Kale, Quinoa & Asparagus

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 I had some extra asparagus laying around a few weeks ago, so I decided to make a kale and quinoa dish and add some! I settled on a spicy version of this dish so to give it a little extra kick. It got great reviews from those who tried it. One thing that was said was that the spicyness really doesn’t kick you in the face. It is more the perfect amount of spicyness to make things interesting. If you’re looking for a great side dish for dinner tonight look no further![amd-yrecipe-recipe:221]

Kale and Wild Rice Salad

in ,

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I had some wild rice left over this week when I made wild rice soup, so I decided to see what other type of side dish I could put it in. Since we also have an abundance of kale on hand I decided to see if I could combine them both. I found an excellent looking recipe from Iowa Girl Eats that combined all the basic ingredients.  I didn’t have some of what she called for on hand so I adapted the recipe to fit our tastes and what I had in the kitchen. We also tried the dressing on the original recipe but it didn’t really fit with what we enjoy.This is a nice light side dish that will go along with just about anything you might want to serve it with. It is a nice combination of sweet and savory. If you prefer you could substitute honey for the brown sugar, the combination simply gives you a more complex flavor combination.

Kale and Wild Rice Salad4 Cups Kale2 Medium Red Potatoes, Chopped2 Sweet Peppers, Chopped½ Medium Onion, Chopped1.5 Cups Wild Rice, Cooked2 Tablespoons Butter2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar1 Tablespoon HoneyWhite PepperSea SaltWash the kale thoroughly, and cook the wild rice.

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Put the kale in a large skillet and cover with water. Boil for 4-5 minutes until the kale is soft.  When the kale is cool enough to handle squeeze the excess water, crumble, and set aside.

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Melt the butter in the skillet, add the chopped potatoes, onion, sweet peppers, honey and brown sugar.

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Cook until the potatoes are soft and the onions translucent.

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Add the wild rice and kale, cook until warmed through.

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Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

Sauteed Kale

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Kale was on sale at the store this last week and I decided that we needed to try it. Neither Alex nor I had ever had it and I’ve read so many good things about it. There have definitely been some interesting recipes on the internet, it seems like kale goes with all manner of odd foods. I found that kale tastes a lot like spinach to me, which is good because spinach is one of the few green foods that I actually kind of enjoy.This recipe is a fantastic way to eat kale. It has a distinct garlic and onion flavor that lends itself to being quite tasty. I chose to saute the kale in extra virgin olive oil, but you can use whatever you  have on hand. You want to make sure and “bloom” the flavors in the oil before you add the kale. This will give you a more full bodied flavor without the kale becoming too soft.

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Sauteed Kale:2 Cups Shredded Kale3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil5 Cloves Garlic Minced1 Green Onion ChoppedSea SaltWhite Pepper

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Wash your kale and shred it into medium sized chunks. Soak the kale if it is especially gritty.

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Spread the EVOO in a large skillet and add the minced garlic and green onion.Let simmer until the oil has fully absorbed the garlic and onion flavor, about 4-5 minutes.

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Add the kale and constantly turn until the kale is soft about 1-2 minutes.Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

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Source: Adapted from: The Pioneer Woman

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