More fun with Kale!

Today, I had two bunches of kale delivered in my weekly produce delivery from Natures Garden Delivered. One is a lovely purple frilly kale and the other a frilly grey-green kale. I opened my fridge to make lunch, and wanted to use the kale and also some feta cheese I had in the fridge. As I was making tortillas for the kids’ lunch, I decided to make a similar bit for my lunch. So, I took a Trader Joe’s Whole Grain tortillas with whole flax seeds and put it on a plate. I spread out one slightly overlapping layer of green and purple kale leaves (roughly torn by hand), sprinkled a couple of tablespoonfuls of black beans, a tablespoon or more of lightly thawed frozen corn kernels and roughly broke two slices of feta cheese into a few pieces. Covered it with a second tortilla and microwaved it for 1.5 minutes. Let it cool for a few seconds and cut it into 4 pieces.

Voila! A quick, satisfying and reasonable healthy meal in under 5 minutes. Next time, I might have to try it with more kale and perhaps a dribble of salsa for added flavor. Try it and tell me what you think!

Garlic Tofu Rice

Came up with this recipe just to use up rice from a Chinese take-out order and use up some veggies from the fridge. I ended up with lots more veggies leftover, so I will have to figure out a way to use them up in something else. An added bonus – it has carbs, protein and veggies.

Ingredients

• 2-3 tbsps cooking oil (canola or olive)
• LOTS of garlic – I used about 1 bulb, peeled and rough chopped
• 1 packet of extra-firm tofu (about 400 gms) cubed into bite sized pieces
• 1/2 – 1 bell pepper or a bunch of mini bell peppers chopped to bite sized pieces
• A couple handfuls of kale (or any fibrous green), rough chopped
• About 1.5 cups of cooked rice
• For the sauce, mix together:
•       1.5 tablespoon of honey
•       2 tablespoons of soy sauce
•       Some chill oil to taste (about 1/2 tsp)

In a kadai or non-stick pot, shallow fry the garlic in oil on low heat. When it starts to brown, add the tofu with a little of the water it was soaked in and stirring once in a while, allow it to brown well. This step takes a while – perhaps 10-15 minutes. Once it browns (or you lose patience!), add the sauce and mix well. Add the kale and sliced bell peppers. Stir to soften or cook as much as you like. I like it still crunchy, so I let it cook just enough to slightly cook. Add rice, mix well, adjust salt and spices and serve hot.

If you try it, let me know – comment away here.

Mixed Vegetables, Indian style

So, here is a recipe for this colorful mixed vegetables that I made using ingredients in my fridge that just had to be used up. We had them with pooris (deep-fried Indian flatbread; oh so unhealthy but dreadfully tasty!), mango pulp (get a good brand like Ratna Kesar pulp from the Indian store, pour it out, chill it and sprinkle powdered cardamom on top), and yogurt.

Ingredients

• 2-3 potatoes, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces (I used russet potatoes)
• Finger or Mini bell peppers cut into bite sized pieces
• Roughly chopped kale – a few large handfuls
• Cumin seeds 1/2 – 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric 1/4 – 1/2 tsp
• Asafoetida powder – to taste and optional
• Chilli powder – to taste
• Oil – 1-2 Tbsp
• Salt – to taste

Heat oil in a cast iron dish, wok or non stick pot. Add mustard and as soon as it starts to pop, toss in the cumin seeds. Stir and add in raw potato. Cook on medium-low heat covered. Stir to prevent sticking. It it starts to stick, add a tablespoon or so of water and reduce heat further. When it starts to cook and seems halfway cooked, open, add turmeric, asafoetida, chilli powder and salt and stir in. Add the peppers and kale and cook till the potato is firm but cooked all the way through. Serve hot with some sort of bread and a lentil based dish. For those who like a more moist vegetable, you can roughly chop a tomato or two and toss in with the kale. The tomato will fall apart on cooking, but won’t become too mushy. I like my bell peppers and kale just cooked, but still crunchy. If you do not, cook them until you are happy with how cooked they are! Enjoy. If you try it, let me know with a comment on the blog.