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

Shiba Spiced Tofu with Kale and Fresh Grapes

Looking in fridge for what to do for dinner... Tofu that I needed to use up; red pepper and onion waiting to be used; and rest of some asparagus from this week. I was inspired by Shiba's Hot Curry Chutney that I spied in the fridge too. Thus began the cooking of dinner.  It was spicy hot, and delicious!  This makes 2 servings.

Saute until tofu is a bit browned and onion somewhat cooked
3 tsp olive oil
1 tsp Shiba's Popping Seeds
1/3 cup onion, chopped up
1 tsp raw ginger
7 oz Tofu, cut into 1/2 in squares
1 tsp Mrs Dash
1 tsp ground turmeric


Add, and continue saute
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
10 stalks of asparagus, cut up

Make simmer sauce:
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup white wine
1/3 cup orange juice
1 Tbsp yellow mustard (Portlandia)
3/4 tsp Shiba's Hot Curry Chutney

Add sauce and simmer on low for couple minutes

Add, cover, wilt
2 cups kale, ripped to bite size

Serve and top with
20 fresh grapes, halved

Rated a 4.68 on the Kale Scale.

Spicy Potato and Egg with Kale Saute

This was delicious, and filling. I started out reading the recent issue of Cooking Light, and was motivated to these ingredients by a recipe I saw. However, by the time I was done, this had nothing in common with that recipe except the kale!

Saute
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp Shiba's Popping Seeds
1/3 C onion, chopped
2/3 potato, chopped (used 1 small red; and 1 fingerling)
1.5 tsp turmeric, ground

Add, cover and simmer for about 5-10 min till potatoes are soft
1/4 to 1/2 C water

Add, and continue simmer at almost a saute temperature
1/3 C broccoli slaw
2 brussel sprouts, chopped
7 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 oz white wine
1/3 C non fat milk

After ingredients are hot, and liquid almost gone, make room in middle of pan and add, fry over hard:
1 egg

As needed, add a bit of liquid to keep egg from sticking and keep ingredients around edges steaming.

As the egg cooks, add:
1 C ripped up kale around the edges on top of the other veggies. When the egg is done, take it out and set aside. 

Cover the dish and wilt the kale 1-2 mins til done.

Serve by putting the veggie mix on plate with egg on top.  Dust with chopped almonds.

Rated a 3.73 on Kale Scale.

Mashed Squash with Shiba's Popping Seeds

Shiba's Popping Seeds formed the basis for my experiment to night. This new spice is something I picked up at the grocery store this week. The seeds are a mix of cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, bishop seeds, nigella seeds, fennel, dill seeds.  This was a great mashed side dish!

Saute til seeds' aroma is wafting
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp Popping Seeds

Add and continue til almost done
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1 brussel sprout, chopped
1 fingerling potato, sliced fine
1/4 cup fennel bulb, chopped

Add and mash
3/4 cup acorn squash, pre-cooked (using one I cooked up this weekend)
1/3 cup soy milk

Add, mix everything up and continue simmer, lower heat
1 oz white wine
1 Tbsp fig balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp turmeric ground

Steam in microwave
1+ cup kale, ripped to bite size pieces

Add kale to the Popping Seeds mix, and stir it all up.

Serve and enjoy!

Rated a 4.77 on the Kale Scale