Delicious&Nutritious Kale Salad

Kale:

I have tried kale before. I made several batches of kale chips back when everybody was whispering:

”Have you tried making your own KALE CHIPS??? They are so delicious!”

To tell you the truth…I thought kale chips tasted like slightly grassy air. The chopping and seasoning and baking, just wasn’t worth it for me.

Then I found this recipe from Chef Karen Barnaby for Kale Salad, Caesar Style …and my ‘kale LOVE’ started to grow! (My changes/substitutions are in BOLD)

Recipe:

This has no croutons but feel free to add them if you like.

1 ½ teaspoons(7ml) finely chopped garlic-I used 2 big fat cloves-minced

1/4 tsp (1ml) sea salt-I used a big pinch and kept adding until I liked it-but keep in mind the Parmesan cheese adds a salty bite.

1 large anchovy filet, finely chopped.

1 tablespoon (15ml) Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons (30ml) lemon juice-I used the juice of ½ a large lemon.

6 drops Tabasco sauce-I used a big squirt of sriracha HOT chili sauce.

8 drops Worcestershire sauce

5 tablespoons (75ml) extra virgin olive oil-I used 3 tablespoons

1 large egg or 3 tablespoons(45 ml)prepared mayonnaise-I used 3 tablespoons of Hellmann’s half the fat mayonnaise.

freshly ground black pepper

2 bunches kale, washed dried, stemmed, and de-ribbed cut into 1 inch pieces. I used 1 bunch of curly kale, cut it into fine julienne strips, and performed a pre-kale massage!(see below)

½ cup(125ml) freshly grated Parmesan cheese

What I did…

In a mortar and pestle I crushed the garlic, salt, and anchovy filet to a smooth paste. In a bowl, I added the crushed mixture, the mayonnaise, the mustard, lemon juice, sriracha, Worcestershire sauce and olive oil. I added the olive oil 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking after each addition, until smooth. I stacked up the kale leaves, and sliced them as fine as I could. I added them to a large bowl, and sprinkled a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of olive oil onto the leaves. Then with my hands, I scrunched the kale until it was soft, bright green and shiny(about 2 minutes of scrunching!) Let the kale sit in the bowl on the counter for about half an hour. I started out with about a ¼ cup of dressing, mixed it into the kale, tasted, and added a bit more. I had enough dressing left for another couple of salads. I piled the kale salad up on 2 plates, 1 for the P-Man, and 1 for me. It was delicious. Unusual texture…so finely chopped, and the dressing was one of the best Caesar salad dressings I have ever had.

Beats the Hell out of kale chips…I hope you will try it! Please leave me a comment…and don’t forget to share…

Banana Ginger Bread

Is it BREAD? or Is it CAKE?

"Qu'ils mangent de la brioche" Marie Antoinette

For someone who considers herself 'no baker' this bread turned out very well. I say bread, not cake, because it really isn't that sweet, and it tastes super delicious with a nice swipe of butter. I adapted this recipe from a website called: Fork Knife Swoon. Their recipe was called Ginger Spiced Banana Bread. I hope you will give mine a try, and let me know what you think…

Anchovies...You SEXY little fish!

Here Fishy,Fishy

Little fish in tins: LOVE or HATE?

I admit it. I'm 50 and I don't believe I have ever purchased a tin of anchovies until a week ago. I found a recipe for a white bean and radish salad in Bon Appetit  and thought it looked so yummy I vowed to make it...anchovies be damned! I know anchovies mostly because of my 'pop-culture' addiction. How many sitcoms have I watched where a character orders a pizza, and has uttered the phrase: 'Hold the anchovies'?

A tale of 2 Zucchinis: Sweet(cake) & Savoury(soup)

Zucchini cake with chocolate and walnuts 

Zucchini Cake with Chocolate and Walnuts 

My niece and her family came to visit a week or so ago. She knows I like to cook, and she has a garden. She arrived with a huge bag of mixed lettuce, some tiny pickling cukes(be still my Ukrainian heart), some fresh fruit, and a HUGE zucchini.

She is a VERY GOOD niece!

One Dressing...Two Salads!

I have been eating more salads lately. The temperature is climbing, the farmers market is open…It’s time. I found this Broccoli Salad recipe at ‘Simply Recipes’ and only changed a couple of things. The real bonus to this salad is the dressing. I have been making my own vinaigrette in just about the same way for years. This dressing, lightened up with ½ the fat mayonnaise, was a nice change. I only used about 1/3 of the dressing for this salad. I cut up the broccoli stems and mixed them with ½ a head of shredded cabbage to make a coleslaw, and added some leftover dressing to make salad #2. I thought they were both great…Leave me a comment…I’d love to hear your opinion.