4.68 on the Kale Scale.

Pear and Bacon Kale Salad

The bacon was actually 'fake bacon' or Morningstar veggie strips. While the salad was filling, it was not my favorite. It might have been better with real bacon bits!

Steam in microwave
1+ cup kale, ripped to bite size pieces

Add to the kale, toss or layer
1 pear, cored and cut up
7 fake bacon strips, crumbled
2 Tbsp Fig Balsamic Dressing (Cindy's Kitchen for Whole Foods)


Rated a 4.3 on the Kale Scale.

Tuna With Kale

A satisfying meal, quick and easy too.

Mix together
4 oz Tuna, solid white albacore in water, drained
2 Tbsp mayo, light
1 tbsp Dill Relish
1 bunch of green onions, white part, sliced

Add and mix up
1+ cup of Kale, finely sliced

Serve with  Akmak crackers

Rated a 4.65 on the Kale Scale.

Fresh Fruit on Steamed Kale

A side salad to go with a bit of salmon. Very nice!


Microwave with steamer top for 2 minutes
1+ cup of Kale, ripped to bite size pieces

Place on top of the bed of steamed kale
1 peach, cut up
2 kiwi fruits, peeled and cut up

Dust the top with
1/2 tsp sesame seeds
1 tsp unsweetened coconut, shredded (Bob's Red Mill)

Serve and enjoy!

 Rated a 4.5 on the Kale Scale