If you were to tell me I'd be snacking on kale, I would have thought you were nuts! You would have to have your head in the sand to not hear about all the healthy properties of kale these days. But, what do you do with it? I've used it in simple recipes ususally sauteed with raisins and pine nuts. Delicious! It can be thrown into salads, soups and egg dishes.
My latest snack is kale chips. I've never been a big fan of potato chips (thank God!). Hand me a bag of Cheetos, though, and I'll be your friend for life! These kale chips don't taste like Cheetos, however! I can appreciate the fact that they are good for me....and they're so easy to make.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
You can buy pre-cut kale in bags now at most stores. Or, you can purchase stalks of the same in the organic (preferably) section of the supermarket. To prepare the kale for roasting, cut from the stalk and remove any hard stems, cut into pieces.
Spray a cookie sheet with either butter spray or olive oil spray. Lay out the kale evenly on the sheet and spray with a spritz of pan spray. Sprinkle with sea salt (not too much). Roast in the oven for 10 minutes. Halfway through "shuffle" the kale. Remove and eat when cool. These are great on salads, baked potatoes, for starters and are GUILT FREE! The longer they sit and cool, the crispier they become....try it!
You, too, can cook like a chef and achieve a beautiful, healthful meal at home. Lately, I've been watching, "Chopped" on TV. It's the show that gives a chef four completely weird and random ingredients in which to work their magic. They're judged on taste, appearance and creativity. And they must come up with an appetizer, main course and dessert, provided they aren't "chopped" along the way! It's interesting to see what they come up with in 20-30 minutes. Of course, I'm the "armchair chef" always thinking how I would transform those same ingredients. I know, that's weird, but that's the way I am! Getting to the dessert round would be easy; I'm sure I'd choke trying to create a dessert! Not enough practice!
Getting back to the cod. I made this complete dinner somewhere within the time frame, without getting chopped! Ingredients were cod, mango, kale and couscous. I ran out of time as I was preparing to make a mango sauce for the fish. Oh well...next time! Believe me, though, the cod was simple, crunchy and moist at the same time! Good stuff!
Ingredients:
2 pieces of cod, cleaned, de-boned and pat dry
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs on a small plate
a drizzle of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
a sprinkling of garlic powder
a pat of butter on top of each cod piece
(optional)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a baking dish add a drizzle of oil. Season the fish. Brush the fish with oil on both sides. Dredge and coat the fish in the panko crumbs. Lay them in the dish and cook for about 15-20 minutes or until done. If you want a crunchier finish, top with a pat of butter and broil for a minute or two. Serve with couscous, sauteed kale/spinach mix and sliced mango. Done!
Since I began writing, this blog has brought me and my palate to many places. As I browse the grocery isles these days, I'm always on the hunt for a new "victim", that is, a new fruit or veggie I've never cooked with. I have a long way to go in this world of different cuisines. I like to think of myself as a milder version of that guy on Bizarre Foods. No, I won't be eating deep fried hissing coach roaches, ever! But, I do like to have a huge variety in my food repertoire.
Last week I brought home a bunch of kale, not sure what I'd do with it at the time. It was a deep forest green and just looking at it made me feel healthier! It has its origins dating back before the middle ages and is loaded with anti cancer properties, vitamin K, C, lutein and calcium. Sure, I'd give it a try!
Although it has the appearance of spinach or chard, its closest relative is black cabbage, a Tuscan staple. In this recipe I treated it like spinach. Most of the articles I had read about kale indicated that it could be bitter, but I'd fix that. Add raisins! So, here it is in its glory, my rendition of "Hail to the Kale".
Ingredients:
1 bunch of kale, cleaned and chopped.
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup water
2 handfuls raisins
a dash of sea salt
1 Tbsp butter
more oil for drizzling at the end.
2 Tbsp pine nuts
In a large (5 qt.) pot place the oil, water and kale in. Bring it to a boil, adding the raisins, a dash of salt and stir. Reduce the heat to simmer and slightly (not tightly) cover, stirring occasionally until the kale becomes fairly limp, but still has a bit of crunch. At the last minute add the butter and sprinkle with pine nuts and maybe a drizzle of olive oil. Serve and enjoy.
