Kale Accountability

Still eating kale, but intake is down to about 1 bunch per week. Mostly because I've lost the routine of accountability by recording on blog. At one point in the last several years, I realized that most of what I do with kale is create "kale carriers" to get this green leafy vegetable down the gullet in a tasty manner. However, I do come back to my blog seeking recipes I've done and want to make again.

Kale Corn 'n' Ham Hot Salad

Yes, I'm still eating kale.  Just not posting the daily doings.  But, here is an easy summer dinner.

• Kale - 1+ cup, ripped up to bite size. Microwave on dinner plate, 2 minutes. 
• Corn on cob - 1 ear.  Microwave 4 minutes, cut the kernals off the ear and put on the kale.
• Add 1 tsp butter, cut up to the corn/kale.
• Ham 'steak' - 1 slice.  MIcrowave 1 minute. Cut up and put on the kale, corn mixutre.
  

Serve with ground pepper (1 tsp) and splash of Worcestershire sauce (1 tsp).

Enjoy!

Rated a 4.68 on the Kale Scale.

Kale with Moroccan Chickpea Soup (or Garbanzo Bean Soup)

Late winter soup. Very quick, easy and delicious.  This soup recipe makes 4 servings. For each serving, steam 1+cups of kale and mix in.

Make stock
1.5 cubes of vegetable bouillon
3 cups of water

Saute in a dutch oven or soup pot
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 carrot, grated
1 cup broccoli slaw
2 cloves garlic
1 medium onion, finely chopped

While this sautes, puree in Vita-mix or food processor
15 oz canned garbanzo beans (or chickpeas), drained and rinsed
1/3 cup tahini
1 cup of the vegetable stock
2 Tbsp lemon juice

Stir into the soup pot with the sauteed vegetables
Pureed mixture
Rest of the vegetable stock (about 2 cups)
1.5 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp thyme leaves, dried
.5 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 
1/2 to 3/4 tsp Ras el Hanout
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp cried chopped parsely 

Cook 5 minutes or so, until heated through.

For each serving, ateam
1+ cups of kale, ripped to bite size pieces

Serve 
Put steamed kale in bottom of soup bowl, and add 1 serving of the soup. Mix up. 
Can garnish with toasted sesame seeds, or nuts.

Rated a 4.6 on the Kale Scale.

Yam and Split Pea Soup with Tarragon and Kale

Another winter soup. This one comes from the Joy of Mindful Cooking - a food blog network basedout of Portland. I didn't realize they were so close. I had gone looking for a bean soup recipe and they had several including this one. I added spices, wine, vinegar, ginger.  The soup, when simmered to completion was DELICIOUS! Wow!

So how does this relate to kale? Well, as I've mentioned, my kale recipes have turned into "kale carriers" - a way to get kale down the gullet in a more tasty fashion. I steamed a cup of kale and mixed it into my serving of soup.

Put in a soup pot and bring to boil, then simmer for 40 minutes:
- 4 cups vegetable broth (low sodium, nonfat)
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup yellow split peas
- 1 0z white wine
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 ba leaf
- 1/2 tsp dry mustard
- 1/2 tsp turmeric, ground
- 1 tsp herbs de provence
- 1 tsp chives
- 1/2 tsp ground pepper

Add and continue to simmer for another 30 minutes or so, till thick and done:
- 1/2 large onion, chopped up
- 1 tsp ginger root, fresh, minced
- 2 cups diced yam (1.5 to 2 smaller yams). Organic / wash / don't peel
- 1 tbsp or so of fresh tarragon (or 1 tsp dry)
- 1 cup of water, more, enought o help cover the yams a bit

Steam 1 cup of kale and mix that with 1 serving of the soup.

Rated a 4.69 on the Kale Scale.

Kale with Burrito and Eggs

This one requires cooking Amy's Southwestern Burrito first; and then cutting it up for the saute.  End result was pretty good. Not my favorite, but adequate.

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

Cook separately, cut up and add
1 Amy's Kitchen Southwestern Burrito

Add, cover and wilt
1 cup Kale, ripped to bite size
1/4 tsp Cayenne
1/3 cup Salsa
Add other liquid as needed to wilt

Mix it all up, and then make space to
2 eggs, scramble into the mix

Rated a 4.2 on the Kale Scale.

Kale Salad with Pineapple and Pomegranate

A quick salad for a Friday night. Tasty. The yogurt works well for a dressing.

Microwave 1 minute
- 1 cup of kale, ripped to bite size pieces

Cut up
- 2/3 cup raw pineapple chunks

Prepare pomegranate
 - Use 'ready made' or dig out arils from 1/2 pomegranate

Toss all together.

Dress 
- Use up to 5 oz Dannon Light n Fit Vanilla yogurt. [ I use 5 oz which drenched the ingredients and then some - using up what I had.]

Top with
- 1/2 oz. chopped up hazelnuts

Rated a 4.6 on the Kale Scale

Thanksgiving Kale

Worked out this recipe using "legal" FODMAP foods - someone at the Thanksgiving table experiencing SIBO. I googled appropriate recipes, and dressings and from there cobbled this together. I relented and used a sweetener in the dressing, to keep it palatable to the rest of the people at dinner. If I was making it just for me, I would have left out the sweetener and also would have added something like yogurt in the dressing. Now, it's possible to do that with SIBO, but yogurt that you make yourself - that was more than I wanted to try for this meal!  The salad is delicious!!! I made enough for 10 servings at 6.5 oz each. The nutrition count is for one serving.


Ingredients, all organic:

• Kale, 2 bunches - about 285 grams when cut up
• Carrots, shredded - a bag. Was 284 grams.
• Yellow sweet pepper
• Purple grapes
• Pineapple, fresh. Use 3/4 of the pineapple in salad. Rest in dressing.
• Oranges, fresh (2). Use 1.5 in salad; the rest in dressing.
• Lime, fresh - juice it.
• Olive Oil
• Agave nectar
• Orange juice (from the 1/2 orange)
• Ginger root, fresh; grated..
• Lemon juice
• Filberts, ground - about 75 of them to get 1-2 tsp per serving.

Make Salad

• In a huge bowl, cut up the kale into fine strips. Leave out the heavy stems. Massage the kale for 2 minutes.
• Add the shredded carrots, and mix in.
• Dice yellow pepper and add.
• Cut the grapes in half and add. Mix in.
• Peel and core the pineapple, dice 3/4 and add to the salad. Mix in.
• Peel, segment the orange, chop up. Add.
• Mix all of this up, toss.

Dressing

• Put olive oil in a bowl
• Juice 1 lime. Add to oil.
• Juice 1/2 orange, and add of OJ as needed to get 2 oz. Add to oil.
• Add bit of lemon juice (dash to 1 tsp)
• Add 3 tsp agave nectar (or honey) to oil.
• Grate raw ginger - you'll use about 1 tsp and use the rest for something else. Add to oil.
• Put remaining 1/4 pineapple in a blender.
• Add the olive oil mix with fruit juices and sweetener.
• Add the grated ginger.
• Add 9 sprigs of cilantro - just the leaves. (about 1 Tbsp)

Put dressing on the salad, toss.

Serve with a topping of about 1-2 tsp ground nuts.

Rated a 4.78 on the Kale Scale.

Kale Saute with Ham, Persimmon and Fennel

Had some Canadian Bacon, and the persimmon and fennel. Threw this together for a quick meal. It was very tasty!   I am taking the quick and dirty route for posting this. Cut and paste from my Nutri-base program, which I use to get the nutrition info for all of my concoctions.

Saute
Use Pam spray and saute onion, garlic, fennel, ham and persimmon

Add and simmer
Orange juice, vinegar, coriander, turmeric and pepper

Add, cover and wilt
Kale

Serve with
Splash of Worcestershire sauce and sprinkle finely diced nuts on top.

Rated a 4.71 on the Kale Scale.

Plum Good Kale Salad with Parmesan and Oranges

I thought I was being cute with the name, but found I'd used "Plum Good" in a title back in 2011. Great minds think alike, even if it's your own, just a couple years apart! Salad was quick and easy. Good flavors. Yum!

Mix ingredients together for a tossed salad:

1.25 cups Kale, ripped to bite size pieces
1 plum, medium size, diced up
2 clementine oranges, segmented
2 Tbsp Fig Balsamic Dressing (Cindy's Kitchen/Whole Foods) 
1 Tbsp chopped up nuts (from a toasted mix of walnut and pistachios that I made and had some on hand)
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese, shredded. (It seemed to be about 2 Tbsp, but didn't really measure it)

Serve and enjoy!

Rated a 4.7 on the Kale Scale.
 

Sweet, Sour and Spicy Tofu - variation

Originally use this recipe c2012.  I made it again, with a few variations shown here. Originally designed to serve with rice, but I chose to serve it on a bed of quinoa and steamed kale.  The recipe here serves 4. The nutrition analysis is for 1 serving including the quinoa and bed of 1.25 cups of steamed kale.

Prep - Tofu
Drain 14 oz brick of tofu.
Cut into cubes.

Prep - Quinoa
Rinse 1/2 cup quinoa
Cook per instructions until fluffy

Saute until browned - about 10-15 minutes; stir occasionally. Put in a bowl and set aside when done.
1 Tbsp olive oil
Cubes of tofu.


Saute
1 Onion, chopped

Add and continue saute, stir this up and mix in the spices
3 garlic cloves, minced or canned
1 tsp ginger root, minced or canned1/3 cup  dried apricots, chopped small
3 dates, chopped up
2 tsp curry powder

Return Tofu and mix up with the spices and onion.
Add and simmer until liquid is absorbed - about 15 minutes or so
1 1/2 cups  water

2 Tbps  balsamic vinegar

Serve on bed of quinoa and 1.25 cups steamed kale.

Rated a 4.75 on Kale Scale.

Pear Parmesan Kale Salad

A simple salad and convenient side for a salmon steak. Quite tasty!

Toss as desired:

1+ Cup Kale, ripped to bite size pieces
1 pear, cored, diced - unpeeled
2 tbsp toasted almond slivers
3 tbsp grated parmesan
2 tbsp fig balsamic vinegar dressing


Enjoy!

Rated a 4.7 on the Kale Scale.

Farro Kale with Fruit and Walnuts

This side dish was delicious!  I hadn't used Farro before - one of those ancient grains. Looks like it can replace rice in dishes. I took the option to soak the farro overnight, drain. And then simmer in enough water to cover it for 10-15 minutes. Drain again and it's ready to be used. 1 cup makes about 2 cups.  I was using Farro from Bob's Red Mill.

Even though this was delicious ... it was a bit high on the calorie count. If I were to make it again, I'd do something to reduce the number!

Saute
1/3 cup onion
1-2 tsp olive oil

Add and continue saute
4 dried apricots, cut up
4 dried, pitted dates, cut up
1 tsp or so, raisins
5 green olives, pitted, halved
3 Tbsp walnuts, chopped up

Add and mix up with the fruit and onion
1/3 tsp Shiba's Hot Curry Chutney 
2 oz orange juice
1/2 cup cooked Farro
a bit of water

Add cover, and wilt kale
1+ cup kale, ripped up to bite size pieces

Serve and enjoy!

Rated a 4.69 on the Kale Scale

Ham 'n' Beans ' n' Kale

The weather has finally relented for a day making the use of the stove reasonable. Lately, it's been toooooo hot!  I've had a slab of ham steak vacuum packed for a month and finally, I could use it today. This is also, another version of use for the Lemony Garbanzo Beans I made yesterday.  This turned out to be delicious!  Yum!

Saute
1/4 cup onion
3 oz of ham steak (already cooked, boneless, Smithfield), cubed

Add and continue at a bit lower temperature
1 serving of the Lemony Garbanzo Beans (see yesterday for the recipe)
1/4 cup nonfat milk
 
Add, wilt as desired
1.25 cups kale, ripped to bite-size pieces
1.5 Tbsp white wine
1/2 tsp black pepper 

Serve with 
2 Tbsp of finely chopped dry roasted unsalted almonds

Enjoy!

Rated a 4.65 on the Kale Scale 

Kale with Dressed Garbanzo Beans and Peach

This was an odd combination to start with, but ended up being pretty tasty!  I had made "Lemony Garbanzo Beans" earlier in the day with a recipe from the Nutrition Action Health Newsletter. This recipe I will present first and then the kale salad.


Lemony Garbanzo Beans

• Make the dressing with 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice, 2 Tbsp Tahini, and 2 Tbsp plain non-fat yogurt.
• Add herbs of your choosing. I used 2 tsp fresh chopped chives.
• The actual recipe called for 2 Tbsp of olive oil, but I left that out.
• Mix the dressing with a drained 15 oz can Garbanzo Beans
• Makes 3 servings

 Kale Salad with Dressed Garbanzo Beans and Peach

• Mix together in a big bowl and then serve:
• 1 serving of Lemony Garbanzo Beans
• 1.5 cups kale, cut in smaller than bite-size pieces
• 1 peach, cut up with skin left on
• 1 Tbsp of Cindy's Kitchen Pomegranate Vinaigrette (oil-free)
• Top with 2 Tbsp of chopped fine toasted, no salt almonds 

 Rated a 4.59 on the Kale Scale.

Kale Quinoa Pistachio Saute with Basalmic Vinegar

There was enough relief from the hot weather to actually use the cook top and oven. This dish was a

side to some fresh wild salmon. Very tasty, and surprisingly easy to make.

Cook quinoa
3/4 cup dry organic tricolor quinoa from Bob's Red Mill
1.5 cups water
1 Tbsp white wine

Bring water/wine to boil. Put in quinoa. Return to boil. Let simmer 3 minutes. Then turn off the heat, cover the pan, and leave it on the burner. Check it in about 20 minutes. Quinoa done. Perfectly!

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

Put the onion and oil in a microwave bowl. Cover. Cook on high 1 minute.

Prepare Kale
2 cups kale - rip to bite size pieces.
1/3 cup - broccoli slaw  
Microwave on high 1 minute

Put it all together
Get a microwave bowl large enough for all of the above.
Put 1 tsp balsamic vinegar and 1 Tbsp olive oil in the bottom of bowl.
Add kale, quinoa and onion.
Add 1 tsp ground black pepper
Mix it all up.
Add 35+ pistachios (shelled)

Heat the mixture in microwave 1.5 minutes.
Mix, again, and serve.  

Makes 2 servings (really could make 4, but for me, it's 2).

Rated a 4.70 on the Kale Scale

Kale with Canadian Bacon and Egg

This was delicious!

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

2 brussel sprouts, chopped
1/2 tsp Shiba's Popping Seeds
1/2 tsp curry powder

Add and continue saute
3 slices of pre-cooked Canadian Bacon, chopped up
20 grapes, halved

Add, cover and wilt
1+ cup kale, ripped to bite size
1/3 cup orange juice
1 Tbsp white wine

Mix up veggies and make space in the middle
to fry1 egg

Serve with a splash of Worcestershire sauce

Rated a 4.65 on the Kale Scale.

Kale Sauted with Persimmon and Feta Crumbles

This was a bit different, but very tasty!

Saute
2 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup onion, chopped
3 oz corn, canned
1 persimmon, cut up (the kind that is short and squat)
1/2 tsp Herbs de Provence

Mix up a little sauce and set aside
2 Tbsp mustard
2 Tbsp orange juice
1 oz white wine

Add, cover and wilt
1+ cup kale, ripped to bite size
.75 oz Feta crumbles
and the sauce from above

Rated a 4.5 on the Kale Scale.

Green Horizons Soup

This is a recipe from Save Our Bones, that mom sent me about a year ago. It might be in the book Bone Appetit! The recipe might be in the Finally got around to trying it. I calls for pureeing the vegetables, and I choose to Vita-Mix them such that there were still bits of veggies - not a smooth puree.  Bottom line - well worth the making - very tasty and quite easy to make!  I cut the recipe in half - that's what's listed here.  Makes 4 servings.



Heat for 5 minutes over high heat:
2.5 tsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic
2 leeks, chopped
1/2 parsnip, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, sliced
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp red chili powder

Add the following, mix and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes:

3 cups vegetable broth / stock
1 tsp parsely, dried
9 sprigs of cilantro. fresh
4 cups kale, chopped or ripped up (a bunch and 1/2)

In Vita-Mix, puree vegetables mixture.
While in Vita-Mix, add 1/2 cup almond milk, mix.

Soup will still be hot - serve and enjoy!

Rated a 4.65 on the Kale Scale.

Kale Saute with Chicken, Pear and Anise

A quick saute for dinner. Cut up a left over cooked chicken breast to incorporate. This was good.


Saute
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 fennel/anise bulb cut up
1/4 cup onion, cut up
3/4 pear, chopped up

Add, cover and wilt
1/4 cup orange juice
1 Tbsp white wine
1+ cup kale, ripped to bite size

Rated a 4.4 on the Kale Scale

Kale Saute with Pistachios

Catching up. Had this in February. It was pretty good! The picture was before the pistachios were sprinkled on the top.


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

Add and continue saute
1 plum, cut up
10 castelvetrano olives, halved
1/2 tsp Ras el Hanout spice

Add, cover and wilt
1+ cup Kale, ripped to bite size pieces
1 oz white wine

Top with 2 Tbsp pistachios

Rated a 4.45 on the Kale Scale.