Kale Pesto

The other day, as I stared at a huge bunch of kale from our CSA, a thought occurred to me. I love basil pesto; I've heard of spinach pesto; why not kale pesto? We had two small sprigs of basil this week, so they were recruited -- along with said huge bunch of kale -- into pesto!

There wasn't anything fancy about the recipe itself -- it was a very standard pesto recipe, but with kale stepping in for the bulk of the greenery. It's extremely easy to make pesto; just put everything in the food processor and process the food until it has a nice smooth texture. This pesto was made of pine nuts, rice-parmesan, olive oil, garlic, kale -- with the stems removed and coarsely chopped, basil leaves, and a little salt and pepper.

It took just as long to wash and chop the kale, assemble the other ingredients, and prepare the pesto in the food processor as it took for my pot of water to boil and the pasta to cook. Quick and easy! And, to make it even easier next time, this recipe made three times as much pesto as I needed for tonight's dinner -- so I froze two individual servings of pesto for the next couple of times!

As easy as tonight's dinner was, I didn't have the energy even for this much work last night after I got back from doing work at school. I present you with a bonus photo of last night's dinner -- roasted CSA broccoli and farmers' market potatoes plus salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper.

I love roasting -- you just throw your vegetables in the oven and forget about them, then -- BAM! -- dinner's ready! Despite my intense love for both roasting and broccoli, I'd actually never had roasted broccoli before -- but this will certainly not be the last time. Roasting the broccoli gave it a fantastically nutty flavor; I may have just found my new favorite way to prepare my favorite vegetable.

Indian Potato-n-Kale Stuffed Peppers

We got some tasty-looking green bell peppers at the farmers' market last week, but I wasn't sure what to do with them -- maybe stuffed peppers? -- and then inspiration struck. With some red-skin potatoes (also from the farmers' market) and a bunch of kale (from our CSA), I would make an Indian-flavored, spicy mashed potato and sauteed kale mixture to stuff the peppers with.

P chopped up the kale nice and small so that there would not be big chunks mixed in with the smoother texture of the potato, while I chopped and boiled the potatoes until they were soft enough to mash and got the peppers ready -- cutting off the tops and scooping out the seeds inside. I sauteed the kale in a bit of olive oil and some Indian spices, including the hot curry paste I use for just about everything. Once the kale was cooked and the potatoes were mashed, I mixed it all up together -- it already tasted delicious, but I managed to get (most of) the mixture into the peppers anyway.

Once stuffed, I stuck the peppers in the oven at 375 for about 20 minutes, until the peppers were nice and soft -- but not too soft! The texture of the peppers was perfectly balanced between tenderness and crispness, and the top of the stuffing peeking out the top got delightfully crunchy from being uncovered in the oven. Fabulous!

We have one pepper left, and you can bet that we are going to be fighting over it for lunch tomorrow!

Grilled Kale

Last weekend, we barbecued with my dad -- and he had the idea to grill some kale along with our corn and veggie burgers. I have to admit, I was a little skeptical at first -- but he talked me into it. And I'm so glad he did! The kale turned out amazing.

It had that delicious smokiness from the grill, and was crisp on the edges while the rest of it was still nice and soft. We made sure not to cook it too long, so the kale wasn't bitter -- and it turned out with a perfectly rich, smoky flavor.

The preparation was simple -- we tossed everything in some olive oil, salt and pepper, and a little bit of cayenne pepper. First, we grilled some CSA carrots and spring onions with the chopped up pieces of kale stem; once those started to get nice and soft, I threw in the leafy part of the kale. I made sure to keep stirring up the veggies so that the kale didn't get charred on one side, but the whole cooking process only took about ten minutes.

You can see our farmers' market corn and black bean burgers in the background, but the grilled kale was definitely the star of this meal! Grilled kale is definitely a must for our future barbecues!

Curried Chick Peas & Kale on Potato Pancakes

One of our classic family favorites is curried chick peas and some kind of green vegetable -- with some potatoes thrown in if I have them. I've posted about it before, because we really do have it all the time! Last night, however, I made a slight variation on the classic garbanzo'n'green extravaganza.

The chick peas and chard were prepared as usual, but -- instead of having potatoes as part of the curried mixture -- it was served on top of potato pancakes. It was delicious -- and a fun twist on one of our standard dishes!

Despite the fact that the chick peas were quite spicy, Zelda ate a million of them -- and refused to eat any of the potato pancake. In the background, you can see a glass of homemade limeade that we had with the meal. Zelda was watching Yo Gabba Gabba -- and Plex taught us how to make lemonade (squeeze lemons, add water, add honey, stir). We didn't have any lemons, but we did have a couple of limes -- so we made our limeade with agave nectar. Yum!

Thai Enchiladas with Kale, Black Beans, and Sweet Potato

At long last, our CSA has started up again! This week, we got kale, spinach, lettuce, arugala, mustard greens, spring onions, sage, lemon balm, and radishes.

We had our official first CSA meal of the season last night at my dad's house, after picking up the vegetables. Last night I made a sweet and spicy stirfry with all of the mustard greens and some veggie chicken that my dad had (Trader Joe's chicken-less strips); the sauce was made from plum sauce, peanut oil, red pepper flakes, garlic, and some spices. We ate the stirfry over brown rice, garnished with some sesame seeds.

Alas, I don't have a picture of last night's meal (though I should have one whenever my dad e-mails it to me) -- so let's talk about tonight's meal, the second official meal of the season!

Tonight, we had thai enchiladas filled with kale, black beans, and sweet potato -- and they were awesome. The filling was creamy and delicious, and the various flavors blended really well to make an amazing meal. I considered keeping the secret of this complicated-sounding recipe classified -- but the best part of this super-tasty meal was how easy it was to throw together. This comes with a confession that I didn't make my enchilada sauce or most of this recipe from scratch; no, there was a very crucial assist from my friend carton of soup.

In our pantry, we had a box of Pacific Foods Thai Sweet Potato Soup. I strained out the liquid to be the base of the sauce and left the chunky sweet potato bits for filling. I added a can of drained black beans to the mostly sweet potato mixture, then added kale that had been chopped and sauteed.

The liquid from the soup is pretty thick to start, but needs a little bit of thickening to be really good as an enchilada sauce. I think coconut flour is a good thickener to use, since there is already coconut in the soup -- but really, any thickener will do. Whisk in a little bit of your thickener of choice until it is smooth, then heat gently until the sauce thickens up enough to pour over the enchiladas.

We only had small, taco-sized corn tortillas -- so these were really mini enchiladas. One container of soup and half of our part of the kale yielded nine small enchiladas. You'll want to drizzle a little bit of oil and sauce on the bottom of the baking pan so that the tortillas don't stick or get hard on the bottom. Roll up the tortillas with the filling and lay them in the baking pan; when they are all assembled and comfortably snuggled together into the pan, pour the sauce evenly over all of the enchiladas. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, covered in tin foil so your tortillas don't dry out.

When there was about five minutes left, I decided on a whim to sprinkle a bit of soy cheddar over the tops of the enchiladas to give them some cheeziness -- but that is definitely optional. The darker sauce on top of the cheese is a little bit of extra sauce drizzled over the top. You can see a bit of kale and black beans peeking out shyly at the end of the tortillas. Overall, not the most photogenic creation, but definitely super yummy -- and easy!

Garlicky Kale, White Beans, & Sausage

It's been awhile since I've posted anything, plus our CSA has been finished for several weeks now -- but I'm still here! Things have been crazy with school and the tiny one, but I'm going to try to get back into posting regularly.

We got a great haul at the farmers' market this week, but I am already beginning to worry about the weeks to come; next week is the final week of the season . . . where am I going to get produce then? Are there any farms around here that are open year round? Should I try to grow some indoor vegetables?

Those worries aside, let me tell you about tonight's dinner! I have to start with a confession. I decided what to make tonight because I've always thought the word 'garlicky' is one of the best words ever, and wanted an excuse to use it. That, and we got a gorgeous bunch of kale from the farmers' market this week!

Kale, white beans, and sausage is one of those meals I think of as very classic Italian, and I was all set to make my Italian friends proud (I'm looking at you, JerzeyGrrl!) by making the Italian sausages from Vegan Brunch and giving this meal the proper Italian treatment. But . . . well, I didn't have any tomato paste. Or fennel. Or oregano. Or, really, any of the appropriate seasonings to make some good Italian food. I know, I know.

So what did I have? My answer to everything: curry paste! Instead of tomato paste, I used curry paste; instead of Italian seasonings, I used Indian seasonings. I always have the goods to make Indian food, and so I turned this Italian classic into something new.

I used cannellini beans as the base for the sausages, since I was going to be using them for the rest of the meal anyway. The sausages turned out a little softer than usual, which I am going to attribute to the softness of the beans that I was using -- but they were super tasty! After steaming the sausages, I diced two of them up and sauteed them in a little olive oil before adding the kale.

The kale came with a whole boatload of garlic -- it was supposed to be garlicky, after all! -- and a bit more of the same Indian spices I'd used in the sausages. Once the kale started wilting appropriately, I added the white beans at the end. The white beans really just have to get warm, but they also need to get mixed up with the rest to make sure they get nicely coated with all those other delicious flavors.

Even though this wasn't exactly the meal I had in mind when I started out, it was a fantastic dinner! The sausages take time to cook, but it is an easy meal to throw together -- and you don't have to pay attention to the sausages while they're steaming, so you are free to go off and do something else! The Indian flavors really came through nicely in the sausages and the kale, putting a new spin on an old classic. Definitely a meal we'll be having again!

Kalesanga

Tonight I made a giant tray of kale lasagna -- which I affectionally refer to as kalesagna. Since I made it with rice noodles, the whole thing was also gluten-free . . . though we ruined the effect by having slices of farmers' market whole wheat bread on the side.

I made my first kalesagna right after Aunt Karen died, to bring up with us when we went to be with the family; it felt Karen-y to me when I made it -- so it seemed particularly appropriate to make a kalesagna as part of my season of Karen.

The lasagna is made up of layers of tomato sauce, sauteed kale, and tofu ricotta; I had a bag of Daiya mozzarella cheese still hanging out in our fridge from before, so I used that for the top of the kalesagna.

The tofu ricotta I always make is based on the ppk's recipe, though I have made it so often now that I never look at the recipe or measure anything; in fact, when I just now looked up the recipe, I was a bit surprised to see it called for salt. My variant is a bit different from that recipe, but it is essentially the same thing. I've seen lots of vegan ricotta recipes out there, but this one is definitely the best. Even if I don't exactly follow it anymore, it's still definitely the best starting point for making your own ricotta. Plus the recipe is super simple, and throws together quickly -- always a bonus.

Kalezone

We got back from Massachusetts late last night, so tonight was the first meal I've actually made in a few days. I had been thinking of this as a "kalezone" . . . a calzone filled with kale, that is; but it turned out that I had less kale left than I thought, so it was filled with kale and beet greens.

They were awesome. The recipe made six calzones; I ate one and P ate two, so we have another meal's worth in the freezer for another night. The dough for the calzones -- given below -- came from the recipe in the Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook. I was not sure if using all whole wheat flour would make the dough be too dense, but it turned out perfectly.

The filling was made of tofu ricotta and sauteed kale and beet greens. The greens were sauteed in a little olive oil with the remaining spring onion bulbs; the tofu ricotta was based on a recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance and Veganomicon -- found here. That recipe is the basis for the tofu ricotta I use with great regularity; I use it so often that I hardly ever come near the original recipe anymore . . . but that is the source and the inspiration. The tofu ricotta and the greens were mixed together to form the filling, and the finished calzones were served with a side of tomato sauce.

Calzone Dough

• 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 c warm water
• 1/2 tsp sweetener of your choice
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 - 3 cups whole wheat flour, more or less as needed

Place yeast in a large bowl and pour the warm water over it. Let rest 5 minutes. Add sweetener and salt, then beat in enough flour to make a soft but kneadable dough. Knead 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a large bowl and place dough in it; turn dough over so it is lightly oiled on all sides. Cover bowl with a clean, damp kitchen towel and let dough rise in a warm place for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or oil it, or mist with nonstick spray). Punch down dough and divide into 6 equal balls. Keep dough covered with the same towel and work with 1 ball of dough at a time. Place the ball on a lightly floured surface and roll into a 6-inch round. Place a heaping 1/2 cup of filling on one half of the round. Fold the empty side of the dough to enclose the filling. Seal the edges of the calzone by crimping them with your fingers or with the tines of a fork. Prick the calzones in a few places on top with the tines of the fork. Place them on the baking sheet as soon as they are formed. Mist tops lightly with olive oil (or cooking spray). Bake until golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Vegan Chorizo with Greens

For lunch today, I had my first ever reuben, courtesy of my bff Sarah. She made Vegan Dad's corned beef, we made vegan Thousand Island dressing, and bought some sauerkraut from the farmer's market. In general, I don't like salad dressing, I don't like swiss cheese, I don't like rye bread, and I don't like sauerkraut . . . but this sandwich was really, really good. P calls this the gin-and-tonic effect; gin and tonic are both pretty awful on their own . . . but magically, together, they form a delicious cocktail.

Anyway, I don't have a picture of this glorious masterpiece. It was exquisite looking, especially with the nice salad on the side made from lettuce, arugala, tomatoes, and scallions Sarah got from the farmers' market. Oh well. Instead, I have a picture of our rather unphotogenic dinner: vegan chorizo with kale and beet greens.

Just because something tastes good doesn't mean it looks pretty in a photo, as tonight's dinner will attest. I made a variant on the chorizo sausages from Vegan Brunch -- making them extra spicy! -- and sauteed the greens with two of the sausages. The greens and sausage mix were served over Spanish rice made with brown rice.

Something went wrong with the sausages while they were steaming, though, and they ended up much softer than they normally do. As a result, it was more the crumbly style of chorizo rather than the slicey kind. It still mixed up well with the greens though! P thought the sausages might've been a little too spicy; I liked them how they were, but I'll probably tone down the spice the next time I make them. There are still two more of these extra spicy, crumbly sausages to use up. I'll probably make some whole wheat pasta with kale and the other two sausages later this week!

Curried Lentils with Kale

Tonight, after the Celtics game, we wanted to eat something quick and easy for dinner. We had a huge bunch of kale from the CSA this week and still had a bit left, so I decided to use the rest of it with dinner. The quickest thing I could think of, after a consultation with the pantry, was to make a big pot of lentils to go with the kale. I'm partial to Indian food, so curried lentils and kale seemed like the best way to go.


The lentils were fantastic. I didn't measure out anything exactly, so the measurements in the recipe below are approximate. The kale was also delicious; it was sauteed with some olive oil and a few diced cloves of garlic -- nothing fancy. We still have a ton of lentils left, even after seconds, but it'll make a good snack later this week!


Curried Lentils

• 2 cups of lentils
• 8 cups of water
• 2-3 tsp turmeric
• 2-3 tsp coriander
• 2-3 tsp curry powder
• 2-3 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2-3 tsp ginger
• salt to taste

After rinsing the lentils, simmer for approximately 20 minutes until most of the water has been absorbed. Stir in the spices and simmer for another 5 or so minutes. The lentils should be soft enough that they stick together a bit and scoop easily. The cayenne pepper makes the lentils spicy, but could be safely left out if you don't want the heat.