(Quite Possibly the World's Best) Kale Salad

Kale Salad.

Really?

That's what we're excited about here?

Kale Salad?

It sounds kind of yucky, huh? I have to admit, I do love me some kale, but it's usually cooked until very soft and seasoned and...you know, not yucky. The idea of raw kale doesn't really appeal to me, so I have absolutely no idea what made me pick up that bag of "Organic Kale Salad" at the grocery store, but I did. I suppose it was the colours. The mixture of the rich deep green of the kale with the bright orange carrot shreds and strands of purple cabbage was just so pretty. I thought I would cook it. I mean, who eats raw kale? It's tough and bitter, right?

Wrong!

The truth is, nobody every told me what to do with raw kale before, and THIS is it.

The package included a recipe and, after reading over it a few times, I thought, "What the heck ~ I'll give it a whirl. If it sucks, it'll be all seasoned, and I can just go ahead and cook it up. How bad could it be?"

Of course, I didn't think this until after I had gotten home from the aforementioned grocery store (to which, BTW, I mistakenly referred as "Evil Foods" due to my phone's autocorrect feature while texting my husband ~ haha). So, naturally, I didn't have all of the ingredients. In fact, I didn't have MOST of the ingredients. So, I decided to sort of wing it. It looked like it came down to oil, rice vinegar, sugar, salt, and some other stuff. I didn't have plain rice vinegar, so I used seasoned rice vinegar and left out the salt and sugar, but you can play that by ear. Here's what I did:

About 1 lb kale, cleaned, trimmed and chopped
1/2 - 1 cup shredded carrots (I'm guessing ~ mine was part of a mix)
1/2 - 1 cup purple cabbage, sliced into thin ribbons
1/2 c. olive oil
1/2 c. seasoned rice vinegar*
2 TBS toasted sesame oil
black pepper to taste
maybe a little sugar and/or salt
1 can garbanzos, rinsed and drained
1/4 - 1/2 c. walnuts, chopped or roughly broken
1/4 - 1/2 c. dried cherries
chopped prepared beets and sliced avocado for garnish

In a very large bowl, combine kale, carrots and cabbage. Add olive oil, vinegar, sesame oil and pepper to taste. Toss well. Taste, adjust seasonings as necessary. You might like it a little sweeter, or more salty. If you do, add a little sugar and/or salt. Add garbanzos, walnuts and cherries and toss gently. Allow salad to sit for at least 30 minutes before serving. The dressing softens and mellows the kale, and helps all of the flavours blend over time. (In fact, I think it will be even better tomorrow.)

To serve, place a generous portion of salad on a plate. if desired, top with a few beets and arrange avocado slices to make it look extra pretty :)

* Seasoned rice vinegar is a mild vinegar that is seasoned with sugar and salt, so, if you don't have any on hand, you could use any mild-flavoured vinegar and add salt and sugar to taste. I like to keep seasoned rice vinegar around, because it sure makes a great dressing, with very little effort. I make coleslaw by adding seasoned rice vinegar to mayonaise, mixing in a little Old Bay Seasoning and tossing with shredded cabbage. Oh, look! Two recipes for the price of one!

**I think a little cooked quinoa and/or some chopped hardboiled eggs would be a nice addition to this salad, but it is great as is.

And look ~ I even remembered to take a picture this time!

The Best of Both Worlds

Last night, I was confronted with a dilemma. I wanted meatballs. I REALLY, REALLY wanted spaghetti and meatballs. Well, vegetarian meatballs because, in the words of my daughter, "meat is gross." Anyway, I wanted them. But, I had these six smallish zucchini, see...and I had been saying I was going to make the always yummy zucchini/pepper/Italian sausage stuff, and I thought I could have some linguine on the side, which all sounded super yummy...except that I wanted those damned meatballs. So, I decided to make a sort of hybrid of the two: Zucchini & Meatballs over linguine. Holy moly! why had the food gods not revealed this delicacy to me yet? This was, quite possibly, the best idea I ever had...in the kitchen...while cooking...as pertains to, say, dinner.

Here's how I did it:

You will need:
2 TBS olive oil
I large green pepper, roughly chopped
3 small zucchini cut in thick rounds
3 small zucchini cut in half lengthwise, then thickly sliced
1 small onion, roughly chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. each oregano and thyme
salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
1 1/2 cans Trader Joe's Marinara Sauce (or your favourite, or homemade)
1 scant tsp. sugar

...and for the meatballs:
1 package Gimme Lean, Ground Beef Style
1/2 package Gimme Lean, Sausage Style
2 eggs
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes (or parmesan cheese)
1/4 cup + 2 TBS Italian style Breadcrumbs
2 TBS dried parsley flakes
2 TBS lemon juice.
a good sprinkle of salt & pepper

...and finally:
a big pot of boiling water
1 lb linguine

In a large saucepot, heat your olive oil. Add zucchini, pepper, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano and thyme, and cook over medium low heat, stirring occasionally, while you mix up the meatballs.

In a large mixing bowl, mix all ingredients until thoroughly combined. But here's the trick ~ DO NOT OVERMIX, OR YOUR MEATBALLS WILL BE TOUGH AND YUCKY. Best way to mix is with your hands (yeah, it's messy), and work gently, with as few strokes as possible to combine all ingredients.

Now, go back to your saucepot (you should have stirred it a few times by now. Add the marinara sauce and sugar. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer,

With wet hands, quickly but gently form your meatballs. Make them a bit smaller than you really want them to be, as they have a tendency to swell as they cook. Using a spoon, just gently nudge them down under the surface of the sauce and/or, move them aside so you can fit the rest of the meatballs into the pot. Cover, and cook over low heat for about 30 minutes.

Now, bring your large pot of salted water to a boil. Add linguine and cook according to package directions. Drain and toss with a touch of olive oil and/or sauce to prevent sticking.

The meatballs should take 40-60mins to fully cook, so, by the time you bring the water to a boil, cook and drain your pasta, they should be just about done. You'll just have to cut one open and taste it to be sure :)

To serve, place a portion of pasta on your dish and top with zuccchini/meatball/sauce mixture. If desired, sprinkle with nutritional yeast or grated cheese, and, if you like it spicy, a few crushed red pepper flakes. Be sure to serve with some good bread to sop up the extra sauce.

This dish reheats well, just in case you don't have access to a hungry army on the night you prepare it. makes a great meatball sandwich reheated, spooned onto a crusty roll, topped with cheese (regular or dairy-free) and placed under the broiler for a moment. Yum-yum!!!