Cooking Adventures: Introducing Kale

I have been on a mission for our family to eat better since Gil and I moved in together. Only became serious about it before the wedding and now that L.L. is here I have actually taken strides to test new ingredients. On the list was the, ever popular, kale. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it, but since it was one of the most plentiful things at the farmers market I figured, why not?

When I decided to get, said kale, I had no idea what I was going to do with it, except cook it in something. A sweet girl stocking the booth suggested to start with Dinosaur Kale (aka Lacinato Kale), so I did. She recommended to soak it in olive oil and lemon juice, making sure to get it into all the crevices, so that it wouldn’t be too bitter. Also, taking off the stem. Basically strip the middle all the way out of the leaf. I also looked up a bunch of recipes to see how most people like their kale. I found that there are many ways to pair it, but what I was truly hoping for was a recipe that asked for the items I already had in the house. Even though I didn’t find that, I did find one close enough. Plus, I read enough of the other recipes to know that I could make it up on my own and be close enough. This is how I do most of my cooking. Who wants to go to the grocery for one item?

We started off here with this recipe:
Whole-Grain Spaghetti with Garlicky Kale and Tomatoes

I did a bit of exchanges with the items I had in the house for the missing ingredients and here is what I came up with.

One bunch of Organic Dino Kale (minus about 7 leaves to try out Kale Chips)
Coat with olive oil and lemon juice. Work it into each leaf to cover all parts.

About 1/3 of an Organic yellow and 1/3 of an Organic green pepper (chopped)
About 5 Organic crimini mushrooms (sliced)
1/2 of a carton of Organic cherry (or grape) tomatoes (sliced long ways)

Fresh Garlic, this is the amount I had left, I would have used three big cloves otherwise  (chopped or minced)

Almonds, leftover from a bagged salad we didn’t use (these are coated with something sweet, but I would say go with the regular old raw)

I started off boiling the Organic whole-grain pasta.

Then moved onto the mushrooms and garlic in the skillet with a enough of Organic Safflower oil to lightly coat the bottom. Once they both were starting to change color I added the peppers and left them in the pan on medium to low heat for about 4-5 minutes. Then I added the kale. Once I added the kale I realized it should have been sliced in strips. So do that before you add it or you will be cutting it in the mix while it’s cooking (like I did, oops). After the kale has wilted add the tomatoes. You will see them soften in a minute or so. Turn off the heat for the skillet and your spaghetti should also be done.

After that I added some lentils I had leftover and we needed to finish up. Then the almonds.

Really, it’s quite easy and so tasty! The only spice I used was garlic powder with chives. I added a heafty amount of that in with the kale.

Go ahead and try it out! Let me know what you think, because we loved it. I am a kale convert and picked it up at the farmers market again this week.

These last pictures also show a parmesan cheese mix we get with raviolis, but they give you too much. It has garlic in it, too! (perfect)