Papaya and Olive Kale Salad

Another hot day; another simple salad!  Very tasty!!


Toss together, layer, or otherwise put in a bowl and mix
1+ cup kale, ripped to bitesize pieces
1 papaya, seeded, diced (no peel)
2 tbsp olives, sliced
2 tbps tangerine vinaigrette dressing (Cindy's Kitchen)

Top with 
1 tsp of dukkah (egyptian nut topping)

Enjoy!

Rated a 4.64 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

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.

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

Fruit Spiced Sauce on Kale

Making a side dish to go with a salmon fillet. Started with the tomatoes and olives, then pulled out an apricot that has been too tart to eat outright. And this just evolved from that start.

Saute
2 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, slice fine

Add and continue
10 grape tomatoes, halved
5 green olives, halved (castle vetrano)
1 apricot, raw, cut up

Add, mix it up, lower heat and simmer for a few minutes
1 oz Pomegranate juice (100% POM brand)
1 oz sherry
1 oz soy milk
1 tsp Gulden's brown mustard
2 Tbsp date crumbles (Bob's Red Mill)
1/8 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp ras el hanout

Steam on the dinner plate (use a steam cover)
1+ cup kale, ripped up to bite size pieces

Top the kale with the fruit spiced sauce and enjoy!

Rated a 4.6 on the Kale Scale

Spiced Apricot Kale Saute

The apricots I picked out at the store were too tart to eat out of hand. So what to do? Put in a kale sauté.

Saute
2 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup onion, cut up
1/8 tsp brown mustard seed

Add and continue sauté
1/2 cup pineapple, raw, cut up
1 apricot, cut up
7 green olives, halved (castelvetrano)
1 tsp ras el hanout
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground pepper

Add, cover, wilt
1 cup Kale, ripped to bitesize pieces
2.5 Tbsp white wine

Serve with just a few sesame seeds.

Rated a 4.57 on the Kale Scale.

Winter Salad

The spring like weather yesterday inspired a salad.

Toss and mix up, then serve:

1+ cup purple kale, ripped to bite size pieces
8 green olives, halved
12 grape tomatoes, quartered
2 oz whiskey cask cheddar (from Whole Foods)
1 tsp pepper, ground
2 Tbsp Fig Balsamic Dressing (Whole Foods)







Rated a 4.667 on the Kale Scale.

Steamed Kale Salad

I call this a salad because everything but the Kale was fresh, not cooked, I tossed it all together, and gave is a dash of salad dressing.  Pretty good, nice and quick.  The fresh pineapple salsa is made at Whole Foods and sold in the fruits and vegetable area in their cold case.

Steam
1+ cup Kale, ripped to bite size pieces

Add, and mix up or toss
7 grape tomatoes, halved
6 green olives, castelvetrano, halved
1/4 cup pineapple jalapeno salsa, Whole Foods
2 tsp feta cheese, crumbles
1/3 cup pineapple, cut up
2 tsp fig balsamic vinegar

Serve with
1 tbsp of dukkah, dusting on the top


Rated a 4.69 on the Kale Scale.

Cabbage, Pineapple and Kale Sauted with Wine

Pulling together several things in the refrigerator for this one.  This turned out to be very tasty!

Saute
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup cabbage, chopped
1/3 cup pineapple, chopped
7 olives, castelvetrano, halved
2 fingerling potatos, sliced fine
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp ras el hanout

Let that cook for a bit.

Add, cover and wilt as desired
2 Tbsp wine
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 cup kale, ripped to bitesize pieces

Serve with
1 Tbsp dukkah (Egyption nut and spice mix)

Rated a 4.66 on the Kale Scale.

A quick side dish to go with a hunk of halibut - a variation on the Kale with Parmesan from last week. Very good, fast food!

Steam
1+ cup kale, ripped to bite size pieces

Toss steamed kale with
7 grape size tomatoes, halved
8 green olives - castelvetrano, halved
3 Tbsp crumbled Feta cheese
1 tsp Dukkah (see previous blog entries too)

Rated a 4.68 on the Kale Scale.

Pineapple Kale dusted with Dukkah

A quick tasty side.

Steam
1 cup kale, ripped to bite size pieces
1/2 cup pineapple
1 Tbsp of chopped olives

Serve and top with
1-2 Tbps Dukkah


Rated a 4.67 on the Kale Scale.

Kale Steamed With Parmesan and Dukkah

A quick side dish to go with a hunk of salmon. Very good, fast food!

Steam
1 cup kale, ripped to bite size pieces

Toss steamed kale with
7 grape size tomatoes, halved
8 green olives - castelvetrano, halved
2 tsp capers
2 Tbsp shredded parmesan
1-2 tsp Dukkah (see previous blog entries too)

Serve with
1.2 tsp worcestershire sauce

Rated a 4.68 on the Kale Scale.

Dukkah Dusted Kale

Dukkah, pronouced do-ah, is an Egyptian/Middle Eastern dipping spice - often used when dipping bread in olive oil, and then dipping in the dukkah.  Often made with hazelnuts, it can be made with a variety of nuts and spices. It's more that the final result is a jar full of a crumbly spiced nut topping.

Someone asked me if I had ever tried any, and no, so I got to researching. This is the best explanation I've found to far.  I pulled out the Egyptian cookbook I bought in Egypt (which is written in Spanish as it was the only version left at the airport souvenir shop), and found its recipe for Dukkah, which I chose to follow, more or less.

I used walnuts, as I thought that was what nueces meant in spanish, and I would use hazelnuts next time. I mixed sesame, coriander seeds, walnuts, cumin seeds. Toasted in oven for about an hour at 175-200f. And then put 1/3 at a time in the blender and ground it up, but not pulverize.

I made the dukkah yesterday, and used it today for this recipe.

Steam, 2 minutes in microwave
1 cup kale, ripped to bit size pieces
2 tsp cooking sherry

Mix steamed kale with
5 cherry tomatoes, halved
6 green olives (castelverano)
3 black olives

Serve mixed up kale and veggies on plate and
Dust with 2 tablespoons of kale.

Rated a 4.7 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.