Kale Pesto

The Single Serving

So, now that Lent is over, I have been slowly trying to reintroduce myself to cheese. Last week, I saw some fresh kale at the market and decided to try a version of Kale Pesto. Pesto is the bomb and can be topped with any grated Italian cheese, which obviously appeals to me on several levels- also it's incredibly easy and delicious. Last week also happened to be one of the last holdouts of gloomy cold weather here so a dark sauce(?) like pesto, was the right fit.

Your Ingredients

Chop kale, nuts, and garlic

Remove Kale from boiling water

Blot the water off the leaves

Add all ingredients to blender

Blend like you mean it

Blend to your desired consistency

Et voila!

Save or Serve

I didn't save it, I ate it

Pesto sauce with Fusilli

Brussels Sprouts-Avocado-Lime Recipe: 

Ingredients-

   1/16 cup chopped pine nuts or walnuts
   1 ounces kale, trimmed, rinsed, and chopped
   1/8 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
   1/6 cup extra-virgin olive oil
   1 cloves garlic, chopped
   1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
   1/4 teaspoon salt
   pinch teaspoon pepper

How-To-
Toast nuts in a frying pan until they’re golden. This happens quite quickly, so make sure to watch for burning. Then chop the nuts and garlic. In the meantime, wash and dry the kale. Remove all the leaves from the stems and chop. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Have a bowl of cold water ready. Drop the chopped kale into the boiling water. When the water returns to a boil, swirl the kale around a few times until it becomes limp- will become a rich green color. Drain the kale and plunge it into the cold water. Drain again, then place on a clean dishtowel and blot away the moisture (soggy kale is not good). Place all of the ingredients in the blender. Purée until smooth. You may need to add more olive oil to reach desired consistency.

If not eating immediately, refrigerate by covering with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pesto. Will stay fresh for up to 3 days. To freeze, place desired portions in small containers with plastic directly on the surface of the pesto, or place in plastic freezer bags. Freeze for up to two months.

Enjoy!

Thoughts- 
Don't eat on a first date (any dark greens really) but beyond that advice, I thought it was fantastic on my fusilli pasta. I had slightly more than I wanted to so I might use like one less leaf of kale next time.

Crab Toast with Lemon Aioli

    I tried this recipe because I love crab meat and I saw a really pretty picture of it on Pinterest, although no accompanying recipe was linked to the image. So I looked up how to make lemon aioli-to be perfectly honest, I didn't even know what aioli was- great simple recipe from Martha Stewart. Turns out, it's super easy to make and using ingredients that you likely have in your kitchen already. For the toast, I used a frozen slice that I had from my Homemade No-Knead Beer Bread which complimented the crab very well. I took this on the go and actually made the open-face sandwich when I took my lunch break from work. For the future, I wouldn't recommend taking it on the go, and prefer it for a breakfast or brunch situation, because the crab juice was a bit leaky. 

Simple Ingredients

Squeeze or chop garlic finely

Add all ingredients together

Mix Mix Mix

Add the aioli to the crab meat

Crab Toast with Lemon Aioli Recipe:

Ingredients-  
1/2 cup, mayonnaise
1 tsp, finely grated lemon zest
1 to 2 tbps, fresh lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
Coarse salt and ground pepper

How-To-

In a small bowl, add all of the ingredients at once. Season with coarse salt and ground pepper. Stir to combine.
 
Enjoy!

Thoughts:

I think that next time this would work better with fresh crab instead of the canned version that I purchased at Whole Foods. I was being frugal and didn't want to spring the $30 for fresh crab but I think now that it would have made a world of difference in taste. The aioli and toast were prefect to accompany the crab, but I just think that fresh crab would taste richer. I also had a bit of aioli sauce leftover because it was hard to determine what was enough/too much for one person having never made it before.

Lemon Garlic Broccoli

The Single Serving

This is a special request from my beloved friend- Melis. I've bunked with her many times over the years and most recently in her flat in the UK. We have also traveled together on numerous occasions, and I love having her as my partner in crime!

Melis and I getting our tourist on in Santorini, Greece

Let's just say that I usually do the cooking and we can leave it at that :) I turned her on to some more/new vegetable dishes, including this Lemon Garlic Broccoli side dish I make when I am out of ideas. It is so easy and takes maybe ten minutes. So Melis this is for you!

The Ingredients

Chop up the broccoli to personal preference

Add the soy sauce, garlic salt, and lemon to broccoli

Flip and make sure it's browning

I put mine in with peanut udon noodles and ground beef

Lemon Garlic Broccoli Recipe:

     Ingredients-

    Handful of broccoli (I only eat the florets but up to you)
    Drizzle of soy sauce
    2 or 3 generous squeezes of lemon juice
    2 good coatings of garlic salt

How To-

(If using frozen broccoli florets, make sure they are defrosted) On medium heat, spray the skillet with non-stick spray. Chop up broccoli (or if eating on its own as a side, then no need to chop it up). When skillet is hot, place broccoli in the pan and add the remaining ingredients. I like mine very lemony and very garlic-salty. When it looks like the broccoli is browning, flip over and give another light shake to the garlic salt and lemon juice. Let cook another minute or so and then serve.

Enjoy!

Thoughts:

I always use this dish because I keep frozen broccoli florets in my freezer for cases when I don't have fresh veggies available. I don't usually eat this dish on its own but I add the broccoli to a main course. In this instance, I had made ground beef and udon noodles with my peanut sauce (also a go-to staple) and added this for the greens. This dish is citrusy and tangy and adds a nice kick to most main items.

Easy Peezy Peanut Sauce

The Single Serving

Peanut Sauce- one of cooking's best kept secrets. The sauce takes less than 10 minutes to create and you can use it on any number of dishes. I actually discovered this recipe while I was in South Africa (not South African by nature, but when you don't have an oven or a stove top, you have to get crafty).

Table Mountain Conquered!

I use this whenever I am out of ideas and I have some noodles or pasta lying around. I do prefer it it with stringy types of noodles like udon or lo mein noodles. My dad just got me this nifty little cast iron sauce pot, so this was its maiden voyage.

The Ingredients

Press that garlic hard

looks murky

Add the peanut butter

It's melting!!

All mixed and ready to go

Peanut Sauce Recipe:

     Ingredients-

    1/3 cup or two big scoops with a soup spoon, peanut butter
    1 clove, garlic (pressed or chopped)
    2 tbs, lime juice
    2 1/2 tbs, soy sauce
    1/3 cup, water

How To-

Literally you just melt the ingredients together over a hot stove top. On medium high, mix all ingredients except PB into saucepan. When it gets to be more hot, add peanut butter (this is just so that the PB starts to melt immediately) and keep stirring periodically.  Within 5 minutes, all ingredients should be melted and you have a sauce!
Enjoy!

Thoughts:

I am actually getting hungry thinking about this sauce while I write this. It is super tasty and easy and goes with so many things.

Lentil-Kale-Chorizo Winter Stew

Lentil-Kale-Chorizo Winter Stew

WINTER IS COMING. Ok, so maybe winter is on the way out, if the groundhog can be trusted, but it's still mighty cold down here in DC. I am still using my heaviest coats and haven't retired my winter boots yet. I have seen some days where the sun is trying its hardest to dominate, but has lazily given up the struggle by the early afternoon... So I have been trying to make some healthier (and sadly cheese-less...grrr when is Easter already!?) cold-weather hearty meals. I have made this stew before, and it was inspired by my friend Hannah F. who made the original recipe from Smitten Kitchen (I am a big fan!) while I was visiting her up North. She recently made the wedding cake for two dear friend's wedding, and I cannot rave enough about this girl's talents. 

At wedding: Me to Hannah- we're the same amount of tan here! haha modern miracles

Take heed of this warning now: this is not a Single Serving recipe, you probably get about 5-6 servings out of it, but I have a super busy week coming up so I don't have time to do much spontaneous cooking. This is really great to store in some containers you have lying around, as you will see at the bottom like I did. Simply reheat a new serving for 2min 30secs approx and you're good to go. The original calls for more variations of vegetables, but I have a harder time finding use for the extra carrots and celery, and I am too lazy to deal with the garlic infusion at the end (although when Hannah made it, I definitely enjoyed it). The first time I made it, I didn't use any chorizo so I wanted to try it this time with some meat in order to see what extra flavors it added. I ended up using turkey chorizo which I bought at Whole Foods, my health guilt got the better of me in the queue for the butcher. If I make it again with meat, I would go full chorizo next time. I had half a package of lentils from last time I made this, which works about to be a cup per batch of stew. Also, I know I wasn't able to because of Lenten fast commitments, but drizzle some Locatelli or Parmesan cheese on top of each bowl when you are serving- really adds a nice tang.

Don't forget the big ass pot! also, I didn't include it but add salt & pepper to this

Coat bottom in olive oil and brown the meat

My chopping skills need some work still....

Stir up vegetables with the meat

Pour in crushed tomatoes

My Nana only uses Scalafani crushed tomatoes so naturally, I do as well. It makes a difference.

Add remaining ingredients except kale

Bring to a simmer and cook covered for 40 minutes

Chop up Kale and stir it in for a few minutes at the end so it doesn't become soggy

What it looks like when it's done cooking

Besides the bowl I ate, this is how much is leftover

I enjoyed with a cider, perfect for a cold winter's night

The Single Serving!

Lentil Kale Chorizo Winter Stew Recipe:

     Ingredients-

    1/4 cup, olive oil
    1or 2, chorizo sausage link(s) (may remove and make it vegetarian-just as delicious)
    1 medium yellow onion, diced
    2 large cloves, garlic, diced
    1 tbs, kosher salt
    1 tps, black pepper
    1 cup, brown lentils, sorted and rinsed
    2, bay leaves
    1 28-ounce can, crushed tomatoes (Scalafani brand is best)
    6 cups, water**
    1 head, kale, chopped
    Grated Italian cheese


**to get the 6 cups-1 empty 28oz can should be filled up twice with water to catch any remaining tomato pulp

     

How To-

Heat olive oil (make sure it is enough to coat bottom of pot) in a large pot on medium heat. While oil is heating, remove the casing from the sausage. When oil is hot, add the sausage by breaking it up with a wooden spoon until it starts to brown, which should be about 5-6 minutes. 

Next, add the onion, garlic cloves, and half a tablespoon of salt (or a couple of grinds on the salt mill). Cook with the sausage until the vegetables soften a bit, another 4-5 minutes. 

Then, add the lentils, bay leaves, tomatoes, water, and remaining salt and black pepper to taste. Stir and bring to a simmer. Cook stew, covered, for about 35-40 minutes or until lentils are soft.

When the lentils are cooked, add the kale and cook for a few minutes until the leaves get tender. Make sure to get rid of the bay leaves. 

If you are living alone like me, then store the remaining soup, once it has cooled, in containers and keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. 

Enjoy!

Thoughts:

I realized while I was making this that my sister would really love this, if I made the vegetarian version again. I didn't enjoy the actual taste of the turkey chorizo as much, so unless I make it with real chorizo next time, I will try to wait and impress my sister with this recipe. The soup keeps really well; I bring it for lunch to work and I have it for dinner. The kale gets a bit soggy so it is possible, if this is something that bothers you, to add the kale individually when reheating each new serving so it's fresh. Frankly, I am too lazy and the taste remains the same- it is only the consistency that changes. 

Speaking of Winter coming, I could see myself holed up in my room eating this during the premiere of Game of Thrones (March 31st! not soon enough). I would imagine I was in the great hall in Winterfell, with a Direwolf tugging at my fur coats, eating this hearty soup. Perfect situation.