Happy Curry Kale

Started this with a Groupon for frozen food from from Happy Curry Foods.  I envisioned frozen meal
- pop it in the microwave and good to go. But, it turned out to be frozen food ready to be cooked...on the stovetop. And enough food for a small family!  The price was right, though.

Last night - I mixed the kale in with the rice and lentils (or dal). And had the chicken on the side. The food is Nepalese, and spicy. Spicy hot and spicy flavorful.  Very good!

Tonight - mostly the same, but what I did was put the rice, lentils (dal) and leftover chicken in a pot with water and wine, and simmered it all for about 30 minutes. Again - very good!!


No nutrition values for this 'frozen dinner.'

Rated a 4.69 on the Kale Scale.

Kale Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

I was inspired to try a Lemon Vinaigrette after having that in a salad at the Rheinlander Restaurant this week. My version, well, not as tasty as the restaurant's. But, it was a solid showing - had good flavor and structure. When I try it again, I'll probably have more fruit, add some cheese, and reduce the olive oil, and maybe add a touch of a lemon vinegar.  The dressing itself disappeared into the kale. Not messy at all. And not over powered on the flavor.

Lemon Vinaigrette - mix together; whisk or put in jar with tight lid and shake
2.5 Tbsp of olive oil
1/2 tsp yellow mustard (or your choice, but mustard)
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp ras el hanout spice

Salad - toss as you wish 
1.75 cups of Kale (yes, this much. cut up with kitchen shears to make pieces smaller)
1/2 cup or about 20 pods of sugar snap peas, chopped
1 pear, chopped  (counted about 80% after cut out bruises)
1 nectarine, chopped (ditto the 80%)

Pour in the vinaigrette and mix it up.

Serve with
3 tsp of chopped, dry roasted, unsalted almonds

Rated a 4.63 on the Kale Scale

Kale with Neighborly Sugar Snap Peas

Oh boy. Brussel sprouts and asparagus - neither one my favorite. But that's what was available in the fridge. And then, a ray of sunshine, here came neighbor Ann-Marie knocking at the door to give me a bounty of sugar snap peas from their garden!  These nicely balanced out the meal - yeah!

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

Add and continue saute
3 asparagus spears, diced
6 cherry tomatoes, halved
6 green olives (castelvetrano), halved
1 oz white wine
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ras el hanout

Add, cover and wilt as desired
1.25 cups kale, ripped to bite size
1/4 cup sugar snap peas, diced
1-2 tsp splash of balsamic vinegar


Mix up veggies. Move to edges of pan.  Add and scramble into the veggies:
1whole egg, mixed with 1 egg white, beaten
1/2 tsp black pepper

Serve with 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce


Rated a 4.67 on the Kale Scale

Kale Pepitas Spicy Sauce

After deciding to just have Kale sauted with onion, I couldn't help but keep adding some things on hand to make this more palatable. The end result was delicious!

Saute
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp Shiba's Popping Seeds
1/3 cup Onion, chopped

Add and continue sauteing
1/3 tsp hot curry chutney
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ginger root (from jar)
5 green olives, halved.
2 Morningstar veggie patties, chopped up

Add, mix up
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 oz white wine

Add, cover, wilt greens
1+ cup kale, ripped to bitesize
2 tsp pumpkin seeds, roasted

Serve and enjoy!

Rated a 4.65 on the Kale Scale.

Spiced Tofu &Chickpeas on Kale

I got this from Eating Well magazine, and proceeded to make some variations.  Spicy, and tasty.Seems like a bunch of messing around to get to the end product, but the result was worth it!
The recipe here, serves 4.

Combine, mix up in a big bowl
3.5 tsp paprika (sweet, hot or mixed)
3.5 ground cumin
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp salt

Set aside 2.5 tsp of the spice mix

Mix into the rest of spices
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp olive oil

Add to spice mix, stir up, leave sit for 10-15 minutes or so
1 brick of tofu - 14 oz, drained and cut into 3/4 inch cubes
1 can (15 oz) - chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Spread tofu and chickpeas on greased baking sheet
Roast in 450 F oven for 20 minutes.
Stir once half-way.

While tofu and chickpeas are roasting, put the set aside spices into the big bowl and mix it up with
3 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp olive oil

Add 1 big bunch kale, ripped to bite size pieces
Massage kale in the spice, juice, oil mixture.  Kale will reduce in size as a result.

Plate the kale - divvy up for 1 serving (about 2.25 cups each)

Add to plated kale:
10 CastelVetrano olives, halved
1 red pear, cut up
1 Tbsp pumpkin seeds, toasted 

Add 3/4 cup of the tofu and chickpea mixture on top of the kale bed.

Serve and enjoy!

Rated a 4.59 on the Kale Scale. 

Spicy Bean and Quinoa Kale Salad with Mole Viniagrette

The basic recipe comes out of Cooking Light. Supposed to serve on Spinach. I used Kale, of course, and this was delicious!

Recipe is to serve 6. The nutrition count is for 1 serving with 1+ cup of Kale, ripped to bite size pieces.

Mole Viniagrette: Combine, whisk, mix up and set aside
1 tsp grated orange peel
3/4 tsp unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground sinnamon
2 Tbsp orange juice
1.5 tsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp adobo sauce from canned chiplote chiles in adobo sauce
     Add last, slowly, mix it all up
     2 Tbsp olive oil

Combine in large bowl, toss
3 cups cooked quinoa, at room temperature
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds, roasted
1/4 cup cilantro, fresh, chopped up
2 green onions, sliced
1-2 chiles from the canned chipolte chiles, sliced thin
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained

After the quinoa items are all mixed together ADD
the Mole Viniagrette and toss to coat.

Serve 
1 and 2/3 cups of mixture on top of 1+ cups of kale, ripped to bite size


Rated a 4.68 on the Kale Scale