Kale Pesto with Roasted Potatoes and Egg

September 19, 2014 / Kake2Kale | Culinary Travel Adventures / 1 Comment

We’ve been growing kale in our garden for a few years now. For those of you who have never planted anything for fear of killing it, then kale is for you. We usually just buy the seedlings in the spring, plant them and water them somewhat regularly and they supply us with their prodigious leaves from summer into late fall. Growing kale is definitely 20% effort for 80% results.

Kale used to be one of those mysterious things that adorned plates at restaurants. Mom and I had lunch many years ago when my sandwich platter came with a scoop of coleslaw that was nestled in a green frilly leaf. Mom saw this leaf and in an awed voice said, “I think that’s kale; it’s very nutritious.” It was like she had seen a unicorn! I took a little bite of this strange leaf with high expectations, but was completely disappointed by the tough chewy texture and bitterish taste. Mom finished off the rest of my discarded leaf. Little did I know then that she was further fortifying her anti-aging genes; my Mom has always looked young for her age. But at that time, I had as little use for kale as those plastic green cut-outs that come with your sushi.

How far we’ve come! Kale has now shot out of the shadows and straight into our gardens, our salads, chips, smoothies. It’s the Susan Boyle of the vegetable world, living a life of obscurity until a spotlight was shone on it and it burst forth in all of its green glory. It has definitely had more than its share of 15 minutes of fame, and still going strong, though other veggies are trying to vie for its prominence in our fridges and plates. Besides the conventional curly and heavy textured leafy kind, there is the non-curly and not as chewy kind called locinato, or dinosaur kale, as well as black kale, which really looks purplish.

My favourite way to eat kale is to make them into chips by dehydrating them, which makes them really crispy so they taste just like the kind you can spend oodles of money on in the grocery store. It’s worth the trouble. My neighbor has a dehydrator that she generously let me use, but she just moved and I might have to get one for myself. Here is my go to recipe for dehydrated kale chips. http://goneraw.com/recipe/cheesy-kale-chips

With the abundance of kale in my garden, I thought I’d make pesto with it. One night I had a craving for comfort food, and what’s more comforting than breakfast for dinner. So I roasted some sweet potatoes and potatoes, added the kale pesto and a fried egg, read my Vanity Fair magazine and settled in for the night…heaven.

Superfoods in this recipe:
Kale – High amount of calcium and vitamin K. In the Brassica oleracea family which is known to have a protective effect against cancer, because they contain Indole-3-carbinal (IC3) , which promotes a healthy balance of good estrogen to toxic cancer causing form of estrogen, it also has an anti-tumour effect.
Garlic – The major player in the allium family ( includes, leeks, onions, shallots, chives, green onion) contains sulphuric compounds that may help with lowering blood pressure, destroy cancer cells. Allicin, one of these compounds in garlic is not only anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal, but research has shown that as allicin helps your body to neutralize dangerous free radicals.
Pine nuts – This seed has the highest amount of protein found in any nut. They are the only source of pinoleic acid, an appetite suppressant. They contain a high concentration of oleic acid which is good for heart health. Pine nuts are also rich in iron and packed with antioxidants.
Olive oil – Extra virgin olive oil has a distinctive taste and is high numerous antioxidants which are anti-flammatory and may protect the heart.
Sweet potatoes – Contains vitamin C, B complex, calcium and beta carotene. This is a complex carbohydrate, which means the carbs get released slowly in our body, so we don’t experience a dip in our energy levels, so our blood sugar remains stable. B vitamins support our nervous system, which help us to feel calm and improves sleep.
Eggs –Nature’s near perfect food. Contains a wide range of vitamins, such as vitamins A, D, E, choline, B12, as well as protein, lutein and zea-xanthin. Try to purchase Omega 3 eggs, to make it even more of a superfood.
Breakfast for Dinner serves 2

Ingredients:

1 potato
1 sweet potato
½ T. olive oil
¼ t. salt
Kale pesto (recipe below)
2 eggs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 F.
Cut both potatoes into wedges then drizzle with olive oil and salt. Place on baking sheet and bake for about 40 minutes, turning once.
Just before the potatoes are done, fry the eggs and set aside.
Once potatoes are cooked, divide them between two plates, put about 1-2 Tablespoons of pesto onto each plate and top with fried egg and parmesan cheese if desired.

Kale Pesto makes about 1 cup

Ingredients:

2 cups kale (chopped)
1-2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 olive oil
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Puree kale, garlic and pine nuts in a food processor, or blender.
Then stream olive oil into the mixture with machine on low.
Then add cheese and salt and pepper at the end.

To store leftover pesto, pour olive oil over the top to create a seal, so the pesto does not oxidize. It can be refrigerated for a week, or frozen for 3 months. But if freezing, do not put the cheese into the pesto, but add when serving.

Eat healthy, live great! {Kake}

From the Culinary Trail – Ciaoing Down in Italy Part 3

September 5, 2014 / Kake2Kale | Culinary Travel Adventures / 1 Comment

A Tale about Tomatoes From Tuscany

During my university days, a friend affectionately nicknamed all guys as spuds and girls as tomatoes. The lingo kinda went viral and was used in everyday conversations on and off campus by a large network of students. As an example, a bachelor pad was referred to as the spud pad and good looking girls were called hot tomatoes. I trust you get the idea. To this day, I sometimes refer to my university girlfriends as tomatoes! Getting back to this Italy trip, our group of tomatoes traveled to Tuscany following our awesome stay in Cinque Terre. For a week, our base was a rustic Tuscan villa, surrounded by vineyards and olive trees. We idled away the days with pool time, games, reading, visiting medieval villages, finding interesting markets and cooking up incredible meals. There were too many culinary finds and experiences to sum up in this post. Instead, this third part of my adventures with superfoods in Italy is focusing on delicious Italian tomatoes, that is – the vegetable, but botanically classified as a fruit.

If there is one edible item that unifies Italy, I think it’s the tomato or pomodoro! Italy is the most important country in Europe for the production of tomatoes. The tomato plant originally was brought to Italy, specifically Tuscany, by the Spaniards around 1548 from South America. At that time, tomatoes were ornamental and they didn’t become a food staple until 200 years later. Today, there are hundreds of varietals in Italy; but I heard the most popular is the San Marzano pomodoro.

There is something about Italian tomatoes. They are all incredibly tasty – plump and juicy – compared with the mainstream varietals that we get in North America. When possible, I spend a bit more money and buy heirloom tomatoes because of their delicious flavours. In Italy, all their tomatoes are like hyper-heirloom tomatoes. So, it was a joy to eat an abundance of yummy tomatoes during our time in Tuscany with Caprese salad, anchovies on bruschetta, pasta sauce and pizza…to name a few. Just when I thought we had exhausted ways to prepare tomatoes, I stumbled across something that I had not seen before. While sitting at the pool and flipping through a local food magazine, I saw an article about a hand mill for making fresh tomato puree. There was no doubt in my mind, I had to get one while in Italy!

Sante Luce was the closest village and it had a tiny hardware store which could order the mill for 26 euros, but it wouldn’t arrive in time. Then I searched for the mill at the next local outdoor market, and presto, I found the mill at a stall (actually, it was a converted truck) selling household goods. The stainless steel version cost me 11 euros! Although I was anxious to try it out at the villa, I ran out of time before flying home to Vancouver. It took me several weeks before I could face a regular tomato in our food shops. Even my favourite heirloom versions are not close to the quality that I enjoyed in Italy. Nevertheless, I used the mill to make a fresh puree for a tomato soup and it turned out to be quite delicious. Imagine how much better it could be if I had real Italian tomatoes!

I liked the texture of the soup without the tomato skin (filtered by the mill); but note that the skin has flavonols which are healthy for you. As a superfood, tomatoes are high in nutrients, vitamins (E and C ), beta-carotene, potassium, and fibre. They also contains zea-xanthin, which is good for eye health. Tomatoes are known to protect against various forms of cancer. They are chock-full of lycopene, an antioxidant that provides the red colour and fights free-radicals, supports prostate health, and protects skin from sun damage. Interestingly, lycopene is best absorbed in our bodies when tomatoes are cooked or processed eg. puree or sauce. Hence, having tomato soup is a great option! However, vitamin C is retained when tomatoes are eaten raw; therefore, it is better to strike a balance of consuming cooked and raw tomatoes.

Below is my simple fresh tomato soup recipe, based on my trial usage of the hand mill. Adding pesto as a topping is a fun option!

Tomato Soup – serves 2

Ingredients and Directions

– 6 medium tomatoes
– 1 food or vegetable mill (with 3 discs)
– 1 small bunch of basil
– 1 small onion (diced)
– 1 garlic clove
– Salt and pepper to taste

Assemble the mill with the coarse disc. Place the mill securely on top of a bowl with the mill’s feet resting on the rim. Quarter tomatoes and place in mill. Turn the blade and grind tomatoes until the peels are left in the mill. Place chopped basil in the tomato puree bowl. In a separate pan, saute the diced onions and pressed garlic. Combine the tomato puree with infused basil, cooked onions and garlic into a pot and simmer till hot. Stir in a dollop of butter.

After two weeks of hiking, relaxing, exploring, photographing, feasting, drinking, loading up on superfoods and catching up with dear friends, our Italy trip came to an end. It was hard to leave Italy and much harder to say good-bye to my friends whom I admire and think are some of the most caring, smart, and gifted people I know. On the sunny side, there will be future trips to look forward to…sooner than later I hope.

Travel Far, Explore More! – {Kale}

From the Culinary Trail – Ciaoing Down in Italy Part 1

August 23, 2014August 28, 2014 / Kake2Kale | Culinary Travel Adventures

The Trofie al Pesto Trail of Cinque Terre

You say pesto, I now say trofie! Let me explain. Despite all of us living in different parts of the world, my closest girlfriends from our university days continue to meet up whenever and wherever possible. I was thrilled when Italy was selected as the get-together destination this year. The land of ‘dolce vita’ is likely number one or two on my list of countries worth visiting umpteenth times. Italy feeds not only my travel photography appetite, but also a craving for my favourite cuisine. I adore all Italian food, but my best-loved item is pesto. It is simple to make, is healthy for you and produces a luscious flavour for so few ingredients. I add this bold green, fragrant sauce with nearly everything – from salad dressing, sandwich spread, to chip dip. With pasta, Pesto with angel hair pasta was my combo of choice; but now, it is Trofie al Pesto! This part 1 of 3 posts, covering my adventure with superfoods found in Italy, focuses on Trofie al Pesto from Cinque Terre.

Early this July, our group of friends met up in Cinque Terre which is a portion of the Liqurian coast (stretching from Genoa to Pisa) in north-western Italy. When people think of Cinque Terre, the popular perception is about hiking between the five colourful villages perched on the rugged coast. This was our main reason for going. And, lucky for me, I found out that Liquria is also a pesto paradise! Originating in Genoa, around the 16th century, the name is derived from the Genose word pestâ, meaning to pound or crush. The traditional pesto is made from fresh Genovese basil, garlic, sea salt, extra virgin olive oil, pine nuts, Parmigiano-Reggiano and Pecorino cheeses. I’ve tried pesto after pesto variations – from sun dried tomatoes to kale, but I still prefer the classic Pesto Genovese. Below is the easy pesto perfect recipe that I use.

Pesto Genovese – makes 1 cup

2 cups fresh basil (add more as desired)
1/3 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4 cup grated Pecorino cheese
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 t. sea salt (add more to taste)

Directions:

Combine the first four ingredients in a food processor and pulse until blended.
Add the olive oil in a steady stream as the processor is running on slow. Blend until smooth.
Add sea salt to taste.

I have visited Italy on many occasions, but only discovered the wonderful trofie pasta on this trip. Trofie also originates from Genoa and is a small, thin squiggly pasta that is made from flour and water (no eggs). It is best accompanied with Pesto Genovese. I love the pasta’s texture and the way the pesto wraps around its twisted form. A popular version of Trofie al Pesto includes potatoes and green beans. We enjoyed adding tasty Italian tomatoes when we made it on the trip. During our time in Cinque Terre, I couldn’t get enough of Trofie al Pesto and ate it every day. It was already a dream to hang with my friends in Italy, but being on the trail of trofie and pesto was a special treat!

To my surprise, we didn’t see the trofie pasta again on the rest of the trip in Italy and I have yet to find it in Vancouver. However, it is easy to make.

Trofie Pasta – serves 4

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 t. sea salt
3/4 cup water

Directions:

Place the flour and sea salt in a bowl, then make a well in the middle.
Add the water in the well and create the dough by mixing the ingredients in a bowl with a fork then with your hands, adding more water or flour as needed to avoid the dough being too sticky or dry.
Place dough on floured flat surface, then knead it with your hand by folding and turning repeatedly until the dough is smooth.
Create a ball and wrap it in plastic. Let it rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
After the dough has rested, place a small portion (eg 1/4) of the dough on a floured surface and roll the dough into a 1/3″ roll or rope with your hands.
Cut the roll into 1/4″ pieces and sprinkle flour over them.
To shape, pick up each piece and roll it quickly between the palms of your hands, in one direction, to create a twisted tube with tapered ends.
Open your palms to drop the trofie piece onto a floured cookie sheet but pieces should not touch.
Repeat with remaining dough.
Cook fresh the pasta in boiling water (usually a few minutes for al dente) within 1-2 hours or refrigerate for later use. As an option, I like adding a bit of salt and olive oil to the boiling water.

Superfoods to highlight are:

Basil – Rich in vitamin C, A, K, Magnesium, potassium and calcium. Basil’s antioxidants are good for heart health. Loaded with beta-caryophyllene, basil offers anti-inflammatory benefits. It also has high anti-bacterial and anti-aging properties. Basil can help fight against various medical conditions. Its phenolics (specifically, vicenin and orientin) are a DNA protector. It is a great source of essential omega 3 and 6 fatty acids.
Garlic – The major player in the allium family ( includes, leeks, onions, shallots, chives, green onion) contains sulphuric compounds that may help with lowering blood pressure and destroy cancer cells. Allicin, one of these compounds in garlic is not only anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal, but research has shown that allicin helps your body to neutralize dangerous free radicals.
Olive Oil – The benefits of olive oil are extensive and best described on the Olive Oil Times website. To summarize, olive oil has been found to be effective against heart disease, cancer, stress, blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoporosis.
Pine Nuts – This seed has the highest amount of protein found in any nut. They are the only source of pinoleic acid, an appetite suppressant. They contain a high concentration of oleic acid which is good for heart health. Pine nuts are also rich in iron and packed with antioxidants.

Buon Appetito! Travel Far, Explore More! – {Kale}

Quinoa Kale Burger with Goji Berry Ketchup

July 25, 2014 / Kake2Kale | Culinary Travel Adventures

Going to Macdonald’s as a child was really not a huge draw, although my parents somehow always chose to take my brother and I to Macdonald’s whenever they had bad news to tell us. The burgers were unmemorable, but the shakes, oh boy!! Just the mention of Shamrock shakes today will put a stupid smile on my face. Burgers were considered food that only people who camped, hunted, listened to rock and roll, drove trucks and had mullet hairstyles ate. Not that we felt above those people, we were just into other things, like not eating with our hands, unless it was a barbecue pork bun at dim sum and then you had no choice. To this day even eating crab I only allow one hand to handle the crab while the other hand uses chopsticks.

One night I was looking through my cupboard trying to decide what to make for dinner and saw cans of beans. I keep buying them because I know they are good for me, but they just sit there. So I took a can down, opened the fridge and once I saw the leftover cooked kale inspiration hit me for these burgers.

Mulling over what condiment to go with the burger it occurred to me that goji berries blended with ketchup might work well. By the way here is a little tidbit about the provenance of the word “ketchup”. We were having ketchup on something and I was saying the word in my mind. I suddenly made the connection with the Cantonese words for ketchup. I looked it up in the dictionary, and indeed, its origins are Chinese, because “ke” means tomato and “chup” is sauce. The goji berry ketchup’s sweet and tart flavour is the perfect foil to the burger. You can add your own twist by adding chilli powder, or sriracha.

Superfoods in my burger and condiment recipes:

Cannellini beans: These are also called navy beans because they were a staple for the U.S. Navy in the early 1900’s. Packed full of protein, fiber and also vitamin B1, as well as lots of minerals.
Quinoa: Contains antixoidants, as well as all 9 essential amino acids making it a complete protein, perfect for vegetarians.
Kale: High amount of calcium and vitamin K. Kale is in the Brassica oleracea family which is known to have a protective effect against cancer, because they contain Indole-3-carbinal (IC3) , which promotes a healthy balance of good estrogen to toxic cancer causing form of estrogen, it also has an anti-tumour effect.
Onion: High amount of quercetin (which is an anti-histamine, helps your body combat allergies). Onions are also antibacterial, antiseptic, detox properties, lowers cholesterol, protects the heart.
Goji Berries: These are also known as Wolfberries. They contain the highest concentration of protein of any fruit, high amounts of carotenoids, vitamin C, and 21 trace minerals. It is anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial.

Quinoa Burgers makes 8 burgers

1/2 cup uncooked Quinoa
1 can or 398 ml Cannellini (navy)beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups kale (stem removed and chopped)
¼ cup onion (minced)
2 eggs
½ cup corn (fresh or frozen)
2 T. plus 2 t. olive oil
2 t. mustard
1 t. ground coriander
½ t. chilli powder
1 cupgluten free breadcrumbs (or regular breadcrumbs)

Directions:

Place the quinoa in 1 cup of water, cover and bring to a boil. Keep uncovered and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until all the water is absorbed and the quinoa grains have opened up.
While quinoa is cooking, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil over medium heat add the onion, cook for 5 minutes, then add the kale and continue cooking for another 5-7 minutes until kale is wilted.
Then in a large bowl combine the cooled quinoa, kale and then rest of the ingredients mix well. Form into 8 patties and using a tablespoon of oil at a time cook the patties in a frying pan.

Goji Ketchup makes 1/2 cup

1 T. goji berries
1 T. filtered water
1/3 cup ketchup (whichever one you have in your fridge)

Directions:

Rehydrate goji berries in filtered water for 15 minutes
Do not drain the berries, but add goji berries along with water to ketchup. (There will be nutrients from the goji berries in the water that it has been rehydrating in.) Puree with a hand blender until smooth. That is it!

Eat healthy, live great! – {Kake}