Category Archives: Food & Drink

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January 20, 2011

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Food & Drink

What to do with more kale?

So after making kale lasagna this week, we ended up with way more kale than we needed. I think we bought quadruple what the recipe called for and I used half of it in the lasagna.

Recently I’d seen recipes for something called “kale chips”. There are plenty of examples if you google it.  All of the recipes claim them to be very, very good.

Tonight, I put that claim to the test. The process:

  1. Clean and dry the kale. I used my salad spinner to dry it.
  2. Take out the ribs of the kale and tear it into pieces (2” is generally recommended)
  3. Coat with olive oil and spices. I used my olive oil cooking spray because it was easier to coat the pieces. It’s probably tastier with real olive oil. I sprinkled salt and paprika on the pieces. I also read about people using seasoning salt, parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes… etc.
  4. Spread in a thin layer on a baking sheet.Kale, prior to cooking
  5. Bake in a 350 degree oven. I read from anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes. I kept pulling it out to check on the crispiness because the kale should get crispy. I think my layer was too thick because some pieces were done way before others and I had to pull them out early.
  6. Eat away!

The result:

I found that the kale should be crispy, if you tried to eat it before it was crispy it was somewhat difficult to chew. The saltiness was nice if you are a person that likes salty snacks. You don’t really get too much of the kale bitterness after it’s baked.

I baked up an entire head of kale which was too much for two people in one night. We’ll see if it keeps until tomorrow!

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January 17, 2011

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cooking, Food & Drink

Making kale lasagna

I must admit, I’ve always loved lasagna. However, I really only love lasagna in the style that my mom makes because I don’t like ricotta cheese. That’s why I never order it at a restaurant. For this week’s dinner I decided to adapt a Kale Lasagna Diavolo recipe from my January / February 2011 issue of Vegetarian Times magazine since kale is in season and gorgeous (not to mention delicious) this time of year.

The recipe didn’t have nearly enough vegetables in it for my liking, so I added mushrooms and onions. To make the lasagna more to my taste, I used small curd cottage cheese instead of ricotta cheese (my mom’s style) and an Italian Mix of cheese instead of goat cheese (local varieties are not really available this time of year). Instead of tomato paste I used a combination of canned tomatoes and pasta sauce. This was also the first time I’ve ever made lasagna with actual lasagna noodles. Mom always uses rigatoni noodles since they are way easier to deal with. Using lasagna noodles wasn’t as bad as I expected.

It went something like this:

  • Clean and chop kale, removing it from the stems
  • Boil it in salted water for two minutes, drain and rinse

  • Saute 3 minced cloves of garlic, a sliced yellow onion, and a double package of sliced mushrooms in a bit of olive oil (I also use the olive oil cooking spray to cut calories)
  • After they are semi-cooked, add a can of tomatoes and continue cooking. Optionally, add red pepper flakes and black pepper. The idea was to cook down the tomatoes so there wasn’t so much liquid but it didn’t work that well. I guess that’s why the original recipe called for tomato paste

  • Next up: Cooking 9 lasagna noodles according to directions
  • Spray a casserole pan, spread a thin layer of spaghetti sauce and then lay down 3 noodles
  • Spread some cottage cheese and shredded cheese. Put down half of the kale and half of the mushroom/onion/tomato mixture. Spread some more spaghetti sauce.
  • Lay down 3 more noodles. Lay down more cheese. Use up the rest of the kale and mushroom/onion/tomato mixture (lesson learned: don’t use all the liquid from that mixture). Spread spaghetti sauce.
  • Lay down the last 3 noodles. spread a thin layer of spaghetti sauce.
  • Cover with foil, bake for 40 minutes at 400 degrees. About 5 minutes from the end, sprinkle more shredded cheese on top if you like.

I’d show you a picture of a slice of lasagna, but it ended up with lots of liquid and kind of went everywhere on the plate. Despite that I think this was the best lasagna I’ve ever made.  The kale has a great texture and all the flavors came together wonderfully. And on top of that, it’s incredibly healthy and low in calories! The recipe quotes 180 per serving but as I’ve adapted it, who knows where it stands.

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January 16, 2011

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Food & Drink

Homemade Healthy Hummus

Every two weeks or so, I make up a big batch of hummus in my food processor. I started this ritual about a year ago when I decided it was time to save money on groceries. We use hummus on the sandwiches we make for lunch.

I found many recipes online and have settled on making the hummus with plain yogurt instead of olive oil to cut calories and fat.

Ingredients:

  • Dried chickpeas (or other dried beans)
  • Juice from 1/4 to 1/2 of a lemon
  • 2 – 4 garlic cloves
  • Plain yogurt
  • Splash of olive oil
  • Dash of sea salt
  • Herbs: thyme, oregano and parsley are all good choices
  • Flavor of your choice. I’ve made many flavors that are tasty: roasted garlic, sun dried tomato, roasted red pepper, green olive, pepper (using dried peppers), caramelized onion

My method:

1. Soak dried chickpeas in a pot of water overnight (other beans can be used as well)

2. When ready to start, bring the chickpeas to a boil (careful, they boil over if covered for too long). I usually try to boil them at least 20 minutes.

3. While the chickpeas are boiling, get your hummus flavor ready. Today I sauteed 3 garlic cloves, sesame seeds, and red pepper slices from a jar

4. Once your ingredients are done cooking, rinse the chickpeas and put them in the food processor along with your prepared flavor, the lemon juice, a couple spoonfuls of yogurt, a splash of olive oil, a dash of salt, and whatever herbs you’ve decided upon

5. Turn on the food processor for a few minutes. Scrape the sides as needed. Taste test and add more yogurt if it seems too dry. I also added a bit of liquid from the jar of peppers since that was the flavor I decided on. Continue to process, scrape, and add as needed. The longer you run the processor, the smoother your hummus will be.

Enjoy on a sandwich or with chips or veggies!