Kale Chips

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Kale chips last about as long as it takes them to cool down in my house.  It’s an incredibly effective way to eat a LOT of greens all at once! They are pretty comparable to regular chips in terms of tastiness and ‘you can’t eat just one-ness’, but you get to control how much salt goes on them and anything else you can think of.

Serves 2-3 (or 1 if you’re me)

2 bunches of kale washed and dried
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Ripe kale off the spines so that you have bite sized ‘chips’.

2. Place the chips on a baking sheet and toss with olive oil and salt.

3. Put into oven and set timer for about 12-15 minutes, checking to make sure they’re not burning. They should be crisp and a little brown on the edges.

4. Remove from oven and enjoy.

Pickled Beet Carpaccio

Pickled Beet Carpaccio

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This is a truly elegant dish. The combination of the pickled beets with the spiced honey makes for tart yet earthly sweet melange.
Beets are great liver cleansers and are very high in iron, making them a great blood building food. Combining this dish with some steamed greens or a summer salad will keep your body cleansed and energetic.
Having a mandolin is a major bonus for this recipe, as the beets are best when cut very thin.

1 cup rice vinegar
1 star anise
4 pods cardamom
1 stick cinnamon
2 tbsp organic evaporated cane juice
1/2 tsp sea salt
10 oz beets, thinly sliced (I highly recommend using a mandolin for this step as the beets are better the thinner they are sliced)
2 tsp olive oil
2 tbsp plain Greek style yogurt, optional
Fresh mint, optional

Italian honey
3 oz honey
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme

1. Prepare pickled beets by combining vinegar, spices, cane juice, salt, and beets. Cover and marinade at room temperature for 1 hour.
2. Meanwhile, prepare Italian honey by combining honey, salt, and herbs in a bowl. Set aside.
3. To serve, drain marinade from beets. Spoon one tablespoon of the Italian honey and toss very gently to mix. Plate the beets onto a platter, drizzle with remaining honey and garnish with optional yogurt and mint if desired.

This recipe comes from the magazine Clean Eating.

Grilled Vegetable Stacks

Grilled Vegetable Stacks

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You may have noticed that I have a soft spot for many different foods. Roasted vegetables come close to the top of this list. Roasting takes something wonderful like a zucchini and makes it divine, turns garlic into something swoon-worthy, and gathers every last drop of sweetness from a tomato. These vegetable stacks take all that deliciousness and adds two more amazing ingredients; fresh bocconcini and balsamic vinegar. Once you try these little towers of vegetable power, you`ll be singing their praises too.

Serves 8

1 cup pesto sauce (homemade or store bought)
2 japanese eggplants (the thinner ones)
2 red peppers, quartered and seeded
2 yams peeled
2 zucchinis
2 red onions
2 tomatoes
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup grated mozzarella or sliced fresh bocconcini
1/2 cup (125 ml) goat cheese

8 six inch wooden skewers
8 sprigs fresh rosemary
1/4 cup balsamic crema (this is a creamier reduction of balsamic vinegar mixed with grape juice. You’ll find it in most specialty stores and well stocked grocery stores).

1. Slice eggplants, yams, zucchini, red onions, and tomatoes into 1/4 inch slices. Brush all vegetables, except tomoatoes, with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
2. Heat barbecue to medium and grill all vegetables except tomatoes until they have some nice grill marks and are tender. If you don’t have a barbecue, or it is raining or snowing heavily, roast the vegetables in the oven at 350° for about 20 minutes or until all the vegetables are tender.
3. Assemble 8 vegetable stacks by layering slices of vegetables with pesto and cheeses between the layers. Start the stacks with the yams and finish with the zucchini. Place a wooden skewer in the middle of each stack.
4. Make ahead and reheat in a 350° oven or the barbecue for approximately 20 minutes to melt the cheese and heat the vegetables. Once heated, remove the skewers and replace with sprigs of fresh rosemary. Serve the stacks drizzled with the balsamic crema.

This recipe was taken from the ‘Whitewater Cooks at Home’ cookbook by Shelley Adams.

Warm Winter Kale Salad

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This salad is a lovely way to enjoy a nutrient packed green.  Kale is high in Vitamins A and C, as well as beta-carotene, and minerals iron, manganese, calcium, and potassium. Serve this salad warm or cold, to company or for a Tuesday night dinner, and know that you’re feeding your cells as well as your taste buds.

Serves 4
2 bunches of Kale (any variety is fine)
2 red peppers
1/2 cup thinly sliced carrots
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup marinated articoke hearts optional
Dressing: Sesame Miso dressing

1. Preheat oven to broil. Cut peppers in 2, removing stems and seeds.  Place on baking sheet with skin side up. Broil for about 10 minutes or until most of the skin is black.  Take out of the oven and put on plate with a metal bowl ontop, or into a ziplock baggie, as long as they are sealed in so that they can steam.  After peppers have cooled slightly (about 15-20minutes) skins should peel off easily.  Discard the skins and cut peppers into stripes.

2. Meanwhile, put pumpkin seeds on a baking sheet with oven at 350˚ and roast for 6 minutes.

3. Cut carrots into thin matchsticks (or just rounds if you’re short on time).

4. Wash kale and rip the leaves off stems into bite-sized pieces.  Place in steamer and steam for 3-5 minutes until kale is bright green.

5. Place peppers, pumpkin seeds, carrots, articoke hearts, and kale into a salad bowl and toss with one recipe of Sesame Miso Ginger dressing. Can be served cold, but is especially nice warm.

 

Mediterranean Chard

Mediterranean Chard

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This lovely recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks, “The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook” by Alissa Segersten and Tom Malterre.  This Naturopathic duo have created a super healthy cookbook that beats the pants off your tastebuds.  This recipe is no exception.  A great way to enjoy this nutritious green. 

         1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
         1/2 cup pine nuts
         4-5 cloves garlic
         2 bunches of chard
         1/2-1 lemon, juiced
         1/4-1/2 cup kalamata oilves, pitted and chopped
         1/4 tsp sea salt, or to taste

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot or skillet over medium heat. Add pine nuts and saute until slightly golden, about 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds more.

2. Then add wet greens and saute until wilted and bright green, making sure all greens reach the heat, about 3-4 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and add half of the lemon juice (when I made this recipe recently, it was really lemony. I would add 1/2 the lemon juice, then taste before adding more), olives, and sea salt. Serve immediately.