Kale Salad with Avocado, and Fresh Lemon Vinaigrette. Ingredients: Kale, avocado, raisins, grated carrots, raw sunflower seeds, lemon juice, olive oil. Directions: Tear kale. Mash avocado. Coat kale with mashed avocado. Toss in raisins, grated carrots and sunflower seeds. Whisk lemon juice and olive oil. Enjoy!
Kale Drink: BLEND: Lacinato kale, stemmed, shredded; 1 peeled, cored green apple; two peeled kiwi; water; optional: lemon juice, ginger. Blend well. Enjoy!
Kale Chips: Ingredients: Curly Kale, Bacon, Salt, Pepper. Directions: Dice 1/2 # bacon, rend in a skillet. Remove leaves from head of kale; rinse and dry thoroughly. Cut or tear kale leaves into chip size. In large mixing bowl combine bacon bits, bacon fat and kale. Mix thoroughly. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread mixture over a cookie sheet, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Bake for 20 minutes or until crispy. Enjoy!
Beans 'n' Greens Italiano.
Serves 3 to 4
This basic recipe offers endless possibilities for combining cooked beans and fresh, chopped greens. Especially good combinations include kale and limas, escarole and cannellinis, mustard greens and adukis, and Swiss chard and navy beans.
1 T olive oil (try using the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes)
3 large cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
½ t dried rosemary leaves
¾ pound greens, such as Swiss chard, spinach, or kale, trimmed (thick stems reserved for stock), rinsed, and finely chopped
2 to 4 T bean cooking liquid or water (optional)
11/2 c firm-cooked beans
1/3 c finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes or coarsely chopped, pitted black olives (I used both)
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- In a large skillet or wok, heat the oil. Sauté the garlic over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until lightly browned, about 1 minute. (Take care as garlic burns easily.) Add the rosemary and let sizzle for 5 seconds.
- Add the greens (along with any rinse water still clinging to the leaves) and cover the pot (you may have to squash the greens under the cover). Cook over medium-high heat until the greens are almost tender, about 2 to 3 minutes for spinach, chard, or beet greens and 5 to 8 minutes for kale or escarole. Stir every few minutes and add a bit of liquid, if needed, for the longer-cooking greens.
- Stir in the beans and sun-dried tomatoes a minute or so before the greens are done.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Variations
- Toss with 3 to 4 cups of cooked, small pasta, such as spirals of elbows. Drizzle on a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Serve warm or at room temperature.
- Use pan-fried tempeh instead of beans
- Heat any leftovers in vegetable stock for a quick soup
I use dry sun-dried tomatoes (instead of the ones that come packed in oil), simply because they are cheaper, and easier to keep around. Sometimes I use the boiling water in which I reconstitute them as the extra liquid added to longer-cooking greens.