Savory Kale with Grapes and Persimmon

Spent the day mowing yard and other work to put the lawn to bed for the winter. Wasn't sure I wanted to bother with cooking, but this turned out so good, I'm glad I did! Very tasty! 

Saute
1.5 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1/3 cup fennel bulb, chopped
1 tsp Shiba's Popping Seed
1 tsp Ras el hanout spice

Add and continue saute
18 grapes, halved
1 persimmon, cored, chopped (leave the peel on)

Reduce heat, add, cover, wilt and let the liquid sauce up a bit
1+ cup kale, ripped to bite size pieces
1 oz white wine
1/4 cup soy milk

Mix it all up, serve and enjoy!


Rated a 4.67 on the Kale Scale.

Sweet and Savory Kale

Getting to the end of the week and cleaning out the miscellaneous from fridge. Turned out to be very tasty - the pear and persmisson were a good match for the brussel sprouts.

Saute
2 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup fennel bulb, chopped
1 fingerling potato, chopped
3 brussel sprouts, chopped

After a bit add and continue saute, lower heat and cover
1 red pear, cored and cut up
1 persimmon, cored and cut up (keep the peel on)
1 oz white wine
2 tsp white balsamic vinegar
1 tsp ras el hanout
1/4 tsp cardamon
1/4 tsp coriander
2 veggie patties (Morningstar), cut up

Steam in microwave
1+ cup of kale

Pile the sweet and savory mix on top of the steamed kale and enjoy!


Rated a 4.79 on the Kale Scale.

Kale Mashed

I was remembering a recipe for Bubble and Squeak from the old PBS show 'Two Fat Ladies,' but it requires using the stove top and fry pan, and it was just too hot today. So this is merely reminiscent of the real thing; not even a knock off.  I used what I call purple potatoes, but discovered they are actually called blue potatoes.

Cook in microwave - till tender
2 blue potatoes, cut up (with peel)
1.5 yellow potatoes, cut up (with peel)



Mash potatoes with
1/2 to 2/3 cup fat free milk
2 tsp butter
1 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp dill weed
1/4 tsp Ras el Hanout spice
1 tsp balsamic vinegar

Set aside 1/2 of the mashed potatoes for another meal.

Steam in microwave til limp (in Pampered Chef steamer)
1/3 cup onion
1 tsp garlic

Add and steam another 1.5 minutes
1+ cup kale, ripped to bite size pieces

Separately, heat in microwave 1 min, and then cut up
2 veggie patties (Morningstar)

Assemble in a bowl, and mix up
Mashed potatoes, kale with onion and garlic, and cut-up veggie patties

Serve on plate and splash with Worcestershire sauce  and enjoy!

Rated a 4.71 on the Kale Scale

Kale Scramble Simple

Late dinner, wanted something simple. This worked and tasted good!

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

Add and continue sauté, stir up and go for a minute or two
1 C kale, finely chopped
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ras el hanout
1/8 tsp cinnamon
5 leaves fresh basil - from my garden!
1 tsp fresh thyme - ditto!

Add, cover, lower heat, wilt
2 Tbsp white wine

Add and cook uncovered
1 egg beaten with 1 egg white
another 1/2 tsp black pepper

Serve with
2 Tbsp grated parmesan


Rated a 4.67 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.

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.

Steamed Kale Topped With Roasted Vegies

Decided to roast some root vegies which included fennel bulb, onion, parsnip, turnip, rutabaga, yellow pepper, fingerling potatoes. Roasted with a bit of oil, balsamic vinegar, ras el hanout spice, chili pepper ground, black pepper ground, ground ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon. HmmMmm... good!

Steam
1 Cup of Kale, ripped to bite size pieces

Top with
1 and 1/4 cup of the roasted vegies
10 grape tomatoes, halved.

Enjoy!


Rated a 4.71 on the Kale Scale.

Kale Brussel Pineapple with Ginger

End of the week, end of the food supply before replenishing with the next grocery run. Using what's on hand.

Saute
2 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup onion, chopped
3 brussel sprouts, chopped up
1 bunch green onions, white part, sliced

Add and continue saute
2 tbsp olives, chopped (canned)
1/2 cup pineapple, raw, chopped up
25 grapes, halved
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ras el hanout

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

Serve with
1 tsp dukkah
1 tbsp Feta cheese crumbles

Rated a 4.7 on the Kale Scale.

Spiced Acorn Squash with Kale

Another squash recipe from my archives, to which I embellished a bit. The squash recipe is a keeper!

Bake the squash this way:
Cut the squash in half; bake acorn squash with some 100% orange juice in the cavity of each half; along with ground ginger, nutmeg and ras el hanout. No butter. No sugar. No oil.

When it has about 15 minutes left, I added couple tablespoons of buttermilk to each cavity. Mostly because I had some, and thought it might add something. It didn't hurt.

Once the squash is done, let it cool a bit. Then scoop out the squash meat and put in a bowl.

Add to the squash meet, some dukkah and some parmesan cheese.

Steam
1 cup kale, ripped to bite size pieces

Mix up
Half of the baked spiced, squash meet
Steamed kale pieces

Serve with a topping of
1.5 oz of greek non-fat plain yogurt



Rated a 4.7 on the Kale Scale.

Buttermilk Mashed Kale and Potatoes

Yesterday, I made Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes - one of those recipes I saved from the last 10 years. Delicious, too! This recipe calls for carmelizing sliced onion and adding to the mashed potatoes - and a bit of chili powder, ras el hanout. Also, add peas, and chives (but I didn't have any chives this month). I used 2 little fingerling potatoes, 2 yukon potatoes, and 2 purple potatoes. All small. And of course in mashing, add up to 3/4 cup buttermilk. Yum!

Today, I mixed my 1+ cup of kale, ripped to bite size pieces, with a serving of the mashed potatoes - microwaved 2 minutes.

Serve with a topping of Feta cheese.

Rated a 4.7 on the Kale Scale.

Kale with Fruit in Buttermilk Saute

The buttermilk was for some mashed potatoes that I made, and since I had some left, I thought, how can I use that with some kale. This was the result.

Carmelized the onions to go into the mashed potatoes, and I save 1/4 cup to go with the kale.

Saute
2 tsp olive oil
2 Brussel Sprouts, chopped up.
1/4 cup onion (previously chopped and carmelized)

Add, and cover, lower heat
1/4 pear, cored, chopped (leave the peel on)
1 persimmon, Fuyu or Japanese, short squat one, peeled, cored, chopped
Dashes of chili powder, ras el hanout
2 Tbsp water

Steam for 1.5 minutes
1+ cup kale, ripped to bite size pieces

Add, stir in
1/4 to 1/3 cup buttermilk - it just disappears into the veggie mix

Add, cover, wilt as desired
Steamed kale

Mix it all together and serve.

Rated a 4.68 on the Kale Scale.

Sweet Potato Kale Redo with Brussel Sprouts

Working with the leftovers from yesterday's recipe. I added 2 brussel sprouts, chopped up, to 1 serving of Sweet Potato with Fresh Kale. Instead of putting the serving on top of fresh kale on a plate, I mixed the kale in with the leftover serving, and heated it all in the microwave for 2 minutes.  I'm doing a picture, mostly to document, indeed, that bright green is brussel sprout parts.

Added a Tbsn of white wine and a bit of water to help wilt the kale and heat it all as it was being cooked.

Rated a 4.6 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.

How well do kale and applesauce go together?

Kale and applesauce go quite well together, surprisingly. Of course you have to use enough applesauce, and toss in a clementine and spices to make it so. I was thinking, how could you fit kale into a dessert when one doesn't use added sugar, and doesn't like to fake out with artificial sweeteners? What I came up with was actually a fruit-ish salad, not really dessert. But, it worked.

I used purple kale; it's what I had. I minced it up with my Pampered Chef food chopper. Made a mess of the cutting board. I used 2 little cups of Mott's applesauce - their Healthy Harvest Granny Smith. I added the little clementine with cinnamon and ras el hanout to make it more palatable.

This recipe is for 1 person. A stronger person than I who really, really likes kale, could perhaps do with less applesauce. Despite the rating, I would do this again, it was a super easy way to get the kale eaten.

Mince
1 cup kale

Put in bowl and mix

1 cup of Mott's applesauce
1/2 the kale

Repeat with rest of applesauce and kale

Add
1 clementine, peeled, with each segment cut in half
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ras el hanout spice mix

Serve with dinner.

Rated a 4.49 on the Kale Scale.

Again with the Brussel Sprouts and Kale

I was inspired by the little potatoes we had at the beach recently. And the organic half and half that I brought home from the beach food share. Plus the pomegranate juice I've had around for a bit.  This little saute turned out ok! It would have rated higher if I had used a different fruit, such as pineapple. But, still - it was good.

Saute, soften up and brown:
2 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup onion, chopped
2 fingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise, sliced thin crosswise
3 brussel sprouts, quartered, chopped
1 tsp raw ginger, peeled, chopped up (it started out as more than that with the peel and all)
1 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp Ras El Hanout spice mix

Add, lower heat and simmer:
1/8 cup half and half
1/8 cup pomegranate juice, mixed with the half and half
2 Tbsp Fig Balsamic Vinaigrette (Cindy's Kitchen at Whole Foods)
15 grapes (red or black, seedless), halved

While the veggies simmer, steam:
1.25 cups of kale, ripped to bite size pieces.  I put the kale on my dinner plate, put over it a microwave steamer cover and microwave for 2 minutes.

Stir saute, and pour over the plated steamed kale.

Rated a 4.49 on the Kale Scale.

Brussel Sprouts with Orange and Kale Saute

Another attempt at brussel sprouts. Turned out ok. Putting fruit with the sprouts works well to camouflage them.

Saute:
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup onion, chopped
3 brussel sprouts, chopped
2 clementines, peeled and chopped
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp Mrs Dash
1/2 tsp Ras El Hanout spice

Add and simmer a bit:
1 oz white wine
2 Tbsp Fig Balsamic Vinaigrette (Cindy's Kitchen)

Add, cover, and wilt kale as desired:
1 oz white wine (yes, another oz)
1+ cup of Kale, ripped to bite size pieces

 Rated a 4.58 on the Kale Scale.

Kale with Pineapple and Brussel Sprouts #2

This is merely a variation on the previous entry with pineapple and brussel sprouts. This one, I added the kale to saute, covered and wilted it with steam from some wine that I added. This was a nice complement to a hunk of wild salmon that I had for dinner.

Saute
2 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup, anise or fennel bulb, chopped
2 leeks, sliced

Add and continue saute
 6 brussel sprouts, chopped up some
1/2 cup pineapple chunks, chopped a bit more
1 tsp Ras El Hanout
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Add, cover and wilt
1 oz white wine
1 cup kale, ripped up bite size pieces

Serve.

Rated a 4.7 on the Kale Scale

What to do with a Brussel Sprout?

Brussel sprouts are not my favorite. However, I've found that pairing them with pineapple and mixing that up with kale - works!  They aren't half-bad this way.  Also, I found a new spice blend at Barbour International Foods - Ras El Hanout which is a Moroccan spice blend. Very tasty!

Saute
2 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup, anise or fennel bulb, chopped
2 leeks, sliced

Add and continue saute
6 brussel sprouts, chopped up some
1/2 cup pineapple chunks, chopped a bit more
1 oz pomegranate juice or other liquid
1 tsp Ras El Hanout
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

While that cooks, steam
1 cup kale, ripped up bite size pieces

Put the kale on plate and top with the saute veggies.

Rated a 4.7 on the Kale Scale