It’s fair to say that my love for kale is well known across the globe.
Unfortunately, I lack the culinary skill to bring that love to life in a delicious and appealing way for you guys.
I appreciate that not everyone is up for eating raw kale leaves like I am, so I brought in a student guest blogger to help address my own culinary deficiencies and offer my readers a route to loving kale.
Let’s see what she came up with!
Five Killer Kale Recipes
By Sophia Davidov
Kale Pesto Sauce
Ingredients:
4 cups of chopped kale (loosely packed)
1 cup of fresh basil leaves
¼ cup of olive oil
1/8 cup of lemon juice
¼ cup of chopped walnuts (or cashews)
Salt, pepper and oregano
Instructions:
Wash and strain kale and basil leaves
Put all ingrediants into a food processor
Puree the mixture until it is relatively smooth, and transfer the mixture into a container/jar
Voila! You now have a lovely kale pesto sauce!
Kale Smoothie:
Ingredients:
1 cup of frozen fruits – peaches, strawberries, pineapple, and mango used in this recipe
1 cup of kale (loosely packed)
½ cup of fresh blueberries
2 tbsp of chia seeds
¾ cup of non-dairy milk – cashew milk used in this recipe
Instructions:
Wash and strain kale and blueberries
Put all ingrediants into a blender
Blend the mixture until it is smooth, and transfer it into a cup or bottle
Sweet Potato and Kale Salad
Ingredients:
1 medium sized sweet potato
5 tbsp of olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 medium sized bunch of kale leaves (around 8-10 kale leaves)
½ cup of cashews
½ cup of dried cranberries
3 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp of honey
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit (220 degrees Celsius)
Peel, wash and cut the sweet potato into cubes
Season the sweet potato with salt, pepper and 3 tbsp of olive oil
Bake the sweet potato at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes
Take the sweet potato out of the oven and put aside to cool off
Wash, strain and chop the kale leaves
Prepare the salad dressing: mix 2 tbsp of olive oil, 3 tbsp of balsamic vinegar, and 1 tbsp of honey in a small bowl
Take a large bowl and put in the kale leaves, sweet potato, cashews and cranberries
Pour the salad dressing onto the salad and mix!
Simple Salt & Garlic Kale Chips
Ingredients:
5-6 kale leaves
1 tbsp of olive oil
A pinch of salt, pepper and garlic powder
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit (220 degrees Celsius)
Wash, strain and chop the kale leaves
Make sure the kale leaves are dry, and place them in a bowl
Add olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder to the bowl, and mix all of the ingrediants
Spread the kale leaves out on a baking sheet, making sure they are not stacked on top of one another
Bake the kale chips at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 6 minutes
Take the kale chips out of the oven and let them sit on the baking sheet for an additional 3-4 minutes; this will allow them to get more crispy
Kale Quinoa Salad
Ingredients:
½ cup of quinoa
4 kale leaves
4 cilantro leaves
½ of a red onion
1 tomato
½ of a red bell pepper
2 celery stalks
1 small avocado
4 tsp of lemon juice
4 tbsp of tahini
Instructions:
Rinse ½ cup of quinoa under cold water in a mesh strainer
Transfer the quinoa into a pot and add 1 cup of water
Place over a medium heat, and cover with a lid
Allow it to come to a boil and reduce the heat, letting it simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until all of the water is absorbed
Set the quinoa aside and let it cool off
Chop the kale, cilantro, red onion, tomato, red bell pepper, and celery, and transfer everything into a large bowl
Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit and carefully slice the inner part of the avocado into cubes
Using a spoon, scoop out the inner part of the avocado and transfer it into the large bowl
Once the quinoa has cooled off, transfer it into the bowl with the rest of the ingredients
Add lemon juice and tahini into the salad and mix everything together in the bowl
Special thanks to Sophia who is my newest undergrad blogger from Ryerson University. Awesome work!
Until next time,
Andy De Santis RD MPH
