Crazy for Kale

Kale is one of those trendy superfoods that I can actually get behind. It's full of vitamins A, C, and E and even calcium (take that, milk!), is versatile in recipes and delicious too. Kale is hardy enough to grow in our garden over winter and when fresh, local produce is at an all time low it will be ready to eat.

Wholefoods had kale on sale last week (two bunches for $4!) so I stocked up and have been putting it in everything. Over the weekend I made my favourite kale recipe, Wilted Kale and Roasted Potato Salad, and am itching to try 10 more recipes from this month's Real Simple.

If you're wanting to introduce kale into your diet but aren't sure what to do with it, try out this salad and you'll be crazy for kale in no time too.

Wilted Kale and Roasted Potato Salad

2 lbs baby potatoes, quartered
1/3 cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup Pecorino-Romano, grated
1/4 cup tahini, well stired
2 tbsp water
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 tsp salt 
1 lb kale, stems and ribs removed, sliced thinly

Preheat oven to 450.

Put potatoes single layer onto a roasting pan and toss with oil and salt and pepper to taste. Roast for 15 minutes, stirring once. Add 1 clove of minced garlic and roast 10-15 minutes more or until potatoes are done. Finally, top potatoes with cheese and roast 5 minutes until cheese begins to brown.

While potatoes are cooking, prepare the kale into a large bowl and set aside. Using a food processor, blend tahini, water, lemon and salt until smooth. Pour over kale. Add roasted potatoes, plus any remaining oil, to the kale and stir well.

We serve this yummy winter salad with soup or a hunk of crusty bread and a glass of white.

*adapted from here.

A Noisy

I hate to admit it, but I have a picky eater on my hands. Sometimes she'll eat mushrooms, peppers, cauliflower and yams but most of the time tomatoes, potatoes and broccoli are the only veggies she'll consume. Her face scrunched up when I tried to feed her a delicious homemade Shepherd's Pie with yam & mashed potato topping, she will not touch sliced apple or pear and spits out meat and fish. Eloise's favourite food is still toast but we have also introduced our carb-loving child to quesadillas, muffins and gnocchetti (mini gnocchi). It's not that I don't try to serve her different things, she just refuses to eat most of it.

One thing I have had great success with is smoothies. Some kids want milk when they first wake up, mine asks for a 'noisy' (because the blender is noisy, of course). I put Eloise up on the counter and we make her smoothie together. We always start with a banana - the only way she'll eat it - then add frozen fruit, yogurt and coconut milk. I even manage to sneak in veggies like kale. Here are a few smoothie combos we've found Eloise particularly enjoys:  

Strawberry/ Blueberry Banana

1 banana
1/2 cup frozen strawberries or blueberries, or both
1/4 cup kale leaves
1/3 cup vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup coconut milk  

Banana-Oatmeal

1 banana
1/3 cup cooked steel cut oats
1/3 cup vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup coconut milk
pinch of cinnamon

Mango Banana

1 banana
1/2 cup frozen mango
1 orange, juiced
1/3 cup vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup coconut milk

Our Breville blender has a 'Smoothie' setting so I can put the lid on the glass jar, press start and go get Eloise dressed while the smoothie does it's thing.