A Classic Fall Dinner

This delicious dinner is pretty easy and straightforward:

1.  Wild Rice Pilaf from Trader Joe's.  (I'm obsessed with this stuff.)

2.  Mashed potatoes

3.  Kale Salad

This is pretty much all I have time to make anymore.  But, hey it's delicious and healthy! 

Amazing Kale Salad

 
I am obsessed with this salad.  I made it four times in one week, that's how much I love it.

When Megan was staying with us to help watch the baby when I went back to work, she made this salad and I loved it so much I apparently couldn't get enough of it.

All the ingredients are from Trader Joe's:

French Lentils
Beets
Organic Kale
Grape tomatoes
Fresh squeezed lemon juice
Green salsa
Quinoa and Black Bean tortilla chips.

Green Smoothie

With my new job, I've had a little bit more time in the mornings this week.  This is a great thing, because I love mornings, and I love having a lot of time to do things in the morning.  So I decided to make smoothies for breakfast this week.

For pretty much my entire working career I've had to be out of the house by 6:30 or 7:00 a.m. every day.  Sometimes earlier!  I've never had time to eat anything other than toast and cereal for breakfast; or if I wanted something hot, I made it the night before, microwaved it two seconds before walking out the door and ate in the car!

Anyway, I was really excited to have time to make a smoothie and actually enjoy eating breakfast at our breakfast nook in the kitchen.

This is the smoothie I made one day, and the rest of the days were a variation of the same.

1 apple, cored and sliced
1 1/2 cups chopped kale
1/2 -1 cup spinach
1 1/2 cups organic apple juice

Blend.

Add ice and blend some more.  Drink up!

Black Bean, Kale and Zucchini Soup

 
What's better than soup on a cool winter's eve in December?  I'm pretty sure nothing.  Well if we want to get specific, then bean soup.  My favorite kind.

This time, I added sauteed onions, zucchini, and threw in some kale right at the end.  I served it over red quinoa, and it was delish! 

Sorry, no detailed recipe.  It was one of those times where I kind of just threw a bunch of things from fridge together and out came a yummy, hearty soup.  Basic ingredients:  Black beans, onions, zucchini, and kale.  Add seasonings and some vegetable broth and there you go.

Kale, Cabbage, and Mushroom Soup

 
It was kind of a coolish fall day and I wanted soup.  It actually doesn't have to be a cold day for me to want soup though.  I love soup any time of the year.  Anyway, I had mushrooms, cabbage, and frozen kale so that's what kind of soup I decided to make.  Mmmm, it was yummy and hot and delicious.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 cup onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
8 baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 1/5 cup green cabbage, chopped
1/2 cup frozen kale
2 1/2 cups water
2 teaspoons McKay's Vegan Chicken Seasoning
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Directions:
Heat the coconut oil in a large pan on medium-high heat.  Add the onions and cook for about 2 minutes.  Add the garlic and stir, cooking for another minute.  Add the mushrooms, lower heat to medium and cook until mushrooms are soft.  Add cabbage and cook until softened.  Add kale, water, chicken seasoning and spices.  Bring to a simmer, lower heat and cook for about 7-10 minutes.

Ladle into bowls, add some sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. 

Enjoy on a cold fall's eve.

Kale Chips

Several people have asked me if I have ever had or made kale chips.  No and no.  I've only recently jumped on the kale bandwagon, so I've been experimenting.  Earlier this week, I made a kale salad with carrots, olive oil and balsamic.  That's it.  And it was really good.  Then I thought, what do I do with the rest of this gigantic bunch of kale?

Ingredients:
Lots of kale
Olive oil
Sea salt

Wash and dry kale.  Tear kale into small pieces.  Drizzle with olive oil and salt. Massage gently.  Layer kale on baking pans.  Bake at 400 for 8-9 minutes. 

 Verdict:  The Husband, who has formally turned his nose up at anything that even rhymes with kale, absolutely loved these kale chips.  I couldn't keep him away from these things! 

Enough said.  

Golden Tofu with Spicy Spinach and Kale

There are many factors lately that could contribute to a lack of cooking time in the kitchen for me.  For one, it's too blazing hot to cook!  Summer comes late to San Diego, and it's finally here with a vengeance.  Even though we live only 7.8 miles away from the ocean, we are still inland enough that it gets to about 95 degrees at out house.  Yikes.

Another reason to not cook is that I have just been too exhausted when I get home from work.  Late nights watching the Olympics combined with 5:00am workouts and nine hour work days equal one tired veggie lover.  One night last week, we just wandered around lazily, grazing from whatever we could find in the fridge or pantry.  That so-called meal consisted of something like pickles, almonds, apples, and some chips and salsa.  And then we ate rice for three days in a row because that's super easy to make and you can eat it with anything. 

Anyway.

I was missing cooking so much that I finally vowed to get some fresh ingredients and just cook this week no matter how hot or tired.

Sunday's are pretty easy and nice because I'm not coming home at 7pm from a long work day.  For this reason, I have decided to move "Pasta Sunday's" to another day of the week because pasta is an easy enough meal that can be created in little time on a busy week night.  And on Sunday's I can spend a little more time fixing a fun new recipe.

Today I made Golden Tofu with Spicy Spinach and Kale.  Trust me, it was still hot while I was cooking, but in the end it was all worth it.

This recipe is inspired from a Whole Living recipe.

Ingredients:

12 oz firm tofu block, drained, pressed, and cut into 1/4 -inch cubes
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
dash red pepper flakes
about 5 ounces fresh spinach
about 5 ounces fresh kale
Salt and Pepper

In an electric or non-stick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the canola.  Add tofu and cook, turning often, until browned on all sides.  Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste on tofu.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a large pot.  Add onion and garlic and cook until softened.  Add ginger and spices, stir, and cook for another minute.  Add a splash of water.  Add the kale and let cook for about two minutes until it starts to soften and wilt.  Add spinach, mix, and take off heat.  Let sit while spinach softens and wilts.

When the tofu is done, serve it on top of the spicy spinach and kale.  Add some sliced avocado on the side.  Delicious! 

Kale Salad

Every time I buy kale, I never really know exactly what to do with it.  I think my intention this time was to saute it to serve as a side for something... I can't remember.  Obviously I never made that meal, so a few days later, I still had this huge bag of kale sitting in my fridge.  After visiting Whole Foods earlier in the day (and only buying two vegan cupcakes for Will's birthday) I was inspired to make Kale salad.  Whole foods had at least three different kale salads for sale in their salad bar section!

Okay, so I made one and I loved it.  If you are a fan of kale and other leafy greens, then you will love this too.  I think even Will would have loved this.  Unfortunately I took this to a dinner where all the other food was fried meat and cheese.  Needless to say, my healthy little kale salad was overlooked.  This only means there was more for me! 


I did skim some recipes online, but this is what I came up with myself:

2 cups kale, chopped into bite-size pieces
1/2 cup chard, chopped into bite-size pieces (optional)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1 cup cucumber, chopped into small pieces
2 carrots, sliced and chopped
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
Course sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

First mix the greens, olive and lemon juice.  Massage with hands for about 2 minutes until the kale starts to become soft.

Add the rest of the ingredients, and using hands again, massage the entire salad for another 2 minutes.

Serve right away, or chill in fridge until ready to eat.

Orechiette with Kale and "Sausage"

We missed Pasta Sunday, so I decided to make our pasta meal today on Tuesday.  It was pretty quick and easy to make for a weekday dinner and I just threw a bunch of stuff together.

This is what I did:

 Ingredients

1 package orechiette pasta (I got mine from Trader Joe's)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 tomato, diced
1 Tofurkey sausage, chopped and diced into small pieces
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup vegan chicken broth
2 cups fresh kale, chopped into bite-sized pieces

 Directions

Cook pasta according to the package.

Meantime, heat the oil in a dutch oven-style pot.  Add onions and cook for about five minutes before adding the tomatoes.  Stir all well and cook over medium heat.  Add the sausage, garlic, red pepper flakes.  Stir well and cook for about five minutes.  Add the broth and kale and simmer until the kale is soft.

When the pasta is done, serve it with a generous helping of the kale and sausage sauce.  I added a layer of marinara sauce underneath the kale and sauce, but that's up to you!

We sat down at our little table on the patio outside and enjoyed the delicious Pasta Tuesday dinner.  It was quite delicious and nutritious.