Can't have too many Kale salad recipes

Here's another good use for Kale.

Kale Slaw with Peanut Dressing

Toss 2 large bunches of curly kale, center ribs discarded, very thinly sliced crosswise (about 10 cups); 1 yellow, orange, or red pepper. ribs and seeds removed, halved crosswise and thinly sliced lengthwise; and 2 carrots, thinly sliced crosswise, in a large bowl.
Puree 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 1/4 cup cider vinegar, 1/4 cup salted peanuts, 2 Tablespoons packed light brown sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt in a blender until smooth.
Pour dressing over vegetables just before serving. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup salted peanuts, coarsely chopped.

Granola

I wanted to share a recipe for granola that my husband and brother in law (both here for breakfast these days) say keeps the mid morning snacking down while at work. The kids love it too! This has been adapted from Sharon's granola recipe.
Not Hungry Until Lunch Granola
½ cup agave nectar or maple syrup
1 cup water
1 ½ cups oil
5 cups rolled oats
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup flour
½ cup amaranth flour
½ cup corn meal
½ cup milled flax seed
1 cup chopped almonds
½ Tablespoon salt (optional)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Heat oven to 250 degrees.
Combine wet ingredients in a medium bowl. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix wet into dry. Spread on 2 baking sheets. Bake for 2 hours, tossing 1-3 times during baking.

Rutabaga Hash Browns

Here's a good & easy recipe for rutabagas. I don't normally buy rutabagas but I have gotten as part of a CSA share and not known what to do with them. My whole family liked these so much I think I'll actually buy rutabagas now! The recipe suggests serving them topped with a fried egg, we liked ours with mustard, no egg. I'd also suggest using a combination of shredded rutabagas and potatoes.

Rutabaga Hash Browns
Peel a medium sized rutabaga. Shred into thin hash brown type strips with a hand grater or food processor. Mix in a tablespoon of flour, a small sliced onion and a clove of minced garlic. Fry in a cast iron skillet in butter or oil, turning with a spatula to brown on both sides, cover and let steam a while longer, add a small amount of water (1/4 cup water per 1 cup rutabaga)if the pan is dry. Season with salt and pepper.

Chicken Fried Rice

So, I have been reading this from the outside, lurking and watching the recipes. savoring each dish from afar so now I have decided to share one of my new specialties and best of all its easy, quick and healthy

You will need:

- 1 cup of uncooked rice (white or brown)
- 1 1/2 lbs of chicken breasts
- Assorted 1/2 cups of vegetables (carrots, peas, broccoli, onions, mushrooms etc etc)
- 2 cloves of garlic (mashed, chopped, or sliced)
- 3 tbs of olive oil
- 2 tbs of sesame oil
- 4 tbs of Braggs Liquid amigos or 3 tbs of soy sauce

What to do:

- Cook rice so its nice and dry (2 cups of H2O, bring to a boil, add rice, add olive oil(1 tbs) or butter (2 tbs) add salt to taste boil for 3 min, lower heat and simmer

- In the mean time in a large WOK or a large frying pan at medium heat and a little more add the rest of the olive oil, sesame oil put in the chopped onions and brown , add veggies as you want them cooked the sooner the softer the later the crunchier.

- When rice is done add to mixture and add soy sauce.

OPTIONAL add 3 eggs to veggies and mix quickly until eggs are cooked

Estimated time from 0 to cooked 45 min

Thats all for now. Peace Ya'll Stalin

Taco Night

When I was a kid I loved Taco night...you know made from the old el paso taco kit with the crunchy shells and the powdered spice bag...I still get it now and again for memory sake but it really is super salty & I'm sure filled with unknown things.

But Taco night still rocks and Jack loves it. It is the same idea as the kit. I brown up some beef, add my own spices to it (bit of cumin, bit of chili powder, salt, pepper, garlic salt if I haven't added some garlic to the beef).

Tortilla's in the oven. Grate some cheese. Sour Cream. Chopped Tomatoes. Maybe some Avocado. Lettuce.

Lazy, simple, makes me feel 7 years old again. Everyone eats it. Today we threw in this weekends rice & beans. Coronas for the over 21 crowd.

Tacos rule.

Mushroom Barley Soup

Well, i'm glad to see i'm not the only one who has not had anything worthy of sharing in the past week! I had quite the load of recipe flops (and complaining family!) for one reason or another last week. The only thing i made that even had a chance of being good was a rice pilaf stuffed delicata squash......but it wasn't. The reason it wasn't good was because the squash tasted horrible! It looked beautiful outside and inside, but when cooked it tasted rotten. I've never had that happen before. Otherwise the recipe would have been good.
Basically i cooked brown rice in broth. Sliced delicata in half, brushed with olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted at 375 until tender (about 45 min) Then in a large skillet i sauteed celery, onion, carrots, broccoli, garlic, peas. When the veggies were done, i added the rice to them and cooked for a few more minutes. Stuffed this combo into the squash. Top with parmesan, if desired and return to the oven for melting. Otherwise just stuff and eat. I added toasted almonds to the rice for those who eat nuts.

And last nights dinner was Mushroom Barley Soup. We all really enjoy this Moosewood recipe. Here it is for those of you who don't have it. I served it with bread and salad.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup raw pearled barley
6 1/2 cups stock or water
1/2 - 1 teaspoon salt (if using water instead of broth)
3-4 Tablespoons tamari
3-4 Tablespoons dry sherry
3 Tablespoons butter
2 cloves minces garlic
1 heaping cup chopped onion
1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
freshly ground black pepper

Cook barley in 1 1/2 cups broth or water until tender. (Cook it right in the soup kettle) When it's done, add the remaining stock/water, tamari and sherry.

Meanwhile, saute the onions and garlic in the butter. When they soften, add mushrooms and salt (if desired. i find it doesn't need it with the tamari.....but i use broth rather than water) When all is tender, add to the barley, being sure to include and juiced expressed during cooking. Simmer 20 minutes, covered. Taste and add seasoning as desired.

Hope this week brings us all some meals worth writing about. I would love a good homemade bread recipe if anyone has one. Something that would go good with soup........or whatever you have!

Farmers Market Quiche

Hopefully this will redeam my apples and peanut butter post!
I was given some goose eggs and decided to make a meal to incorporate them. So I made a savory pie crust....I used the recipe from Ina Garten's Apple crostata and left out most of the sugar. I then looked in the fridge to see what vegetables I had. this is what I came up with:

2 small onions
1 spear brocolli, florets and stem
1/2 portabella shroom
1 leaf of kale, finely chopped
left over tomato soup from night before
pinch thyme
S and P to taste

2 goose eggs(2-3 chicken)
11/4 cup milk
1 cup crated cheddar(whatever you have)

I sauteed onions and mushrooms until soft, with salt. Added the brocolli and then kale and cooked for about 10 minutes. Added about 1/2 cup of tomato soup (which was really yummy so knew it would give some good flavor...it was mostly for flavor) added pepper and thyme.
mixed eggs with milk and added cheese, added to veg mix over low heat and just warmed it up to incorporate...about 2 minutes. poured this into my pie crust and baked at 375 for 45 minutes.
It was really good!

crust:
1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat
1/2 cup butter
salt
pulse in food processor until cornmeally
add 2 tbles cold water while mixing
put out onto counter and kneed.
This will make 2 doughs. I like this recipe because I can use the dough right away, no need to refrigerate.

I called it the farmers market quiche because I got almost everything at the wednesday market. how fortunate we are to have that market! You could add any vegetables and the key for me is to chop small so the kiddos don't freak out with big chunks! Enjoy!! and thanks for all the great recipes....PJ