Garlicky Kale; So Good!

Looking for a new way to eat Kale? This is a super fast and delicious side. Make it, eat it, love it.

1 TBSP of Olive Oil
1 Garlic Cloves, thinly sliced (I minced)
1 small bunch Kale, stems trimmed, chopped 
1/4 tsp of Salt

Heat a large frying pan over medium-high. Add oil, then garlic, (smells good).

Cook for 1 min. Add kale and salt. Cook, stirring often, until kale is tender and wilted but still bright green, 3 to 4 minutes. 

Serve. 

I didn't know that Kale would be good served hot but trust me, it is. 

What the Kale? Part 2

This is a second tribute to my previous post about "Rawsome Kale Salad" I have finally made it and again I have to drool a little even just posting about it. This salad is SOOOO good. 

What is Kale anyway? 

It is a variety of cabbage (not seaweed Aaron) and considered to be one of the most highly nutritious foods out there. Here is the link to Wikipedia; go read how good this veggie is for you.

So since I have already told you how good this salad was I thought that since I have now made it I'd post the recipe here too, with my thoughts and insights (the best part right?).

Rawsome Kale Salad (there's a hippie in my kitchen)

2 Bunches of organic Kale (Oops, I only bought 1)

1 Ripe Avacado

1/2 Red Onion Chopped

1 Apple Chopped

2 Tsp Minced Ginger

2 Tsp Minced Garlic

2 Tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Tbs Fresh Lemon Juice

2 Tsp Soy Sauce/Tamari/Braggs Liquid Aminos (I used Soy Sauce around here)

1/2 Cup Raw Cashews, roughly chopped

Ok, here is where I alter the directions a bit, just changing the order a little

In a  bowl, mix the ginger, garlic, oil, lemon and soy sauce together. Set aside. 

Make sure that all of your above ingredients are indeed chopped ahead of time. I didn't do this and was constantly 'loving up my salad' and then washing my hands. annoying.

To prepare Kale, wash well and use a pairing knife to cut the leaves away from the tough stem. This often leaves them in nicely sized pieces, but if they are larger than bite sized-feel free to take care of that. (make sure you use a large bowl for this salad because you will need the space for your lovin)

Cut your avocado and scoop the fruit(meat, green part, flesh, whatever you want to call it) into the bowl with your kale. 

At this point you want to love up your kale and avocado, and you're going to do this by giving the kale a nice deep tissue massage. Get your hands in there and make sure the avocado gets into all the nooks and crannies of the greens.  (You heard her; LOVE IT UP!)

Grab your premixed sauce and pour it in with your loved up salad, and love it up just a little bit more to coat everything. 

At this point, add all your other chopped ingredients. Mix and serve. Voila! Now you can sit back and let the compliment start a comin! (These are all Christina's words, aren't they fabulous?)

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Christina, feel free to cook for me anytime!

I have this lovely vegan friend; you have all heard of her on here before. Well yesterday I was sort of tricked into attending a vegan play date (which was great because I got to eat this amazing salad...keep reading). Christina and another good friend of ours have this vegan play date weekly where they do a vegan potluck lunch. I got a pity invite yesterday (maybe not a pity invite because they really just love hanging out with me, and who doesn't?) which turned out to be a great way to spend my morning. The kids played pretty well; only a few altercations between toddlers, and there was good conversation and something I was prepared for; awesome food. 

Bean, rice and veggie wraps, so yummy (thanks Maggie), my complicated contribution of 1 ripe cantaloupe and 2 blood oranges. (I realized I was intruding on the vegan play date as I was leaving and this is what I threwtogether) and a salad. Really, Salad. Who brings salad? I am NOT much of a salad eater. I will eat it but rarely prepare it for myself. I mostly NEVER order it when we go out to eat ("soup of the day please"). But this salad looked different. 

I filled my wrap, grabbed some fruit and a spoonful?/scoopful?/handful? of salad. It was AMAZING.

Turns out this salad was not really salad at all. Well it was, but not a lettuce salad. It was Kale. And apples. And Cashews. And delicious. I had 3 helpings and could have had more but thought that may have been a little much. 

I have already added all the ingredients for this salad to my grocery list (yes, my meal plan is already underway for next week) and I will be making this to share with my family. But until I officially make this dish, here is a link to the recipe if you just can't wait. 

And I wouldn't if I were you.

There's a hippie in my kitchen: What the Kale?

Bon Appetit