Kale Salad with Pear, Cranberries and Asiago Cheese

This was delicious!  And very quick to make.

Toss together

1.5 cups Kale, cut fine with kitchen shears
1 red pear, cored, chopped
1 oz of Asiago cheese, diced
 1.5 oz dried cranberries, sweetened with juice
2 Tbsp of Fig Balsamic Dressing
Dusting of Dukkah on top

Serve and enjoy!

Rated a 4.68 on the Kale Scale

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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.

Fresh Corn Kale Salad with Figs

Had a couple things on hand which prompted this salad.

Cook an ear of corn 

I used the microwave - 4 minutes
Cut the kernels off the cob, and mix with 2 tsp of butter and 1/2 tsp of black pepper.

Mix ingredients, toss, layer - whatever - to make salad

1+ cup Kale, ripped to bite size pieces
10 tomatoes, grape size, halved
Prepared kernels from the corn
2 figs, peeled, and sliced
2 Tbsp Fig Balsamic Dressing (Cindy's Kitchen for Whole Foods)

Serve and enjoy!


Rated a 4.65 on the Kale Scale.

Can a Kale Smoothie Go Wrong?

Yes - a kale smoothie seems to have its limits. I'm not sure what made this smoothie one of the worst - it might have been using the Lacinato type kale, or maybe it was using the hemp protein powder, or could have been the two dried figs I tossed in it. It was so thick that the straw stood on its own. And so thick that I just didn't even want to finish the whole serving. Seemed to get thicker as I drank it.

If you want to try this, put in a blender or Vitamix and blend away:

1 cup, non fat milk
3 tbsp 100% Pomegranate juice
1/2 cup, blueberries
1/2 carrot
3 clementines, peeled
2 dried figs
1 cup lacinato kale, ripped up
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 Tbsp hemp protein powder

Serve and try to enjoy!

Rated a 2.9 on the Kale Scale.

Four Ingredients Salad

How much simpler can it get?  This quick salad was nicely done, very tasty!

Mix, layer, toss

1+ cup kale, ripped to bite size pieces
1 pear, cored, chopped up
1 tsp or so of dukkah
2 tbsp. Fig Balsamic Dressing

Yum!

Rated a 4.65 on the Kale Scale.

Pear with Gouda Kale Salad

A simple side salad for my salmon dinner.  The salad was delicious!

Mix, toss, layer - make a salad with:

1+ C   kale, ripped to bite size pieces
1   red pear, cored, cut up (keep the peel on)
1 oz   smoked gouda cheese, diced
9 sprigs  cilantro

Serve with:

2 Tbsp  Fig Balsamic Dressing (Cindy's Kitchen for Whole Foods)


Rated a 4.68 on the Kale Scale.

Chicken Salad Kale

Simple, if you have the chicken ready. I had made up pound chicken thin breast fillets a couple days ago - dredged with buttermilk, almond meal, wheat germ and spices chili powder, coriander, ras el hanout. Yum!

Layer or toss to make salad:

1+ cup kale, ripped to bite size pieces
1/2 cup pineapple, raw, cut up
1/2 pear, cored, cut up (leave the peel on)
3 oz chicken breast, cut up

Top with dressing:

2 tbsp Fig Balsamic Dressing (Cindy's Kitchen for Whole Foods)

Rated a 4.5 on the Kale Scale.

Simple Salad with Pineapple, Green Olives and Kale

Simple and quick. Tasty.

Mix together, how you like for a salad:

1 cup Kale, ripped to bite size pieces
1/2 cup Pineapple, raw, diced up
8 Olives, green castelverano, halved (pitted)
1 tsp Dukkah (minced nuts, Egyptian style)

Top with:

2 Tbsp  Fig Balsamic Dressing (Cindy's Kitchen for Whole Foods)
1-2 tsp shredded Parmesan cheese

Rated a 4.6 on the Kale Scale

Sweet Potato Kale #3

Third and final serving variation on recipe from Sunday. Tonight, I ripped up pieces of kale, put them on dinner plate and then put the serving of sweet potato on top. Sprinkled around some water, put the steamer cover on on the plate. Microwaved 2 minutes.

Yum.

Rated a 4.66 on the Kale Scale.

Sweet Potato Joy with Fresh Kale

The basic recipe started with the Sweet Potato recipe on page 325 of my hard bounc 1975 version of the Joy Of Cooking.  I offer here a variation on that recipe. You can look the original up at the Library - it is very good, and makes a great no-added-sugar addition to any holiday meal. So, too, does my variation... :) 

This is really not a kale recipe exactly, but rather a recipe to which one can apply a cup of kale and carry the kale down the gullet, quite nicely.

One could use this as a side to protein, such as fish, or other.

This recipe makes 3 servings (for me).

Ingredients - all will be divided into two layers.

• 2 sweet potatoes, medium+
• 1 packaged cup of Del Monte pineapple chunks (comes in plastic cup that is really only 7 oz). No added sugar, just pineapple juice.
• 1 pear, cored and diced
• 4 figs, dried, cut up
• 1/2 cup cherries (I used dried bing cherries, but you could use fresh if you want. The nutrition count is for fresh cherries)
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped fine
• 1/2 tsp Ras El Hanout spice
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Ingredients - go on top of casserole

• 1/3 cup pineapple juice from the pineapple cup above. 100% juice.
• 1 Tbsp butter, diced and sprinkled over the top

Ingredients for each serving - 1 cup of kale ripped to bite size pieces.

Boil until so tender, the jackets will slip off - about 40 mins. Knife or fork inserts easily when done.

• 2 Sweet potatoes, medium+ in size. Fits in Revereware 3 qt pot with water to cover.  Drain and pour in cold water. When you can hanle them, slip the potato skins or jackets off.

Assemble the casserole in 1 and 1/2 qt casserole dish

• Make two layers starting with sweet potato, then pineapple sprinkled over, then cherries and fig sprinkled over, then cinnamon and ras el hanout, top layer with pecan.
• On the top, sprinkle around the diced butter.
• Pour over the whole casserole, the pineapple juice.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Serve on a bed of fresh kale (1 cup) per serving.  I used purple kale.

 Rated a 4.64 on the Kale Scale.

Kale with Olives and Dates in Sauce

The half and half is still good, so why waste it? That was the initial thought about what to do with the kale tonight. Thus the following mixture. It was good. Might have been better had I steamed the kale and served the concoction on top, but instead, I put the kale in the saute and wilted it that way. But, still it was good, edible, and tasty.

First of all, packing a cup of kale. This is what it looks like to rip up 3 huge leaves for a cup - and packing it like you would pack brown sugar. Actually measures out to about 1.15 to 1.25 cups, but if you squish and take out the air, it's a stout cup of kale.  For nutrition count, I usually factor it as 1.15 cups.

Tonight, the kale was served as a side dish to baked salmon.

Saute:
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 tsp garlic, minced
1/2 tsp pepper, ground
1/4 tsp ras el hanout spice mix

Add and continue saute:
8 grape tomatoes, halved
7 green pitted olives, halved (castleverano)
3 dates, pitted and chopped up

Stir in, lower heat, simmer:
1 oz half and half, mixed with next item
2 Tbsp Fig Balsamic Dressing

While that simmers, rip up into bite size pieces:
1+ cups kale (ie 1 packed cup)

Add the kale, cover and continue to simmer for 2-5 minutes
Uncover, mix up and serve.


Rated a 4.5 on the Kale Scale.