Kale – Wanderlust & Food Stuff

One Bowl of Veggies, Day 4: Kale + Mixed Veg Salad with Coconut-Lime Dressing

November 18, 2013 by April 1 Comment

Day 4. (days 1, 2, and 3) Are you sick of veggies yet? In anticipation of the fatty, porky tacos that are to come tomorrow, today we have a kale salad. You might have noticed that I make kale salads a lot. They’re just good.

We’re back from Louisville and had so much fun driving around rural Kentucky to taste bourbon. Our favorite of the day was at the Heaven Hill Distillery; they make the Elijah Craig 12-yr bourbon that went down nicely without the aid of water. Buffalo Trace and Woodford Reserve had the prettiest distilleries with a lot of old buildings; Buffalo Trace is pictured below.

This picture is of Willet Distilleries bourbon aging warehouses… they look like eery old prisons.

With our newfound educations, we felt a lot more comfortable ordering bourbons at the bar!

We ate at Chef Edward Lee’s restaurant in downtown Louisville called Milkwood. It was so delicious, and the cocktails were perfect. The octopus bacon was a killer starter, but the pork burger was what we thought about the rest of the night.

And now… back to healthy food for the week!

Kale + Mixed Veg Salad with Coconut-Lime Dressing

1 bunch lacinato kale
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 can full-fat coconut milk
zest of 1 lime
juice of 1 lime
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon honey
mixed veg

To prepare the kale, remove the stems and roll the leaves up into a tight bundle, then finely shred the leaves. Place the kale in a large bowl and mix in the olive oil. Massage the leaves until they are all coated.

In a small bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, lime zest, lime juice, red pepper flakes, and honey.

Toss the kale with the veg and dressing.

Filed Under: Asparagus, Broccoli, Cabbage, Food, Kale, Recipes, Squash Tagged With: Food, Kale, Recipes, Salad, Squash

Kale, Tomato, and Cheese Curd Salad

September 30, 2013 by April Leave a Comment

[Please excuse the poorly-lit iPhone photos.]

I stopped by the farmer’s market this weekend to pick up some peppers for our Sunday afternoon of pickling and canning. In the process, I came across these cute little cherry tomatoes. And kale. And in my search for some type of cheese to throw into this evolving salad, I bought some cheese curds.

It may seem like a strange combo, but it was really tasty. Be careful when adding the salt because cheese curds are pretty salty already. Eric and I ate this, walked around the neighborhood a bit, then came back and canned 13 jars worth of pickles and pickled peppers. If they turn out like I think they will, I’ll share the recipe on here.

Eric also got his first lesson in mandolin technique when slicing the cucumbers. About two minutes after I showed him how to use it and warned him to be very careful not to chop his finger off – you guessed it – he sliced the top of his finger off. The cukes were fine, though, and so was he. As for me, my eyes burned putting my contacts in this morning from the pepper oils that are still on my fingers, but I think it will be worth it.

Kale, Tomato, and Cheese Curd Salad

1 bunch Lacinato kale, finely shredded
1 cup sliced cherry tomatoes
1 cup squeaky cheese curds, chopped into small chunks
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 fresh cayenne pepper or other spicy pepper, minced
juice of 1 lemon
salt to taste

In a large bowl, toss together the tomatoes, kale, and cheese curds. In a separate bowl, whisk together the olive oil, pepper, and lemon. Dress the salad to your liking and season to taste with salt.

Filed Under: Cheese, Food, Kale, Pepper, Recipes, Salad, Summer, Tomatoes Tagged With: cheese curds, Kale, Recipes, Salad

Kale and Black Lentil Salad

August 7, 2013 by April Leave a Comment

I’m back in the US of A and enjoying every moment of it! I’ve been getting in lots of cuddle time with my kitties and Eric in between all the activities – Lollapalooza, pickling and canning (!), farmer’s markets, and workouts. Eric got my bike tuned up over the summer so we’ve been biking everywhere! Biking = freedom, and it’s been awesome.

I’m working on sorting the 2000+ photos and videos that I took over the past month. We spent two weeks in Ethiopia, one week in Uganda, and then one week on the Kenyan coast. Every part of the trip was different and incredible. What a blissful month.

One thing I love about being home, though, is the ability to cook the way I like to cook. In the past week I’ve been to the farmer’s market twice and am so in love with the variety of veg we get here in the summer. I bought about 10lbs of heirloom tomatoes that I plan on making bloody mary’s with, and I pickled loads of different varieties of chiles today. The kale in this salad also comes from the market, and while I do enjoy the kale you find all over Kenya – sukuma wiki – I still prefer dino kale in my salads.

Kale and Black Lentil Salad with Black Pepper + Avocado Dressing

The ripeness of the avocado for the dressing is important – if it’s not soft enough, it won’t mash nicely. You could alternatively use a food processor, but it’s much simpler to just make it in a mason jar. I like it still kind of chunky.

I actually bought the black lentils at a health food store in Nairobi. If you can’t find them, you can substitute with other sturdy lentils.

1 bunch dino kale
1/2 cup dried black lentils, rinsed and cooked
1 cup cooked chickpeas
3 carrots, shredded on a grater
1 big heirloom tomato, diced

2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon kosher salt or flaky sea salt
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon dried coriander seeds
1/2 very ripe avocado, finely diced
2 lemons, juiced
1 lime, juiced
1 tablespoon olive oil

Remove kale from the stems and cut it into fine ribbons. Combine in a large bowl with the lentils, chickpeas, carrots, and tomato.

In a mortar and pestle, crush the garlic with salt to make a paste. Add the black peppercorns and coriander seeds and process until the seeds are crushed and everything is combined. Scoop the paste into a jar and add the avocado and liquid ingredients. Use a fork to mash up the avocado in the jar. Put the lid on the jar and shake vigorously.

Toss salad with dressing and add salt to taste.

Filed Under: Avocado, Carrots, Food, Garlic, Kale, Recipes, Salad, Summer, Tomatoes Tagged With: farmer's markets, Kale, Salad, summer

Detox Week: Kale, Carrot, and Fennel Salad

December 28, 2012 by April 4 Comments

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but after the holidays or other big trips that involve a lot of eating, Eric and I go into detox mode and try to eat a lot of salads. I, for one, ate my weight in Buckeyes this past weekend. We decided some heavy-duty detox was needed, which is when we brought in the kale.

I received some fun new kitchen toys for Christmas, including a cast iron pan and a mandolin. I also received a huge box full of fancy olive oils and vinegars. Yesterday I went to work making three different vinaigrettes for salads throughout the week as well as a homemade chili powder from Rick Bayless, which I saw on Mexico, One Plate at a Time before we left for Christmas. The vinaigrettes include a saffron + red wine vinegar + olive oil, chervil + sorrel + blood orange vinegar + lemon juice + olive oil, and basil + apple + chili powder + elderberry balsamic vinegar + olive oil. I just toss stuff in the food processor with an almost 1:1 acid to oil ratio. I use just a touch more oil than acid, but this produces a pretty acidic dressing. If you’re vinegar averse, add more oil. I prefer my salads vinegary.

We dressed this kale salad with the chervil + sorrel + blood orange vinegar + lemon juice + olive oil salad dressing. I like the strong citrus flavor on kale. I also tossed in some farro to make this a bit more substantial for dinner. Oh, and the carrots and fennel were very finely sliced using my new mandolin – fun!

Kale, Carrot, & Fennel Salad

adapted from 101 Cookbooks

2 bunches lacinato kale
1 large carrot, very finely sliced
1/2 bulb fennel, very finely sliced
1 cup farro, cooked
handful of sunflower seeds and shaved almonds

De-stem the kale and role the leaves up, then finely slice the leaves so you have long, noodle-like shreds. I used a mandolin to shave the fennel and carrots so they were just paper thin and super easy to eat. Toss everything together in a large bowl

For the dressing, I put 5-6 sorrel leaves, 1 small bunch of chervil, 1/2 cup of blood orange vinegar (or use apple cider vinegar), juice of half a lemon, and 1/2 cup of olive oil in the food processor along with some salt and pepper. Process until emulsified.

Filed Under: Carrots, Kale, Salad, Vinaigrette Tagged With: carrots, Detox, Fennel, Food, Kale, Recipes, Salad, Salad Dressing

Cheese-less Pizza

June 7, 2012 by April Leave a Comment

Eric and I have started a Friday night pizza ritual. We generally pick up some multigrain pizza dough from Whole Foods, though making your own is just easy (but messier!). It seems crazy that I only recently brought home my first haul from the farmer’s market. My Saturdays have been so busy, I just never had time to go. Nonetheless, we turned Friday night pizza night into Saturday morning pizza day because we wanted to load up our pizza with fresh veg from the market. We also bought baby kale, sorrel, and radishes for a perfect spring salad.

Radishes are cute, aren’t they?

We eat most of our pizzas without cheese these days. I already have enough of a cheese habit – I don’t need it on my pizza, also! The key, then, is really good tomatoes. We always buy San Marzano in the can for this pizza, then load on tons of fresh garlic and black pepper. I rarely make an actual sauce – the tomatoes with fresh garlic are enough to make this a great meal.

And for the salad, I just juice some lemons into a mason jar, put in equal amounts of olive oil, sometimes a splash of red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Shake it up and drizzle it on – easy.

So there’s no real recipe here. For this particular pizza, we chopped asparagus into little discs and sprinkled them all over. Fresh slices of an heirloom tomato went on top, and make sure to sprinkle salt over the whole shebang. And seriously, do not skimp on the garlic. I think I added 5-6 cloves to this pizza. I minced them finely, but sometimes I’ll just do thin slices. Eric and I have been practicing making pizza so that he can make it perfectly while I’m gone all summer. His version will likely include granulated garlic instead of fresh garlic, but even he can handle rolling out the dough and smearing canned tomatoes all over it!

Filed Under: Asparagus, Food, Garlic, Kale, Pizza, Recipes, Salad, Spring, Tomatoes Tagged With: asparagus, Farmer's Market, Food, Kale, Pizza, Recipes, Salad

Lemony Kale Quinoa Patties

June 1, 2012 by April Leave a Comment

Our new favorite travel thing lately is bringing a bunch of food with us on the plane (a lot of it!) and then snacking on said food for breakfast and lunch, allowing us to spend more money (and calories!) on yummy vacation dinners. Generally this involves heaps of quinoa patties of different varieties, which have proven to be the perfect travel food. Delicious on their own – no sauce needed! – and not messy at all, these guys taste great when you first wake up after a night of dancing and drinking.

We have been crazy busy planning planning planning for our trip to Africa! I am a huge fan of flying by the seat of your pants when traveling, but I also know that when you have limited time, if you don’t figure out what there is to do and how to do it, you end up missing things. In Africa, where distances are large and infrastructure is limited, this is especially true.

So we have developed a pretty sweet plan for our two weeks. After 20 hours of traveling time, we arrive two days after we depart in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, after which we immediately hop on another flight (30 minute flight!) to Zanzibar. And the latest development is that after Zanzibar, we are heading to Rwanda! We obtained permits to hike with mountain gorillas, and I am soooo excited to see these guys up close and personal – in the wild! Then it’s back to Tanzania for a safari in the Serengeti and on to Nairobi. I have a feeling this will be epic.

And you can bet we’ll be bringing some quinoa patties on the plane.

Lemony Kale Quinoa Patties

*Some of the photos in this post include another version of quinoa patties – mushroom, ginger, and scallion patties. Those also turned out awesome, but that’s another recipe for another day.

**I put the kale in raw, but next time I might sauté it prior to throwing it in the mixture.

This recipe was inspired by my favorite salad these days – a giant mix of dinosaur kale, lemon, olive oil, shaved parmesan cheese, and sunflower seeds.

2.5 cups cooked quinoa
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tablespoon raw sunflower seeds
juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon sea salt
5 eggs
giant handful shredded kale
1/2 cup shaved parmesan cheese

In a large bowl, mix together all the ingredients. The mixture should be wet but you will still be able to form a patty.

Preheat the oven to 400. Begin forming patties and placing them on a baking pan lined with wax paper. Bake them for 20 minutes or until golden on the bottom. Flip them and bake another 5-10 minutes, until the other side is nice and browned also.

Let them cool before digging in!

Filed Under: Kale, Quinoa, Recipes Tagged With: Food, quinoa, quinoa patties, Recipes

Kale, Tofu, and Butternut Squash Salad with Miso-Soy Dressing

April 30, 2012 by April Leave a Comment

This post comes a little late. Or a lot late. I made this at least two months ago, and the early spring has us eating asparagus and ramps rather than squash now, but it’s still good so I figured I’d share.

And speaking of sharing… did you know I am going to Africa this summer?! I accepted an internship position with an NGO that works in Kibera, an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. I am really, really excited to test out the waters of working for an NGO and be confronted with new and probably life-changing challenges. Hopefully I will post more about my job at a later date and throughout my time in Kenya, though I cannot promise anything until I get a real sense of how I will be living over there.

In other exciting news, Eric and I will be traveling through Tanzania for 2.5 weeks prior to my start date in Kenya! I am still in research mode, which involves lots of spreadsheets, books, and websites, but rest assured, we will be visiting the Serengeti at least and checking out some awesome African wildlife. Other parts of the trip are currently unplanned, and they may remain that way until we hit African soil.

Kale, Tofu, and Butternut Squash Salad with Miso-Soy Dressing
inspired by 101 Cookbooks

1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 16-ounce package extra firm tofu, cubed
1 bunch kale, stems removed, chopped
1 tablespoon neutral-flavored oil, like grapeseed oil
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon white miso
juice of 1 lemon or 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon red chile flakes
5 tablespoons water

Steam the squash until just fork tender or even just a little underdone. Also make sure the tofu has no moisture by patting it dry in a towel.

In a small mixing bowl, mix together the sesame oil, soy sauce, maple syrup, miso, acid (lemon juice or rice wine vinegar), chile flakes, and water. Set aside.

In a pan, heat the neutral-flavored oil over medium-high heat. Place the tofu cubes in the pan in a single layer and let it sit for a few minutes, until the bottom becomes crispy brown. Toss the tofu around a bit to get the other sides browned (if you want to be meticulous here, you could brown each side of tofu, but after one side is browned, I usually just toss it around let it sit for a few more minutes – the lazy way). Add in the butternut squash (and a bit more oil, if needed), and stir it around with the tofu. Let this cook for a minute or two. Finally, add the kale and stir around until it gets soft – just a minute or two.

Remove the pan from heat and stir in the dressing. Serve warm.

Filed Under: Asian, Food, Kale, Salad, Squash, tofu, Winter Tagged With: Food, Recipes, Salad, tofu, Winter

Friday Night Pizzas

March 10, 2012 by April 3 Comments

I apologize up front for the really crappy pictures in this post. With these amazing pizzas coming out of the oven, I couldn’t be bothered with taking nicer photos!

I absolutely adore Friday nights spent with good food and wine on the couch. That party bug that used to tell me to go out every Friday night has apparently died because I no longer have that urge. I haven’t had it, in fact, for a while – ever since I started that 9-5 job a few years ago that required me to get out of bed at the ungodly hour of 7 am on Fridays. Who has the energy to go out after that? Not me, that’s for sure. Plus, I started to really enjoy waking up earl(ier) on Saturdays to do things like go for a run or get work done. Adulthood, I suppose.

So, equipped with some $13 Pinot Noir (which was really quite good), a movie, and these awesome pizzas, my Friday night was destined to be great.

There isn’t really a recipe here… I bought my multi-grain pizza dough (with flax seeds!) from Whole foods and randomly piled on toppings. A few key items for these pizzas: 1) 3-4 toppings, MAX; 2) garlic(!); 3) a super hot oven + pizza stone; and 4) high quality ingredients. I divided my dough into two smaller balls and then made half-and-half pizzas on those two rolled out doughs. I drizzled this spicy olive oil as a base for each pizza, then added toppings.

I think Pizza 1 turned out to be my favorite. Spend the time looking for good quality canned San Marzano tomatoes that have no preservatives – read the label, it should only include tomatoes (and maybe a basil leaf). They taste incredibly fresh… I could have eaten this pizza without the cheese, even!

Pizza 1

hand crushed san marzano tomatoes
kalamata olives
fresh mozzarella balls
garlic slices

Pizza 2

proscuitto
goat cheese (chevre) chunks
garlic slices

Pizza 3

fresh heirloom tomato slices
fresh mozzarella balls
artichoke hearts
kalamata olives

Pizza 4

shitake mushrooms
dinosaur kale shreds
goat cheese (chevre) chunks
garlic slices

To bake, crank up your oven as high as it will go – mine goes to 550 – and let your pizza stone warm up. If you’re not using a pizza stone, crank up the heat anyway. Pop the pizza in the oven for 5-7 minutes depending on your heat levels. To cut them up, I find it helps to let the pizza rest for a few minutes to allow the cheese to set a bit.

Filed Under: Artichokes, Food, Kale, Mushrooms, Pizza, Recipes Tagged With: Food, Kale, mushrooms, Pizza, proscuitto, Recipes

Creamy White Beans with Kale and Bacon

March 17, 2011 by April

I don’t have many words tonight – there are many exciting things happening right now, but I’m not at liberty yet to share them on the internet. Soon, hopefully. I also have a ton of really tasty recipes to share – like my first ever loaf of bread! And a new soba noodle recipe. And more Vietnamese tastiness. In the meantime, enjoy this great recipe from the ever-reliable Heidi Swanson.

I’ve seen many recipes for something similar, but not one has been as good as this. The secret is the creamy and crusty white beans. That, and in my particular case, really good bacon. I bought this great bacon from Whole Paycheck straight from their meat department – no plastic packaging, no nitrates or nitrites, and no preservatives. Just good ‘ol smoked pork belly with some bacon-y spices. I’m convinced that part of the reason these beans turned out so well was that the bacon was of such high quality.

Creamy White Beans with Kale and Bacon
Adapted from Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Cooking

1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 pound bacon, cut into 1-inch strips
1 large shallot, diced
4 cloves garlic, diced
1 bunch lacinato kale, stems cut out and leaves cut into strips
salt and pepper

Saute the bacon over medium-high heat in a skillet, working in batches. When the bacon is nice and crispy, remove it from the pan and set it aside on a plate lined with paper towel, leaving the bacon fat in the pan.

Make sure the beans are very dry, then place them in the bacon fat in a single layer, again working in batches. Let them sit for a minute or two, until the bottom of each bean is golden and crispy, then stir them and flip and let sit for another minute. When both batches are finished, toss in the rest of the beans and bacon.

Add the rest of the ingredients – garlic, shallot, and kale. Season with salt and pepper and cook for a few minutes longer to wilt the kale and cook the shallot and garlic. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

Filed Under: Bacon, Beans, Food, Kale, Recipes Tagged With: Bacon, Beans, Food, Heidi Swanson, Kale, Recipes, Super Natural Cooking

Kale Salad with Seeds, Nuts, and Roasted Garbanzo Beans

February 2, 2011 by April

Whenever we get back from vacation, Eric and I have a sort of detox week. We eat salads, try to get back into the regular workout routine, and try to shake off the jet lag. Today, with snowpocalypse painting our windows white, we came home early from work for a night of wine, The Wire, and this kale salad. The candle is burning, the down blanket is on the couch, and we’re watching the storm – it’s nice to eat a healthy salad knowing we can’t brave the outdoors for a run.

I had a similar salad at Prune in New York. It was a simple salad with pine nuts, parmesano reggiano, and a lemon olive oil vinaigrette. I added a few more nuts and seeds, and at the last minute, I decided to throw in warm garbanzo beans. It was a good choice. A poached egg would be excellent with this as well.

Last night was the first night we could get groceries, so tonight was our first real night of home cooking, and I figured a healthy, nutrient-rich salad was in order. With all the news of the impending snow storm, grocery stores were packed to the brim last night. No parking spots, no carts, picked-bare shelves, and 30-minute waits to check out were the order of the night. I picked up the last bunch of lacinato kale and tried to round up the rest of what I needed. Paired with a bottle of wine, this dinner made for a nice, healthy, indoors kind of night.

Kale Salad with Seeds, Nuts, and Roasted Garbanzo Beans

inspired by the Kale Salad at Prune in NYC
measurements here are rough – vary the ingredients depending on how big your bunch of kale is.

for the salad:
1 bunch lacinato kale
extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
teaspoon or so of raw sesame seeds, raw pumpkin seeds, and raw slivered almonds
1 teaspoon nice aged red wine vinegar
parmesano reggiano cheese, shaved
fresh ground pepper and salt

for the roasted garbanzo beans:
1 can garbanzo beans
extra virgin olive oil
mix of seasoning – I used a smoked hickory salt, cumin, and granulated garlic

Prepare the kale by removing the thick stems, then roll up the leaves and chiffonade the kale (aka, cut into thin strips). Toss them in a bowl with the olive oil and let it marinate while you prepare the garbanzo beans.

Heat an oven to 450. Drain and rinse the beans, then dry them off, removing any husks that rub off in the process. Toss them with olive oil and the seasonings of your choice. Roast in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes – they’ll turn a dark, golden brown and will be crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside.

Toss the kale salad with the rest of the ingredients – vinegar, lemon juice, salt, pepper, cheese, and the nuts and seeds. Serve with the warm garbanzo beans.

Filed Under: Kale, Recipes, Salad, Winter Tagged With: Food, Garbanzo Beans, Kale Salad, Recipes