Easter is upon us. For me, it is a reminder that we can all have a fresh start. After days and days of grey, gloomy wet weather, that stretch into weeks with nary a ray of sunshine, you think you can’t bear to put on your trench coat and rubber boots yet again. Then, all of a sudden, the days grow longer and the sun pokes its head out more; tulips, daffodils and fragrant hyacinths are in full bloom. And that is when I feel the stirrings in my heart of new possibilities.
Gung Hei Fat Choy! I love Chinese New Year! Lots of eating with family, friends, lucky money, special treats, and new clothes (on the first day of the New Year you should wear new clothes to give yourself a fresh start). But I also love that Chinese New Year for me is where I get to have a “do over”. If there were any resolutions made on Jan 1 that haven’t started, then I can try again. And, to all of you who also had good intentions to ie. give up sugar, start a new workout, read more, floss every day, and/or eat more superfoods, well, don’t be discouraged as you can try again in the Lunar New Year….even if you aren’t Chinese!
My Chinese New Year recipe is quite unconventional, in that the ingredients aren’t your standard New Year’s fare. Because, frankly, most of the “special” dishes eaten at this time are not delicious to my North American palate, such as dried oysters, black moss (looks like a clump of black hair), jai (vegetarian gluten dish). Doesn’t sound too appetizing, does it? But I hope this Gung Hei Fat Prawns does! And, it’s loaded with superfoods.
It wasn’t love at first sight, not even second sight. My “date” was quite verbose, but I was seduced by his vulnerability, the ease with which he stripped his….heart bare (clothes stayed on). Once I fell into his grasp, I fell hard for him. My husband knew of this love affair, and was fine with it because the object of my affection is a book, The Goldfinch. I devoured it for hours at a time, good thing I don’t have kids, otherwise I would surely have Child Services knocking on my door. I was swept away by the raw beauty of Donna Tartt’s writing, and how the main character wooed me into his inner life. The story unwound itself page by page and wrapped itself around me in sensurround. The Goldfinch in the title of the book refers to an actual painting that became very dear to the main character, but please go read it for yourself if you haven’t already.
I wanted to make an edible Valentine to The Goldfinch, and thought something lemony would be fitting. I decided to create golden cupcakes that are tart and sweet, which is one of the book’s messages, that is – even though your life may be sour, sweetness can still be found. Because the book is so substantial in content and length I wanted my cupcakes to be dense and substantial, almost like a pound cake quality. For the love of The Goldfinch, below is my Valentine cupcake recipe.
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:
Directions:
Kale Pesto makes about 1 cup
Ingredients:
Directions:
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}
kake2kale 