Some Like it Hot

I wanted to share the kale pesto recipe I was talking about earlier. It's a great way to mask a scary-to-some veggie in an unsuspecting way. This particular version has some heat, but feel free to omit the chilis if that's not your thing. Quite frankly, I could go either way with the peppers, but like I said, I've got some spice-loving friends and sharing is caring, right?

Kale Pesto

Ingredients:

¾ cup kale leaves, torn

¾ cup packed fresh basil leaves

½ cup toasted pumpkin seeds, or walnuts or pine nuts

2 tbsp grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic, quartered

2 tbsp lemon juice

1-2 red chilis, minced (optional)

Directions:

Place greens in a food processor and pulse until broken up. Add in nuts/seeds and garlic; pulse a few times, then add in remaining ingredients and process until fairly smooth, or to the desired consistency, scraping down the sides occasionally. Remember to taste as you go!

Pesto freezes very well. Instead of chilling down an entire container when you are likely only going to need a small amount at a time, try freezing in ice cube trays. Once frozen, pop all of the pesto cubes into a Ziplock bag for compact storage and defrost only the amount needed.

Eat More Kale

Last year around this time we started getting weekly boxes of produce, courtesy of our local CSA (community supported agriculture). It was the first time either of us had joined this type of program and we were both eager to give it a go. One of the major benefits, aside from supporting local farmers, is that we got the opportunity to try new things that we either had never seen before or didn't know what to do with so we never bothered to purchase. Unfortunately, since there were only two of us in the house, we just couldn't go through it all in time without giving some away, so we decided to forgo the CSA for this year and spend the money we would have allocated to that on farmer's market finds instead!

Being the recipe nerd that I am, I documented what we made last year with our share of the produce, which I'll share on here from time to time. It kept us accountable for trying to use up all of our bounty, and looking back it was neat to see how innovative we got with our meals.

A few weeks in a row we were "gifted" with bunches and bunches of varying types of greens. They went into soups and stir fries, salads of course, but then we had to get creative. Or should I say, I had to get creative. The boy doesn't touch things like kale at all and still makes a face when it's served. Does this sound familiar to anyone? I can't even say that it's because he's a stubborn eater -- he willingly tries way more things than I do. It's just something about this green that he can't get into. But I digress. If you enjoy something but can't get anyone else on board with you, start disguising it! Kale pesto and Spanikopita are two of my more proud creations. Those recipes are coming.

For now I present to you quite possibly the easiest recipe (can I even call it a "recipe"?) to make kale more palatable for those up-turned noses.

The secret ingredient!

Gingery Kale
Yield 2-4, depending on size of bunch

Ingredients
1 bunch toscano kale, washed, dried completely and torn into pieces
water or broth for steaming
1/4 cup ginger dressing
roasted garlic (if you have on hand) or a few dashes of garlic powder

Directions
Heat some canola oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high. Place the kale in the pan and saute until it has some color, about 3-4 minutes. Deglaze the pan with a little bit of water and about half of the ginger dressing. Put a lid on the skillet and steam until the kale wilts. Uncover the pan and add the remaining dressing and garlic. Continue to saute until the kale absorbs the dressing and there is no more liquid in the pan. There is no exact timing on this last part -- you could leave it in for a while if you forget! It will just have more roasty bits at the bottom.