kale kale kale kale kale!

I have been craving kale in an intense way lately, which makes me found like far more virtuous an eater than I actually am.

The perfect kale salad contains:

-kale (duh)
-avocado
-lemon juice
-crushed red pepper flakes
-honey
-sunflower seeds

In the quantities of your choosing.

 

It keeps okayyy… not great.

But can be revitalized for a delicious (so delicious I ate it two days in a row) work lunch, with the additions of fava bean puree (or hummus or something normal) and crushed rosemary Triscuits (!).

Oh my word, Triscuit croutons are IT. Perfect crunch and the herbs rounded everything out beautifully.

   

Mostly I’ve been cooking kale, though, because we don’t have avocado and I have yet to create a truly satisfying kale salad without avocado.

Also, this is the easiest thing ever:

Put kale in a cooking thing.

Pour on a little bit of mushroom soy sauce (we got it at the Asian grocery store and it is absurdly delicious and makes absolutely everything you add it to also delicious).

Put a lid on the cooking thing.

Microwave one minute.

SO EASY! And it makes for a chewy texture which I at least really enjoy. And my loved ones hopefully enjoy. They are just going to have to, because I will not stop making this, because it is SO EASY.

Also whenever I have acorn or any reasonably thin skinned squash I just cut it in slivers, toss it with olive oil and whatever spices I feel like (good combos: cumin and paprika, or brown sugar and chili powder), and roast it til its tender.

In this particular meal, a nicely refueling post-gym combo with some lazy tofu. I think I just cubed it and tossed it around a hot pan with some barbecue sauce?

  

Lazy is the name of the game these days.

Life is wiping me out. Creativity is a little low.

The main variation has just been the cooking thing in which I cook the kale.

 

I always cook parsnips the same way too- peel, cut into fry shapes, cooking spray and seasonings of choice (nutmeg and Parmesan, a tip from my aunt, were GREAT!), and bake til tender.

With chicken my mom made. I’ve been lacking the patience to deal with raw meat lately. This was delicious, though: chicken breasts with balsamic vinegar and garlic.

Barley is great because it’s a whole grain and it cooks as fast as white rice, basically. I know quinoa does too but to me eating quinoa is like eating air. Barley' is chewy.

If you cook it in chicken broth it is super awesome.

Back to kale, it is also great because it adds virtue to any meal.

Like leftover pizza. And leftover squash soup (God, some people go on low carb diets, their lives must be so awful).

 

Anything new and exciting I should be doing with kale? That takes… like, ten minutes max?