Savory Fruit Kale Saute

The weather is finally cold again, and that encourages one to saute kale. The summer and early fall was just too hot to do that without heating up the house.


Using what I had in the fridge, comes this option for tonight.

Saute until limp
1-2 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup onion, chopped up

Add and continue saute
2/3 pear, cut up
2/3 nectarine, cut up
2 tsp pumpkin seeds, toasted

Add, cover and wilt as desired
1.5 cups kale, ripped to bite size pieces
2 tsp capers
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 Tbsp orange juice
3 Tbsp white wine

Mix it all up, simmer without lid to reduce the juices.
Serve and enjoy!

Rated a 4.66 on the Kale Scale

Aged Havarti Sauce with Kale and Pomegranate

Wanted quick and easy, which this was. Tasty, and next time I think I'd add an apple or pear to balance out the flavors. But, this was workable as a side to a Salmon Dinner.

Steam, wilt as desired
1+ cup Kale, ripped to bite size pieces

Heat in microwave or on stove top til cheese is melted
1 oz aged havarti cheese, diced
1/4 cup soy milk
1 oz white wine
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cinnamon

Mix up Kale with cheese sauce and heat through.

Add and mix up
1.5 tsp coconut, shredded and unsweetened


Serve with
1/3 cup pomegranate arils on top


Rated a 4.54 on the Kale Scale

Date Crumbles Tame Brussel Sprouts with Kale

The weather turned autmun like - yeah!  I can get back to making Kale side dishes on the stove stop.  I found that pineapple works well to make brussel sprouts palatable, but no pineapple today. What to do? I looked around and found some date crumbles I have from Bob's Red Mill - they have no added sugar, and are dusted with oat flour.

Soak
1/4 cup date crumbles in couple Tbsp of water. Set aside.

Saute
1/3 cup onion, chopped up
 2 tsp olive oil

Add and continue saute
1 red pepper, cut up
2 brussel sprouts, cut up

Add and simmer a bit
Dated crumbles and the water they were soaked in.
1 Tbsp Fig Balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp white wine

Add, cover and wilt
1-2 cups kale, ripped to bite size pieces (I ended up with about 2 cups today!)
Another 1 Tbsp of white wine and bit of water to keep the steam coming

Mix it all up an serve with a splash of Worcestershire sauce


Rated a 4.73 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 Broccolini and Brussel Sprouts

Started out thinking I didn't have any kale tonight, and given that what was the next best thing - brussel sprouts... not the next best thing, like a favorite, but the next best thing nutrition wise. After more than a year of this, I can say that I like kale better than something ... brussel sprouts!

After I got everything going, simmering, I remembered - I froze some kale before my last vacation in October!  I pulled that out of the freezer, and voila - another kale concoction was created.

Saute
2 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup onion, chopped up
3 brussel sprouts, chopped up
1 small sweet red pepper, chopped up

After a bit, add
2/3 cup pineapple, raw, unsweetened, chopped up
1/2 cup broccolini florets
2-3 Tbsp water or other liquid
Dashes of each - chili powder, ground pepper, turmeric, Mrs Dash

Serve with
2-3 Tbsp non-fat greek yogurt, plain
1-2 tsp dukkah
1-2 tsp parmesan cheese, grated
1 tsp worcestershire sauce


Rated a 4.59 on the Kale Scale

Brussel Sprouts Pineapple on Steamed Kale

This was the perfect match for a little pork chop dinner.

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

Steam
1 cup Kale, ripped to bite size pieces

Mix the kale, brussel sprouts and pineapple.

Serve with a bit of worcestershire sauce.

Rated a 4.67 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.

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 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.

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.