Krazy for Kale

Oh my kale. I am officially addicted. Up until about a month or so ago, I had never paid kale much mind. It was just one of those green leafy vegetables  that was not my cup of tea (which at this point in my eating journey is really saying something as there are little to no vegetables that I don't like....tell that to my 5 year old self and I'd call you a liar and probably kick you in the shin) and I was ok with that. And then it caught my eye. 

I don't remember how our paths first crossed (my guess is pinterest or twitter) but with so many delicious-looking recipes using it, I quickly became obsessed with giving it the old taste test. I did so for the first time courtesy of a farmers market impulse buy and used it to make these kale chips, but I wasn't officially sold until I tried it raw. 

Even when it's not summer, something inside of me has always loved raw foods. When I was younger, I used to hover in the kitchen as my mom made dinner and beg for samples of bell pepper and frozen corn (as an aside, a small dish of frozen corn with salt and pepper on it is still one of the best snacks ever....I'm currently wondering why I don't have it more :)). So naturally, I had to try kale raw in order to determine my true feelings for it. Thus, with the remaining kale I made a salad to take to work for lunch. It was divine. I drizzled it with olive oil as many recipes suggested to soften it up a bit and topped it with some cucumber and tomato pieces (also courtesy of the farmers market). It was a nice change up from my usual spinach regimen, and with that my addiction began.

Only a week out from my first kale encounter, I found myself at the farmers market again (a different one that I'm now also obsessed with...I raved about this one here) and, because this farmers market was the cheapest place on earth (admittedly a slight exaggeration, but definitely cheaper than what I've grown accustomed to in the District) I acquired a HUGE bag of kale for $2. My mom was not thrilled with my purchase as it took up a lot of room in the refrigerator while I was in town, and on a weekend when we were already storing a bunch of extra food for our crab feast, but as I repeatedly reminded her, how was I going to pass up $2 kale?! 

Once I returned back to the District the fun part came, deciding what to do with all of it! Thanks to one of my favorite inventions, the interweb, I was not short on ideas. Unlike the previous recipes I've featured on here, all of those mentioned below were made measurement free and were instead the result of me finding pictures of food that looked appetizing and then playing around in my kitchen to see what I  could come up with. As such, I've just provided a rough idea under the pictures of what I did to create the finished product. I encourage you to have some fun in your kitchen with kale as well. And now, I present to you my week with kale:

Sauteed Kale, Fairytale Eggplant, and Tomato Pasta

Sauté eggplant in olive oil with salt and pepper and a cup of diced tomatoes until tender/heated through. Toss with kale. Cover and allow to simmer for several minutes until kale begins to wilt

Kale + Wine = Perfection

Avocado and Kale Salad

Dice half an avocado and toss with kale, tomatoes (I'm obsessed with farmers market tomatoes), cucumbers (diced), lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste

Kale Pesto

Combine kale, olive oil, sunflower seeds, several cloves of garlic, and salt and pepper to taste/desired consistency

Sauteed Kale with Quinoa and Fairytale Eggplant

As you can see from my reuse of the fairytale eggplant, kale wasn't the only thing I had an abundance of

This recipe was made similarly to his brother above, but with some veggies added instead of the tomatoes

And in case there was any doubt as to how much kale I was actually working with:

In the beginning, my kale supply runneth over. Seriously, $2 for the whole bag!!

The remaining kale, after I made all of the above, except the pesto, plus several lunch salads!

Valentine's Dinner

Over the past couple years my tolerance for Valentine's Day has grown ever so slightly. The treat baking began 2 years ago, thanks to Snowmageddon. Sister has always been more advanced in the kitchen than I. While snowed in for days on end (for the record, the suburbs are cleared a lot slower than the District...and if this had happened in Oklahoma, we would've been stuck inside for a month and I likely would've hung myself) she crafted this masterpiece for her bf (she also earned the title of best gf years ago): 

Although I couldn't compete, I made this...with festive M&Ms:

It's from a box and I now feel shame...but it was pretty good (at least it was when I was stuck inside with no better options)

Luckily, my freedom from the igloo that was my parent's neighborhood came before Valentine's day and TF and I had our first Valentine's Day in the District (and one of my favorites to date). 

Outside Pasta Mia

After spending the past couple of Valentine's Days out in the world, I was ready for a relaxed night in. The added benefit of this was that I got to try out a new recipe that I'd been eyeing for far too long on a willing guinea pig. In hindsight, I could've just made this for dinner one night, but it was beyond what I consider an acceptable amount of time to spend on a non-holiday meal (recall: cooking is still new to me, I still have some work to do). 

Boy was it worth the wait! I serious loved this meal so much that even after it was gone I missed it...and spent the rest of the night reminiscing about it. The true miracle of the night was that we managed to work together to create it and not kill each other in the process (a true first). As an added bonus, I finally got to put the cheesecake pan I got for Christmas to use!

Eggplant and Zucchini Lasagna

This was my first foray into the lasagna world. Luckily, TF had a little experience in this area and was able to prepare me for how much I underestimated the time required to create this dish....the giant bottle of wine helped too :) But like I said, totally worth it.

Eggplant and Zucchini Lasagna

[Adapted from another blog]

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• About 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 medium eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch-thick slices
• 2 medium zucchini, cut on the diagonal into 1/2-inch thick slices
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 large can whole tomatoes 
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 pound no-boil lasagna noodles
• 12 ounces fat-free milk ricotta
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or italian seasoning
• 6 ounces mozzarella-blend
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F
2. In a small pot, boil down tomatoes (seasoned with salt, pepper, and oregano/italian seasoning). This probably should have gone on longer than it did for us, but we were ravenous so probably rushed it a little.
3. Sauté zucchini, eggplant, onion, and garlic with olive oil, salt, and pepper until lightly browned. Set vegetables aside
4. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta with oregano and 3/4 teaspoon salt and stir to mix
5. As tomatoes continue to boil, use a potato masher to crush to desired thickness
6. In a 10-inch round skillet, pour about 1/2 cup of the tomato mixture. Layer with noodles, breaking them to fit the pan. Top with the eggplant/zucchini in one layer, then spread on half of the ricotta. Sprinkle with a quarter of chosen mozzarella and another 1/2 cup of sauce. Continue this pattern until all ingredients are gone. Spread with the remaining sauce, then top with the remaining half of the mozzarella.
7. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes, then uncover, sprinkle with the Parmesan, and bake another 25 minutes, until the cheese is browned and bubbly. Let the lasagna rest 10-15 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.