pasta with kale sauce.

About 3 years ago I made a completely on the fly kale pesto recipe.  (I measured nothing which is typical of me.) Instead, I threw a bunch of ingredients in the blender, pulsed a couple of times, and magically created a pretty great pasta sauce.   

This pasta sauce is slightly infamous because one of my close friends has been asking for the recipe for about 3 years.  This past week,  I finally got around to making it again.  

This is different version then the original and I actually think I like it better.  It uses more kale (1 pound!) and no pricey pine-nuts.   Instead it made up of staple ingredients.  The simplicity of the sauce is what makes it shine.   

We've eaten it a handful of times over the last couple of weeks.  I like the fact that I can make a batch and simply cook-up some pasta whenever we need a quick and easy lunch or dinner.   It's a flavorful and (pretty) virtuous sauce that tastes way better then you would imagine.   

Pasta with Kale Sauce

Recipe adapted slightly from Six Seasons

This makes enough sauce for about 1 pound (if not a little more) of pasta.   You will only use half the sauce for the below recipe.    Keeps in the fridge for a couple of days!    

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 garlic cloves peeled and smashed

Extra virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 

1 pound kale (any variety but I like lacinato), thick ribs removedd

1/2 pound pasta

3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan

Bring a large pot of water to water to a boil and add salt until it tastes like the sea.

While the water is coming to a boil, put the garlic and 1/4 cup of olive oil in a small heavy pit or skilled over medium heat and cook until the garlic begins to sizzzle.  Reduce the heat to low and cook until the garlic is light golden, soft, and fragrant, 5 to 7 minutes.   Pour the oil and garlic into a bowl so it can cool quickly.

When the water is boiling, add the kale leaves and boil until they are tender but not mushy, about 5 minutes.   Pull them out with ton gs and transfer to a blender.  It is fine if they are wet.   

Add the pasta to the still-boiling water and cook until al dente.   With a ladle or measuring cup, scoop out about 1 cup of the pasta water, then drain the noodles.  

Process the kale in the blender with the oil and garlic. adding just a bit of the pasta water to help the process alonmg and to make a nice thick puree.  Season with salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes.  

Transfer the drained pasta back to the pot and pour in about half of the kale puree.   Add half of the Parmesan and toss well.  Add a touch more pasta water and toss until the pasta noodles are well coated with a bright green, creamy textured sauce.  Serve right away with a drizzle of olive oil and the rest of the cheese.   

chickpea stew with tomato, tumeric, yogurt, and harissa.

There are two types of soup people in this world.  The people who can eat a bowl and have that be a meal (me!) and the people who eat a bowl and then wonder where the rest of their meal is (most everyone else).  Soup is usually a starter or a side to a sandwich, it is rarely the main attraction.

This soup is more substantial then most which lends itself to being the center of a meal rather then a supporting role.  More of a stew then a soup, it's chock-full of chickpeas (a full pound!), greens, and more flavor then I thought was even possible in a vegetarian, bean based pot of deliciousness.  It also gets better with age which means making a pot ensures you dinner for the better part of a week.  

If you feel you can't serve it without a side of something, a hunk of good crusty, nutty bread wouldn't be a bad accoutrement (OK, and maybe a wedge of cheese).             

Chickpea Stew with Tomato, Turmeric, Yogurt and Harissa
Recipe from the Gjelina Cookbook

The original recipe says you get 4-6 servings out of this soup.  Unless you are feeding 300 pound men I think 6 - 8 servings is more realistic.

Serves 6 - 8

1 pound of dried chickpeas
1 yellow onion, quartered
1 carrot, peeled and quartered
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 bay leaf
4 fresh thyme sprigs
1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1 teaspoon of coriander seeds
1 teaspoon of fennel seeds
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
3 carrots, peeled and cut into half moons
1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon of ground turmeric
3 fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 cup of dry white wine
4 cups of vegetable stock
1 bunch Tuscan kale or swiss chard, stemmed and cut into strips (2 inches, 5cm wide)
1 teaspoon of red wine or sherry vinegar
1/4 cup of harissa
1/3 cup of spiced yogurt (see recipe below)

In a small, dry frying pan over medium heat, toast the coriander seeds and cumin seeds just until fragrant and beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool before grinding to a powder in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle.

For the chickpeas: In a large bowl, cover the chickpeas with water by 2 inches and soak overnight. Drain the chickpeas and rinse with cool water.

In a large soup pot over medium-high heat, combine the chickpeas, onion, carrot, garlic, bay leaf, and thyme. Add water to cover by about 2 inches. Season with a little salt. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer until the chickpeas are tender but still hold their shape, about 45 minutes. Discard the bay leaf. Cool the chickpeas in the cooking liquid and then drain, discarding the liquid. Set the chickpeas aside.

In a small, dry frying pan over medium heat, toast the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, and fennel seeds just until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Let cool. With a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder, grind to a powder.

In a clean, large soup pot over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil until hot but not smoking. Add the carrots, onion, and garlic; season with salt and pepper; and cook until the vegetables begin to soften and brown slightly, about 5 minutes.

Add the powdered cumin mixture and the paprika, turmeric, thyme, and bay leaf and cook until quite fragrant, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, scraping the bottom of the pot frequently so that it does not burn, and cook until fragrant and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.

Add the wine, bring to a boil, and cook, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan until reduced by more than half, 2-3 minutes. Add the stock, discard the bay leaf, and return to a simmer.

In a blender, combine 1 cup of the soup base with 2 cups of the cooked chickpeas and purée until smooth. Return the puréed beans to the soup pot. Throw the kale into the stew and cook until softened. Add the remaining cooked chickpeas and gently stir. Remove from the heat and let stand at room temperature for about 20 minutes.

Just before serving, adjust the salt and spike with the vinegar. Serve with a dollop of spiced yogurt and a drizzle of harissa.

Spiced Yogurt
Recipe from the Gjelina Cookbook

¼ tsp of coriander seeds (or ground coriander)
¼ tsp of cumin seeds (or ground cumin)
1 cup of Greek-style yogurt
2 Tbsp of chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tbsp of chopped fresh mint
2 Tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp white wine vinegar
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Kosher salt
3 Tbsp of water, or as needed

In a small, dry frying pan over medium heat, toast the coriander seeds and cumin seeds just until fragrant and beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool before grinding to a powder in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle. (Omit this step if using ground spices.)

In a food processor, combine the yogurt with the ground coriander and cumin, cilantro, and mint. Process until the herbs are broken down and the yogurt is tinted green, about 5 seconds. Add the olive oil, vinegar, and lemon juice and pulse just until incorporated. Taste and season with salt. Stir in the water, a little bit at a time, stopping when the yogurt is still thick but thin enough to drizzle from a spoon.

Over time, the lemon juice can cause the yogurt to break and lose its creamy texture, so make just a small amount and use it right away.

kale and peach salad.

Besides a pool, the thing I long for most come summertime is central air.  Central air spoiled me because IT IS THE GREATEST THING EVER.  Window air-conditioners just don't satisfy the way air pouring out of a vent from a wall does.  And unless you are one of the lucky ones to have access to such a luxury, you don't turn on the oven during that summer stretch of awful sticky and humid 90-degree days.  Trust me.  There is nothing worse.  

For that reason dinner becomes a series of meals centered around raw and refrigerated food.  It forces you to get creative.  Salad creative that is.  I can't even begin to tell you how many ingredients I have tried throwing into a pile of lettuce.  There have been some misses, but for the most part salads are pretty forgiving. The real fun is when you hit upon a combo that just works.  The salad itself becomes satisfying and you find yourself eating the entire platter.

There is no formal recipe for my new favorite but the beauty of a salad is it shouldn't require you to be precise. This one takes full advantage of the August farmers market bounty and is a nice way to incorporate those crazy good peaches in a savory way.   

Kale and Peach Salad

I'm one of those people who likes a lot of add-ins (this is why I always have a high proportion of toppings to actual Fro-Yo).  Feel free to use the lesser amounts of pistachios and blue cheese if you are not as topping happy as me.  

Serves 2 as a meal  

One small bunch of Dinosaur kale, center ribs removed and thinly sliced (about 4 cups)

1 peach, washed, halved, pitted and thinly sliced

1/3 - 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (the best is Jasper Hill's Bayley Hazen Blue)

1/4 - 1/3 cup pistachios

1 tablespoon pepitas 

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar + additional for drizzling at the end

2 tablespoons olive oil + additional for drizzling at then end

Place the kale in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.  Toss with the olive oil and sherry vinegar. Let sit for a couple of minutes and then spread on a platter.  Top with the sliced peach, blue cheese, pistachios, and pepitas.  Season with additional salt and pepper and drizzle some extra olive oil and sherry vinegar over the top.  Eat.  

green strata with goat cheese and herbs.

Sometimes eggs are just the answer.  The answer to breakfast and dinner and snack time (and if we are being honest, they are really the answer all of the time). In this particular dish they are the answer to both breakfast and dinner as I would happily eat this dish morning and night.

The genius part of this strata is the pureed greens.   Somehow the dish is chock-full of greens but it doesn't feel as if you are eating a salad, it just feels as if you are eating bread pudding which is great because bread pudding is awesome.  The addition of goat cheese and herbs turns this into the definition of a well rounded, perfect, and special meal no matter the time of day.  

Green Strata with Goat Cheese and Herbs
Recipe from the NYTimes

I divided the recipe into thirds since it was just me that night.   I think breadwise this serves closer to 8 but it really make it serve 8 you would want to top it with 8 eggs so everyone gets one since no one wants half an egg.  

Serves 6-8

2 cups milk

½ cup heavy cream

6 ounces baby braising greens, such as kale, mustard greens, chard or a mix (about 6 cups)

¾ cup mixed soft herbs, such as parsley, cilantro, dill, mint or chives

¼ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino

1 teaspoon kosher salt, more as needed

Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

Black pepper, as needed

12 large eggs

1 pound day-old brioche or white bread, cut into 2-inch cubes (about 6 cups)

6 ounces cold goat cheese, sliced into 1/4-inch-thick rounds

Aleppo or Turkish pepper, for serving (optional)

In a medium pot, bring milk and cream to a simmer.

Meanwhile, place greens, herbs, cheese, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes in a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Once the hot milk mixture comes to a simmer, pour over greens and purée until smooth. Pour into a bowl and let cool completely. Once cool, whisk in 6 eggs.

Lightly oil a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Scatter bread cubes over bottom of pan. Pour custard over bread and press down so the bread absorbs the custard. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. If you can, stir bread cubes after an hour or so to encourage an even distribution of custard.

When you are ready to bake the strata, heat oven to 350 degrees. Tuck the goat cheese rounds into and on top of the strata. Transfer pan to oven and bake until top is beginning to firm up but is still slightly wet underneath, about 25 minutes.

Remove pan from oven and use a spoon to make 6 evenly spaced indentations on the surface of the strata. Crack an egg into each hole and season with salt and pepper. Return pan to oven and continue to bake until strata is cooked through and eggs are just set, 20 to 25 minutes more. Sprinkle with Aleppo or Turkish pepper if desired.

white lasagna with kale.

Lasagna and I have a somewhat complicated relationship.  It's not that I don't love it (I mean it's cheese and pasta what's not to love), it's just that most lasagna's are all wrong. There is too much pasta for sauce or too much sauce for pasta or the pasta is just too thick.   Some are watery and others are so overly heavy it feels as if you've consumed a brick. Some are just god awful.

But good lasagna with thin and delicate layers of pasta sandwiching the perfect amount of sauce and cheese is a thing of beauty.  It stands tall on your plate for you to admire before you dive-in.  

I planned on waiting longer before tackling this particular lasagna recipe.  We are only one week into the month of December and perhaps it's too soon to give into the comfort food my body seems to crave this time of year.  But it was calling me and with the weather as abysmal as it was on Saturday, who was I to argue with such a perfect storm.  

I realize this is not the traditional lasagna recipe but perhaps because it veers from the standard iteration, I love it so much.  It's light (or as light as lasagna can be) and its incredibly creamy and cheesy with the perfect amount of sauteed greens that you can almost convince yourself you are eating something (somewhat) healthy.  It isn't healthy in the slightest (even I can admit that) but my god is it good and it's the kind of perfect deep-winter hibernation food that I love.  

White Lasagna with Kale

Recipe adapted just a bit from Serious Eats

Notes:  So I fiddled just a bit, streamlining in places (to help the dish load) and adding just a touch of crushed red pepper (I love a hit of heat).  The biggest change I made was swapping kale for spinach since the kale looked better at the market.  The plus side of making such a swap is that I now know any greens would work.  Feel free to use what you have and what you love. 

The original recipe says this yields 8 – 10 servings.  Unless you are serving a group of football players after a big game, I think you can easily get 12 servings out of this and closer to 14 if serving it with other things (like a salad!).  This recipe also halves brilliantly if you aren't feeding a crowd. 

I don't need to tell you this is a bit of a project.  Not a particularly difficult one mind you, but it does take a little bit of time.  I say throw on some Christmas music and enjoy the process.  The effort is worth it.   

Yield 12 generous servings

For the Spinach

2 tablespoons butter, divided

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

6 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 2 tablespoons)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 pounds fresh lacitano kales(or flat or curly spinach leaves or swiss chard) , washed and dried

½ - 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (based on your heat preference) 

For the Ricotta

1.75 pounds fresh ricotta cheese

2 eggs

4 ounces finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (or pecorino)

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Freshly ground black pepper

For the White Sauce

4 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup flour

1 quart (4 cups) whole milk

12 ounces grated low moisture mozzarella cheese

10 ounces grated Comté, Gruyère, or Emmenthaler cheese (Fontina would also be nice though I used Gruyere and it was amazing)

For Assembly

1 1/2 pounds (enough sheets to make 8 - 12 layers) fresh lasagna noodles

Cook the Pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (you will use the same pot for the spinach and white sauce). Add pasta sheets a few at a time and cook until barely tender, about 45 seconds. Transfer to a fine mesh strainer and run under cool water until well chilled. Transfer to a clean kitchen towel in a single layer. Continue until all pasta is par-cooked and dried.  Set aside. 

For the Spinach: Heat olive oil and butter in the large pot (same pot you cooked the pasta in) over medium heat until melted. Add garlic and season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and fragrant, about 1 minute. Add a few large handfuls of kale (or spinach/swiss chard) and cook, stirring, until wilted. Continue adding kale a handful at a time until it is all in the pot. Cook, stirring frequently, until kale expels its moisture and most of that moisture evaporates, leaving a dry bottom as you stir. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes.

Transfer greens to a fine mesh strainer set over the sink and press out excess moisture with a rubber spatula. Let greens continue to drain as you prepare the ricotta mixture.

For the Ricotta: Transfer half of the ricotta, both eggs, the Parmesan, and the nutmeg to the bowl of a food processor. Season with salt and pepper. Process until completely smooth, about 1 minute.  Add spinach to the food processor and pulse until finely chopped, 10 to 12 short pulses.  Transfer mixture to a large bowl and gently fold in the remaining ricotta to combine.

For the White Sauce: Heat butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until melted. Add flour and increase heat to medium high. Cook, stirring butter and flour with a whisk until paled golden blond, about 1 minute. Whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in milk. Continue to cook, whisking frequently, until mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Remove from heat and add 3/4 of mozzarella and Comté cheese. Whisk until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To Assemble: Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and preheat oven to 400°F.

Drizzle a small amount of white sauce over the bottom of a lasagna pan or large casserole. Add a layer of noodles. Top with 1/8^th (or 1/12^th if you have more sheets) of spinach mixture and 1/8^th (or 1/12^th if you have more sheets) of remaining white sauce. Continue layering pasta, spinach, and white sauce until you lay down the top sheet of pasta.

Spread remaining spinach mixture evenly over the top. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Comté cheese and drizzle with remaining white sauce. Spread into an even layer with a rubber spatula.

Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking until bubble and lightly browned, about 20 minutes longer. Let rest at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes, then slice and serve.

kale and ricotta tortellini.

You know how whenever someone tells you no, it makes you want whatever you were just denied that much more?  That sentiment is what drove me to the kitchen this weekend to make tortellini.  Our wedding caterer has advised us that my dream of eating bowls of squash and kale tortellini showered in Parmesan during our first evening as husband and wife is unrealistic.  It kind of breaks my heart and I'll get over it (eventually) but until then I'm going to drown my sorrows in bowls on homemade tortellini.  Because if I can't get someone to make it for me, it's time I go and make it for myself.  

Homemade tortellini are a beautiful thing.  They are a labor of love, but the end result truly justifies the time and energy they require.  Here, tender pasta gives way to the creamiest ricotta filling.  The sauteed kale provides a nice earthy bite that pairs brilliantly with the cheese.  Serving these doesn't require much more then boiling them and then sprinkling them (liberally) with cheese but if you want to get real crazy, making some tortellini en brodo isn't a bad idea.  

Kale and Ricotta Tortellini

Pasta recipe from Lidia's Family Table by Lidia Bastianich.  Filling recipe is my own.  

Pasta making looks a lot more intimidating then it actually is.  I promise.  Don't let the length of this recipe deter you!  I think it makes for a great weekend activity when you have a lazy Saturday or Sunday afternoon ahead of you.  Turn on some good music, set up your pasta making station, and you'll be all set for an afternoon of fun. While I did my best to explain the process below, I really find if you are new to pasta making that a picture is really, really helpful.  This guide is awesome for showing you how to fold the tortellini into their cute little shapes (something I am still trying to master) and this guide excels at showing you how to make the dough and roll it out.  Once you master the rolling of the dough, the pasta possibilities are endless (ravioli! lasagna!).  

For the Poor Man's Two Egg Pasta

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 large whole eggs
¼ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons water

For the Kale and Ricotta Filling  

2 cups washed and thinly sliced lacitano kale
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove minced
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
12 ounces ricotta
1 1/2 ounces parmesan

Make the Filling: Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat.  When hot, add the kale and stir so everything gets coated in the oil.  Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.  Cook until the kale begins to wilt and cook down, about 5 minutes.  Place the cooked kale in a bowl and allow too cool. Put the cooled kale in a paper towel and squeeze as much moisture as you can out of the kale. Return the kale to the bowl and add the ricotta and parmesan.  Stir to combine.  Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.    

Making the Dough:  Measure the flour and shake it through a sieve into a medium sized mixing bowl

Drop the eggs into a small bowl or measuring cup; beat briefly with a fork to break them up. Pour in the measured amounts of oil and water and mix well with the eggs. 

Pour the wet ingredients into the flour. Toss and mix everything with a fork until the flour is moistened and starts to clump together. 

Lightly flour with your hands, then gather the clumps-or use a flexible plastic dough scraper-and begin kneading right in the bowl, folding the ragged mass over, pushing and turning it, then folding again. Use the kneading action to clean the sides of the bowl. 

When you have formed a cohesive clump of dough, turn it out onto a small work surface lightly dusted with 1/2 teaspoon of flour and continue kneading for 2 to 3 minutes, until the dough is smooth and shiny on the outside, soft throughout, and stretchy. 

Form the dough into a disk and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and let it rest at room temperature for 1/2 hour. Store, very well wrapped, in the refrigerator for a day, or for a month or more in the freezer. Defrost frozen dough slowly in refrigerator, and let it return to room temperature before rolling. Defrosted dough will need a bit more flour.

Rolling the Dough: Have your dough at room temperature and cut the dough into 4 pieces.  Work with one piece at a time and keep the others covered.  Have a large trade tray or baking sheet nearby, lightly sprinkled with flour, on which to lay the dough strips. 

Turn the knob to the widest setting  - you’ll work at this setting for a while . Press the first piece of dough into a rectangle, then fold it in half, and roll it through the machine two times.  Fold the now elongated rectangle in thirds, turn the dough 90 degrees (so the fold in on the side) and roll it through. 

Catch the dough; fold it and roll it through again with the fold on the side.  Repeat the folding and rolling six more times (total of 8) to straighten and smooth the dough.  Like kneading this will make if more resilient and workable. 

Resent the roller to the very next setting (slightly narrower) or skip to the third (even narrower).  Roll your strip through, short end in first (don’t fold it again).  Let the rollers grab and move the dough – don’t push it or pull it through – and catch it on your hand as it comes out. 

Reset the machine even narrower; you should be on the third or fifth setting by now.  Pass the strip through once again; it will lengthen rapidly, and you will need to catch and support it as it comes through the rollers.  Flour the strip lightly and cut the dough in half so it becomes a more manageable size.  You should now have 2 long strips about 5 inches wide and 13ish inches in length, dust them with flour so they don’t stick.  Cover the strips with a towel until ready to stuff and shape the tortellini.  Repeat the above procedure with the remaining 3 pieces of dough. 

Stuffing and Shaping the Tortellini:  Fill a small bowl with water and set aside. Take one of your strips of dough and cut it in half so you have 2 rectangles about 2 ½ inches wide.  Cut each rectangle into about 5 pieces (so you create 10 2 ½ inch squares).  Place about 1 teaspoon of filling (recipe below) in the middle of each square.  Dip your finger in the bowl of water and run it along two edges of the square.  Fold the square into a triangle, pressing the top together and then working your way along the sides. Draw the bottom two corners of the triangle together to form a kerchief shape. Press tightly to seal. Toss with flour, set aside on well-floured baking sheet, and cover. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough.

Cooking the tortellini: Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a tablespoon or two of salt. Lower the tortellini into the water a few at a time with a slotted spoon. Stir the pot occasionally to prevent the tortellini from sticking to the pot or each other. Cook until all the tortellini have bobbed to the surface of the water, about 5 minutes. Taste one to check for doneness.

Freezing the tortellini: If not cooking the tortellini immediately, freeze them on a sheet pan and transfer to a freezer-safe container once solid. Tortellini will keep for about 3 months. Cook directly from the freezer, but increase the cooking time by a minute or two.

(the best) kale salad.

My mom and I have always shared the same sentiment that salads made by other people are infinitely better then salads made by yourself.   

Until now.  

This salad has changed everything. I simply can't get enough of.  I dream about it and find myself wondering if time somehow manages to slow down on the days I bring it for lunch.  

The combination of sweet currants, nuts, crunchy croutons, and creamy cheese ensures that each bite has a wide variety of textural contrasts which is the key (in my humble opinion) to a great salad.  One that you keep returning to bite after bite.  Oh and a stellar dressing helps to.  This one is a tart mustardy vinaigrette that manages to keep things oh so interesting.  

(The Best) Kale Salad

Serves 2 Generously 

The other key to kale salads is to dress the salad at least an hour before you are ready to eat it.  The dressing helps to soften and tenderize the leaves.  I've been known to dress it before I leave for work and it's perfect hours later which ensures this is an utterly flexible recipe.  

1 bunch Tuscan (aka lacinato) kale, washed and thinly sliced (about 7 cups)
1/3 cup almonds, toasted and chopped
Generous 1/3 cup currants
1/2 cup ricotta salata or feta, crumbled
2 cups cubed bread, toasted for croutons
Salt and pepper

For the Dressing

4 1/2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons honey
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 teaspoons sherry vinegar
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste

To make the dressing:  Place all of the ingredients in a jar with a lid.  Shake to combine the ingredients. Taste and adjust the seasonings as necessary.  Set aside.

Place the kale, almonds, currants, and crumbled ricotta salata in a large bowl.  Season with salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine.  Allow the salad to rest for at least at hour at room temperature.  When ready to serve toss in the croutons.  Divide among two plates.  

kale, leek, and grape flatbread.

I taught my first cooking class the last week which was kind of a big deal for me since it makes this whole cooking, blogging process feel real. I never thought starting this would amount to much more then a way for me to document my creations but slowly it's grown and it's amazing to watch.  I knew in teaching this class I wanted it to feel special and be personal (because the best classes always are) which meant I wanted to provide them with a parting gift as well as a snack to eat while cooking. It needed to be seasonal and elegant and also show a range of skills and flavors (and handheld to!).  This seemed like a tall order but when I thought about it, I thought about what I love to eat and what I love to make and a flatbread seemed like a great idea.  I decided to start with a base of kale and leeks since the sweet, creamy leeks pair well with the heartier kale.  Since I love the combination of savory and sweet I knew II wanted to incorporate a fruity element.  Apples didn’t seem right but concord grapes seemed perfect.  An explosion of tangy fruit in each bite would offset perfectly with the kale and leeks.  To round out the dish a sprinkle of goat cheese to add an extra bit of creaminess and to bring all the elements together. I found the final result to be visually stunning with the green leeks and purple grapes beautifully contrasting the white goat cheese.  The best part was the taste – sweet and savory in every bite which is just how I like it.  

Kale, Leek, and Grape Flatbread

About 5 cups of kale, sliced into ½ inch ribbons

1 leek, white and light green part only, halved and then cut into half moons

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

½ teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 ½ cups halved and pitted concord grapes (or regular grapes can be used)

3 ounces goat cheese

1 tablespoon Mike’s Hot Honey (or regular honey with a sprinkle of red pepper flakes)

1 batch of pizza dough (recipe here) or store bought dough

In a large sauté pan with lid, heat the butter and 1 tablespoon oil on medium, until the oil is hot and the butter is melted.   Add the leeks to the pan, and turn the heat to low.   Break up the leeks with a wooden spoon, and continue to cook on low until the leeks are soft, about 10 minutes.  Once the leeks have softened, add the kale to the pan and the additional tablespoon of oil, and stir to coat the kale with the leeks and oil.  Cover the pan and allow the kale and leeks to cook for about 10 – 15 minutes, until the kale is soft.  When the kale is soft, add the salt and pepper.  Taste, and adjust seasonings if necessary. 

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees. 

Roll out your dough into a rectangle about 9x13 (it doesn’t need to be perfect!).  Place the dough on your baking sheet.  Sprinkle the dough with the kale and leek mixture.  Scatter the grapes atop the kale and leek mixture and the sprinkle with the goat cheese.  Bake about 10 – 12 minutes until the crust is golden brown.  Remove from the oven and drizzle with honey.