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.

Pineapple 'n Apricot Kale Salad

Hot day calls for simple salad. Quite tasty. I really like the Tangerine Vinaigrette Dressing from Cindy's Kitchen from Whole Foods.

Toss, layer or otherwise pile in a bowl and mix up:
1+ cup of Kale, ripped up to bite size pieces
2/3 cup pineapple, freshly cut, cubed
1 apricot, chopped up
2 Tbsp Cindy's Kitchen Tangerine Vinaigrette Dressing

Top with 

1 tsp of sesame seeds

Enjoy!

Rated a 4.6 on the Kale Scale.

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.

Watermelon Pineapple Kale Salad Dusted with Nutmeg

I really liked the addition of nutmeg with this salad. It helped tie the flavors together. Very good!

Toss these ingredients:

25 watermelon balls
2/3 cup pineapple, raw, cut up small
1 oz cheese, extra sharp white cheddar
1.25 cups kale, ripped to bite size pieces
4 tsp Tangerine Vinaigrette (Cindy's Kitchen for Whole Foods)
1/2 tsp Nutmeg

Serve and enjoy!

Rated a 4.74 on the Kale Scale. 

Lemon Grape Smoothie

And another way to enjoy Kale - vitamix smoothie #8 with Lemon and Grape. I thought the lemon would make it too tart, but seems like I compensated quite well with the other fruit. Delicious!  This one came out pinkish brown due to the black grapes.

Put in blender and blend to your desired consistency (with a vitamix, takes under a minute)

1 cup milk, non-fat
1/2 lemon, peeled
1/2 cup pineapple, raw, peeled, chunks
25 black grapes
4 dates, pitted
2 clementines, peeled
1/2 carrot
1+ cup of kale, ripped up
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Serve and enjoy!



Rated a 4.73 on the Kale Scale.

Watermelon Smoothie

Half of a small watermelon made about 2 cups for a smoothie. The ingredients were added at random from there.

Add and blend as desired (Vitamix took less than a minute)

2 cups watermelon
1/2 cup pineapple chunks, raw
3 clementines, peeled
2 Tbsp Hemp protein powder (Bob's Red Mill)
1/4 cup yogurt, Danon Light'n'Fit vanilla
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tbsp hummus
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup pomegranate juice
10 grape tomatoes
1.25 cups of kale


Rated a 4.67 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.

Citrus Smoothie with Hummus

Tossing things in the vitamix to make this smoothie.  It was pretty good! 

However... I have been reading Fat Chance by Dr. Robert Lustig. Finally, a book about how bad added sugar really is!  He is offering evidence for why we have an obesity pandemic.  I highly recommend the book.

He also talks about other facets of food, including the role of fiber and how soluble fiber can’t do its job without insoluble fiber being present (which gets completely destroyed in all processed or blended food, yes blended, as in a blender, as in a vitamix).  So I won't be going full blended meals; and I'll probably still have smoothies, cause it's just so easy.

Blend

1 orange
1+ cup of Kale
3/4 cup raw pineapple
2 Tbsp hummus
5 grape tomatoes
1/2 yellow pepper

Rated a 4.51 on the Kale Scale.

Cherry Pineapple Kale Smoothie

Used raw pineapple I had from Whole Foods. And some cherries from a Washington farm, sold locally by Pablo Munoz farms, a local Dayton area establishment. They sell the best strawberries, but I am saving those for my breakfasts. As I noted before, citrus and grapes seem to provide the best naturally sweet base for kale drinks. I thought pineapple and cherry would be outstanding. Hmmm... ok, but not with a wow-factor.

Blend together:

1+ cup of kale, ripped up
1 cup skim milk
1 cup, raw pineapple, cut up
16 cherries, pitted
1/2 tsp raw ginger, peeled, cut up

Serve and enjoy!

Rated a 4.61 on the Kale Scale.

Truberry Kale

Here is another Kale-by-Vitamix drink. So simple to make and clean up!  I received a jar of Trueberry drink powder as a gift - usually used to mix with water. I thought it would work well in this blend, and it did.

Put in Vitamix and blend:

1 older banana
1 cup pineapple, cut up
3/4 cup watermelon, cut up
1 cup non-fat milk
1/4 cup non-fat yogurt, plain
1 scoop Trueberry powder
1.3 cups kale, ripped up

Rated a 4.68 on the Kale Scale.

Vitamix with Hemp

Went on a search for protein powder for my smoothies, and this is the only one at the store that didn't have added sugar or fake sweeteners - Bob's Red Mill Hemp Protein Powder.

Blend and drink:

25 grapes
1/2 cup pineapple, raw and cut up
1+ cup kale, ripped up
2 oz Danon vanilla non-fat yogurt
2 oz milk, non fat
3 Tbsp Hemp Protein Powder

Rated a 4.65 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.

Cabbage, Sprouts and Kale with Olives and Cheese

Made this to go with a halibut steak. Putting pineapple together with tomato - not sure I'd to that again. This wasn't a favorite.

Saute:
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup Onion, chopped
2 brussel sprouts, chopped
1/2 cup red Cabbage, chopped
1/4 tsp ras el hanout
1/4 tsp ground coriander

After a bit, add and continue to saute
1/3 cup Pineapple, raw, diced
10 grape tomatoes, halved
8 green, pitted, castelvetrano olices, halved
1/3 cup soy milk

Add and cover
1 cup Kale, ripped to bite size pieces, and wilt in the steam of the soy milk

Top with
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1-2 tsp grated parmesan cheese

Rated a 3.5 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

Vitamix #2

Drinking my kale is turning out to be pretty easy! I researched some to learn that the fiber is still all there, even though it's blended into a liquid. Today, I was trying to add more vegies to the mix. Consequently, it wasn't as green, and not as 'sweet'  as if I'd used another orange or more pineapple. But it was still good!

Put in blender and whirl:

8 oz skim milk
2 oz non-fat yogurt
10 edible pea pods
2/3 cup cut up Chiogga beet (it's striped!)
1 blood orange, peeled
1/2 Cameo apple
1/3 cup diced pineapple
Dash to 1/4 tsp each nutmeg, coriander, ras el hanout

Enjoy!

Rated a 4.5 on the Kale Scale.

Can a Vitamix do kale?

I succumbed to the call of the Vitamix - it was on sale at Costco. It certainly does a smoothie like no other blender! 

Blend together:

1/2 c soy milk
1/4 c yogurt, nonfat Danon vanilla
1 orange, peeled and sectioned
1/3 c pineapple chunks
2 Tbsp ginger root (put in ginger chunks)
1 Tbsp parsley
1 C kale, ripped up

Rated a 4.67 on the Kale Scale.

Kale Chicken Saute with Red Cabbage, Shredded Ginger and Pineapple

I made a delicious chicken recipe in January, froze a piece, pulled it out to use tonight. Remembered the cabbage, and then there was this piece of ginger root that needed to be used. That's how this came together.

Saute
2 tsp olive oil
1/3 C onion, chopped up
1/3 C red cabbage, chopped up

After a bit, add and continue saute
8 grape tomatoes, quartered
1/2 C pineapple, chopped up
3 oz chicken breast, already cooked
2 tsp ginger, shredded
1 oz water
2 tsp balsamic vinegar

Add, wilt to your desire
1 C kale, ripped to bite size pieces
2 oz orange juice

Serve with a dash of dukkah on top.


Rated a 4.65 on the Kale Scale.

Tuna With Kale and Yogurt

Looking for a quick lunch with some protein = tunafish!  I was wondering if I could combine my cup of kale with a can of tuna. I cut the kale up with my kitchen shears to make it more fine for incorporating.  I chose to eat the resulting mixture was a dip, and used falafel chips. You could make a sandwich.  The nutrition count is only for the tunafish mixture (i.e. not the chips).

Mix together in a bowl

5 oz can of solid white tuna in water, break it up with a fork
2 oz non-fat greek yogurt
2 tbsp dill pickle relish
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 oz pineapple salsa with jalepeno from Whole Foods (fresh made)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1+ cup kale, cut up fine

Serve with chips, crackers or as a sandwich.


Rated a 4.64 on the Kale Scale.

Fried Egg Vegie Mix Kale

This is a variation from another meal from last week. Vegies saute, with a couple thin pork slices, fry and egg in the middle.

Saute
1+ tsp olive oil
1/3 cup onion, chopped
2 little itty bitty fingerling potatoes, sliced thin
2 brussel sprouts, chopped up
7 grape tomatoes, halved
1/3 cup pineapple, cut up
2 little cooked breakfast lean pork chops (tiny, 2 oz total), sliced up

Add and wilt, and then mix it all up
1+ cup Kale, ripped to bite size pieces
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp Mrs Dash
2 Tbsp wine
1+ tsp balsamic vinegar

Fry egg
Move the kale around so a clear spot in the middle of saute pan.
1 egg - fry to your desired level of doneness.

Serve with a dash of worcestershire sauce.


Rated a 4.7 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.