Baked Eggs with Roasted Acorn Squash & Kale

You're likely prepping the ingredients for your Christmas dinner today and not thinking beyond those turkey leftovers. That's good. Turkey leftovers go a long way after Christmas. If you do however, need a meal to bridge some of the gaps in your holiday menu, I'd suggest this baked egg recipe. It's a nice light, vegetarian meal that is cozy and filling, but that also offers a refreshing change from one's usually heavy holiday menu.

I wasn't the chef for this meal. It was prepared for me by another, sometimes reluctant chef. He knocked this out of the park so I'm keen to attempt it myself in the new year. If you need a little filler to go with this recipe, I'd suggest roasted potatoes to serve with the eggs along with some additional Pecorino on the potatoes to tie the two items together.

Adapted from: http://www.travelynneats.com

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 large Acorn squash, sliced and de-seeded/hollowed
• 1 tsp each Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 T olive oil and some to drizzle over the squash
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bunch of kale, cut into thin ribbons with bulky parts of the stems removed
• 1 t Herbes de Provence
• 1/4 t chile powder
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup pecan pieces
• 1/2 cup of shaved Pecorino

Method

Preheat the oven to 410F. While the oven is heating, slice your squash horizontally, scooping the seeds out of the centre of each slice. Brush the slices with the olive oil and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Lay the squash on a tin foil-lined baking sheet, baking for 12 minutes each side.

Heat a skillet on medium heat with two tablespoons of olive oil added. Add the onions, sautéing for 10 minutes, or until softened. Toss in the garlic for another 2 minutes, until it is fragrant. Add the kale in 2-3 batches and combine well with the onions. Once the first batch softens, add the next and combine with the existing onion mixture. Add the spices and broth and let simmer for 4 minutes or until the kale softens. Add the pecans and set aside.

With the squash baked and out of the oven, turn the oven to broil (high).  Move the rack about 6 inches from the top of the oven. Add the squash to the skillet and crack an egg into each of the squash slices. Sprinkle half of the Pecorino over the entire skillet and broil for about 5 minutes or until the whites of the eggs are set. Remove from oven and serve, sprinkling the remaining cheese overtop of each serving.

Romesco Chicken with Kale Mashed Potatoes

Having a little comfort food doesn't have to mean foregoing nutrition and quality ingredients. In fact, I'm a firm believer that it enhances the recipe. I spent the afternoon catching up on new British murder mysteries. No better time to wolf down some nachos with fresh salsa, guacamole and chopped jalapeño, olives and sharp cheddar. And brownies. And beer. And some leftover Doritos. And more brownies. Even junk food can dig a fresh twist.

To continue today's theme we have Romesco chicken with kale mashed potatoes. Crispy skinned chicken thighs in a tangy pepper and tomato sauce with ground almonds (pumpkin seeds if you have nut allergies) and plenty of garlic. Comfort at it's finest, as long as you're willing to put the Doritos down long enough to make it.

From: http://avocadoadaynutrition.com

Serves 4

Ingredients

Potatoes

• 1 1/2lb yukon potatoes, quartered
• 1 bunch of kale, chopped
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 cup yoghurt
• salt and pepper

Chicken

• 1lb chicken thighs, skin on and bone in
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 1 1/2 cups panko crumbs
• 1 jar roast red peppers, drained
• 1 15oz can of fire roasted tomatoes
• 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

Method

Fill a large pot with water, a teaspoon of salt and bring to a boil. Add the potatoes and boil for 7-10 minutes, until softened. Throw in the kale and boil another minute. Drain the potatoes of water, add the chicken stock, yoghurt and mash with a fork or standing mixer. Add salt and pepper to taste.

For the chicken, heat a frying pan with a tablespoon of oil on medium-high heat. Place half the chicken in the pan, skin side down and let cook for 5 minutes or until skin is browned. Flip and cook another 4-5 minutes. Remove from pan and cook the other half of the chicken. Once complete, set the chicken aside and wipe down the pan. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and the garlic and heat for 30 seconds. Add the crumbs and almonds, combining well with the garlic. Pour into a food processor or blender and add the peppers and tomatoes. Blend until well combined.

Return the sauce to the frying pan and place the chicken thighs on top. Add a little chicken stock to thin the sauce to your desired consistency and stir to coat the chicken. Serve on top of the potatoes with a little flat leaf parsley sprinkled over top.

Kale Crispy Black Salad with Arugula Pecorino Vinaigrette

Salads don't have to be as involved as this one, but I'd recommend you try this recipe once over the summer, because it's just THAT good. I made this a few weeks ago and plan on making it again. It's filling and chocked full of robust flavours.  The seasoned almonds add a pop of flavour and lentils take on the role of crouton, but with protein, antioxidents and loads of fibre. Serve this on its own or with a light soup and fresh bread.

From: http://cali-zona.com

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

Tomato basil almonds

• 1 1/2 cups almonds
• 1 T olive oil
• 2 T tomato paste
• 1/3 cup basil, minced
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 t salt

Lentils

• 1/2 cup lentils, uncooked
• drizzle of olive oil
• 1 cup of basil, chopped
• 1/2 t salt

Arugula-Pecorino Vinaigrette

• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cup arugula
• 1 serrano pepper (optional)
• 1/4 white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup pecorino, grated
• 1/2 t dijon mustard
• salt and pepper to taste

Salad

• 1 head kale, washed, dried and sliced
• 2 tomatoes, sliced in wedges
• 1 container mini bocconcini,  cut in halves
• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

Method

For the almonds, preheat oven to 350F. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Spread evenly over a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.

Turn oven up to 400F. Prepare the lentils by washing them and removing any pebbles or sediments. Pour the lentils into a pot with two cups of water. Cover and bring to a boil, reduce and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, rinse and drain lentils. Pour onto a lined baking sheet and drizzle oil oil over their surface. Sprinkle with salt and bake for 25 minutes.

To prepare the vinaigrette, combine all ingredients in a blender and emulsify.

The salad comes together by combining the kale, bocconcini, tomatoes and onion in a salad bowl. Sprinkle the almonds over the surface of the salad and follow with the dressing. Toss well and serve with plenty of wine, crusty bread and other goodies.

A Little Green Inspiration

We have a couple of discount vegetable markets in Edmonton that offer a wide array of good produce. When I make a trip, I buy a lot of veg and only after I've brought a box home do I think about what I'm going to do with these damn vegetables. I think I just channeled my uncle. Let's get back on track. Anyways, I'm convinced this is not the way one's supposed to shop, but I like the challenge of using what I have to make a meal.

Dish number one is Aubergine Al Forno. The Canadian translation has got to be 'torched eggplant', which is why we're going to stick to its original title. Oven roasted vegetables with a little garlic, cinnamon and olive oil form the base of this dish. Toss in some breadcrumbs, pine nuts (sunflower seeds for those with nuts allergies), some raisins and dig in. It's great as a side dish, but I paired it with a little pasta to make it a meal and got a kick out of it.

The second  option is a garlicky kale salad. I consider this the hipster's answer to a caesar salad. This salad made me lose my mind with excitement. It was delicious and I was tickled that it offered more food value than a traditional caesar salad.

Finally I made a simple spinach salad with roasted beets and parsnips and added some goat cheese and walnuts to give it a little protein. None of these recipes are difficult. They are an offering of inspiration for those wanting to incorporate veggies into their hibernation diet. While I'm not ready for spring salads, these recipes provide me light winter options for the cold months ahead.

Aubergine Al Forno

From: http://www.jamieoliver.com/

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 3 Japanese eggplants, sliced in 1/2" pieces
• olive oil
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• salt and pepper 
• 5 green onions, sliced in one inch pieces
• 2 garlic cloves, finally chopped
• 10-12 cherry tomatoes
• red wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/3 pine nuts
• 2 T raisins

Method

Preheat the oven to 425F. Place place the eggplant slices in a baking dish and brush the slices with olive oil to coat. Sprinkle the cinnamon and a little salt and pepper to season. Bake for 15-20 minutes, adding the onions, garlic and tomatoes halfway through. Once all the vegetables are softened and a little charred, remove from the oven and pour a little red wine vinegar over the vegetables.

In a bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, pine nuts, raisins, a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch each of cinnamon, salt and pepper. Pour the ingredients over the vegetables and toss well. Cook for another 5-10 minutes until crispy and golden.

Garlicky Kale Salad

From: http://minimalistbaker.com

Serves 4 as a meal

Ingredients

• 1 head of garlic
• 570 ml can of chickpeas
• olive oil
• 1 T garam masala, paprika and/or garlic salt
• 1 bunch of kale finely chopped
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1 T maple syrup
• salt and pepper to taste
• hot water to thin if required

Method

Preheat oven to 375F. Drain and rinse your chick peas well and pour them into a bowl.  Add a drizzle of olive oil and whatever combination of seasoning you want or have on hand. I used a tablespoon of garam masala and some salt and pepper. Toss the chick peas well to season them. Separate the garlic cloves, leaving the skin on and place them on the edge of a baking sheet. Place the chick peas on the same sheet and bake both for about 20 minutes. Remove when the chick peas are golden brown and the garlic is soft.

For the dressing, combine the tahini, lemon juice, syrup, salt and pepper in a bowl. Remove the skin from the garlic cloves and add the cloves to the bowl. Using a stick blender, blend the ingredients. Thin the dressing with water if desired.

Place the kale in a large bowl. Pour in the salad dressing and toss so that all the leaves are well coated. Pour the chick peas into the centre of the bowl and serve.

Roasted Vegetable Spinach Salad

Serves 6 as a meal

Ingredients

• bunch of spinach, washed with stems removed
• two medium beets
• 3 parsnips
• 130g goat cheese 
• walnuts
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• balsamic vinegar

Method

Preheat oven to 400F. Wrap the beets as is in foil. Wash and cut the parsnips in 1-2 inch pieces and place in a bowl. Drizzle a little olive oil and toss well. Add a few pinches of salt and pepper and toss again. Pour the parsnips on a baking sheet and place the beets adjacent to them in the oven. The parsnips should take about 20 minutes and can be removed from the oven to cook. The beets will take closer to 40 depending on their size. When the beets are done, remove them from the foil and set them aside. Once cooled, peel both beets and slice in wedges.

To prepare the salad, place the spinach in a large bowl. Add the parsnips and beets over the spinach. Crumble the goat cheese over the salad and add walnuts liberally. When serving, drizzle each portion with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar and enjoy.

Winter Panzanella & Roasted Red Pepper & Lentil Soup

A belated happy new year to you! May your pots not stick and your belly be full. That is as wise a saying as I could come up with.

I am, like everybody else, back on the good-for-you-food bandwagon. I have traded my party shoes for runners and swapped trips to the wine bar with trips to the yoga studio. Actually I still hit the bar, but after yoga.

This year however, my partner in crime, Ruedi has gone walkabout for six months and while I'm excited for him,  I am missing my food Hoover. Nobody can suck back leftovers like Ruedi. In my haste to get groceries this week, I neglected to downsize these first recipes of the year in consideration of his absence. I should have known when the original recipe for the salad below called for six, count 'em, six freaking beets that I would wind up with way too much food!

So...while I was able to freeze the soup, I will never make the panzanella again. I ate this dish a total of eight times this week. It was great the first time, lovely the second time and doable the third time. After that, I felt like I was just choking it down to rid myself of the leftovers. I know Ruedi will be surprised that I ate all of the leftovers, because I rarely eat an item more than three times after I've made it. Well Ruedi, I did it. 

So, enjoy these lovely dishes, because despite the fact that I'm over them, they are great recipes and healthy ones at that. The panzanella has so many options for variation. If I was to make it again, I'd play around with different kind of vegetables, throw in some roasted cashews or seeds and cheese would of course make a good addition too. When doesn't it?

As for the soup, the tanginess of the peppers combined with pesto gives it a zing I really enjoyed. The original recipe calls for basil, but I couldn't find any nearby. I had loads of pesto on hand, so I opted to throw that into the soup instead.

Winter Panzanella

From: http://blog.kj.com


Ingredients

• 6 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
• 6 medium beets. peeled and cubed
• 2 fennel bulbs, chopped
• 2 cups butternut squash chopped
• 1 shallot minced
• 4 cups bread, cubed
• 2 cups kale, finely chopped
• 1 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 apple, thinly sliced
• balsamic vinegar
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 350F. Toss the bread cubes with a generous amount of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Place them on a cookie sheet and bake them for about 10 minutes or until golden brown. Combine the carrots, fennel, beets and squash in a bowl and toss with more olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Place the vegetables on another baking sheet and roast them for about 30 minutes or until the edges are browned.

In a large bowl, combine the bread and roasted vegetables with the kale, shallots, parsley and apple and pour a generous amount of balsamic vinegar and olive oil over the mix. Add some coarse salt and fresh ground pepper and toss the salad well. Serve immediately.





Roasted Red Pepper & Lentil Soup

Note that you'll need to prepare the roasted red pepper sauce as part of this soup recipe. It can be made a day in advance if needed.

Adapted From: http://cali-zona.com


Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

• 4 large bell peppers
• 2 large tomatoes
• 1/2 white onion, diced
• 1 small shallot, diced
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 T pesto
• 2 T lemon juice
• 1/4 t cayenne pepper
• 1/2 t paprika

Method

Preheat oven to 400F. Cut the peppers in half and remove their seeds. Place them face down on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for about 25 minutes or until the skin begins to blacken and bubble. When cooled, peel the skin off of the peppers.

Blanch the tomatoes by dropping them in a pot of boiling water for about a minute. Once removed and cooled, peel the skins from the flesh.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan on medium heat. Add the garlic and let it flavour the oil for a few seconds. Follow with the onion and shallots, sautéing until translucent. Add the wine and simmer until reduced and syrupy in texture.

In a food processor or blender, combine the peppers, tomatoes, onion mixture and pesto and puree the ingredients. Pour the mixture back into the pan and add the lemon juice, pepper and paprika. Allow the sauce to simmer for about ten minutes and season to taste with coarse salt.

The Soup

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups red lentils
• 1 batch roasted pepper sauce (recipe above) 
• 8 cups water
• 2 large tomatoes, diced
• 1 T balsamic vinegar
• 1 T Worcestershire sauce
• 1 t hot paprika
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

In a strainer, rinse the lentils well. Add them to a large pot with the eight cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium to allow the lentils to cook for 25 minutes. Once the lentils are soft add the remaining ingredients and allow to cook on medium heat for another 5-10 minutes.

Soups Galore

There is something decadent about serving two soups in one sitting. It must be the prospect of choice that gets me a bit excited. It's also pretty easy to make two at once, because the bases are usually similar. These two work well together and can be modified quickly with additional ingredients to suit your diet. I'm already planning to make the kale soup again with barley or noodles and some chicken so I can eat it as its own meal.


Lemony Kale & White Bean Soup

From:  http://www.forkknifeswoon.com

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 T unsalted butter
• 1/4 t dried rosemary
• 1/4 t dried thyme
• 1/8 t dried oregano
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• kosher salt or black pepper
• 2, 15 oz  cans of cannelini beans
• 1 1/2 cups chopped kale

Method

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the onions and cook until translucent and then follow with the garlic.Add the butter and as it melts, add the herbs. Let the mixture cook for another minute or two until the onions have browned a bit.

Add the lemon juice and stock, bringing to a boil and then lowering the heat to simmer. Allow the soup to simmer for 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the kale and white beans and simmer for another 5 minutes to warm all the ingredients. Serve the soup with crust bread.

Spicy Tomato, Lentil & Chorizo Soup

From: http://www.eatwell101.com/

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 T olive oil
• 1 chorizo, sliced
• 3/4 cup of uncooked red lentils
• rinsed 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 stick celery, chopped
• 1/2 t grated ginger
• 1 t ground cumin
• 2 t paprika
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 t cayenne pepper
• 2 litres vegetable stock
• 1 lb ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
• 2 T tomato paste
• salt and pepper to taste
• fresh cilantro for serving

Method

In a sauce pot, heat the olive oil then add the onion, garlic and celery, cooking them until they're soft. Add all the spices, tomato paste, chorizo and lentils, mixing well until all the ingredients are well combined. Finally, add the stock and tomatoes, bringing the mix to a boil and then reducing to simmer for about 40 minutes or until the lentils are soft. Before removing from heat, add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with cilantro and more of that crusty bread.

Toasted Kale & Pan Fried Chickpea Salad

If you haven't clued in that salads are more than just vegetables and dressing, then pull your head out of your rear and pay attention. Have I got your attention now? Good. 

We've added meats, cheeses, bread, removed the lettuce, swapped out trendy vegetables for hipster vegetables...what more can we do? A heck of a lot more! One of my favourite salads is a marinated vegetable salad, where the vegetables have been blanched just a teensy bit. The result is an entirely different combination of flavours and textures than one would get with a raw version of the salad. This is why this toasted kale salad sounded so appealing. Sadly the author that I nabbed this recipe from combined her kale with preserved Meyer lemons and I did not have the time nor the lemons to make that magic happen. Instead I used regular unpreserved lemons, which were scrumptious all the same. I really do want to try preserving lemons and using them in this recipe. It just isn't going to happen tonight. If you get a chance, check out the think below for the author's preserved lemon recipe.

Adapted from: http://www.ahouseinthehills.com

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 1 large head of kale of your choice
• 2 cups cooked chickpeas
• 1 T canola oil
• 1 T tablespoon paprika
• 3 T chopped lemons
• 1 lemon
• Extra virgin olive oil

Method

Preheat oven to 225 degrees

Wash the kale, removing the stems and chop into bite size pieces. Toss with a little olive oil and sea salt and arrange onto a cookie sheet(s). Toast in the oven for approximately 25 minutes or until the kale is both wilted and crunchy (you'll know what I mean after 25 minutes).  In a pan, combine the chickpeas, canola oil, paprika and chopped lemons. Cook over medium-high heat until the chickpeas have browned. Remove from heat and combine the chickpea mixture in a bowl with the kale.  Add a little olive oil and sea salt, tossing it well. Serve with lemon slices on top as a garnish.

Ready for Some Lighter Fare?

Ho, ho, ho....hold on a second here. I'm stuck in the wrong season. Let's back up to the six week-long downward spiral of unhealthy eating. The egg nog, the turkey, gravy, wine, wine, wine, sweets and that was just one meal we're talking about here.  My indulgence has come to a grinding halt as of today. Maybe a meal that doesn't prompt an immediate nap afterwards. How about a dish that isn't paired with Alka-Seltzer? I'll miss the good food, but I need a little normal.

Enter the following quick, easy and healthy recipes to kick off resolution season. Our soup and salad combo took me forty-five minutes to prepare and I wasn't even moving at my usual speedy pace. I've found a few other recipes of a similar vain and will share them a little later this month.

Black Bean Soup

You'll notice the picture doesn't display a bowl of blackish soup, but rest assured, there are indeed black beans in there. If heat isn't your bag, remove the chilies from the recipe and add everything from diced tomatoes to potato to thicken or enrich this basic recipe.

Adapted from: http://www.abeautifulmess.com/

Serves 4 small portions

Ingredients

• 1 T olive oil
• 1/3 yellow onion, chopped
• red or yellow pepper, chopped
• 2 chilis in adobo
• 1/4 t cumin
• salt & pepper to taste
• 28 oz can black beans
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro for serving
• Sour cream for serving

Method

Heat the oil in a saucepan on medium heat. Add the pepper and onion, sautéing until the onions are translucent. Add the cumin, salt and pepper, incorporating the spices in with the vegetables. Stir in the chilies and as much adobo sauce as your taste buds can handle.

Pour in the vegetable stock and the black beans, bringing the soup to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for two minutes. Remove from heat and puree if desired. The original recipe leaves the soup as is, but I chose to blend it. Add handfuls of chopped cilantro and sour cream to individual servings.

Farro & Kale Salad

Farro can sometimes be tough to find, so alternatives such as quinoa or barley are also good options. I found farro at Bulk Barn, but it was pricier than expected. I enjoy the chewy texture of farro and the fact that it cooks quickly. Worth a try if you haven't had farro yet.







Adapted from: http://www.abeautifulmess.com/

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 2 cups uncooked farro
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped kale
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped cucumber
• 1 cup dates chopped
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 3 T balsamic vinegar
• 1 T honey
• salt & pepper to taste

Method

Bring the farro and four cups of water to a low boil for about twenty minutes. Once the farro is of a chewy consistency, remove it from the heat and rinse it in cold water.

Place the kale in a large bowl and drizzle half of the oil overtop. Mix in the oil to help soften the leaves a little. Combine the cucumber, dates, sunflower seeds, salt and pepper to the farro and kale mix. Add the remaining oil, mixing well and serve immediately.

Kale Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette

Had a memorable dinner at a nearby neighbourhood restaurant called Belgravia Hub last weekend and it inspired me to recreate a kale, bacon and egg salad I had as a starter. Bacon and eggs in a salad? Woohoo! In fact there was very little else in that salad, but perhaps its' simplicity is why I enjoyed it so much. A mustard infused vinaigrette and soft-yolked egg bring this dish to life. It also makes me wonder how I'll ever eat a salad without bacon and eggs in it again.

Adapted from: http://www.justataste.com

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

• 1 bunch of green kale
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1/3 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
• Eggs (1 per serving if desired) 
• 6 slices of bacon and reserved bacon fat
• 2 T minced shallots
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 t packed brown sugar
• 2 t grainy Dijon mustard

Method

Wash and tear the kale from their spines. Gather the leaves on a chopping board and cut them into thin strips. Toss the kale with the pumpkin seeds and red onion and set aside.

Cook the bacon to your desired texture and reserve the bacon fat. Chop the bacon into bite-sized pieces and add it to the salad. Using the same pan on medium heat, add 3 tablespoons of the fat (supplement with olive oil if you do not have enough) with the shallots, caramelizing them over the course of about 8 minutes. Whisk in the vinegar, brown sugar and mustard until blended. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper. Toss the dressing in stages in with the salad to meet your desired dressing coverage.

Using the same pan with a little of the bacon fat to coat, crack as many eggs into the pan as servings intended for the salad, frying it to the consistency of your preference. I like my yolk soft, so when it breaks in the salad, it oozes into the kale, adding another dimension to the flavour. Serve individual portions of the salad, adding an egg on top of each serving.  Topping the salad with parmesan wouldn't be a bad idea either!

Kale & Blood Orange Salad

If you glance at the original recipe you'll notice I've substituted a number of ingredients in order to make it easy on myself. While I do at times enjoy hunting for original ingredients in various little neighborhood grocers, I just wasn't up to that task today. I also didn't think my substitutes would compromise the flavour. 

Adapted from: http://theincuisition.com

Serves 6

Ingredients


Salad

• 1 Bunch kale, stems removed, coarsely chopped
• 1 T Olive oil
• 3 Blood Oranges, peeled and sliced into rounds
• 1 Avocado, pit removed, diced
• ¼ cup Raw Pumpkin Seeds, lightly toasted in a dry skillet
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta 

Dressing

• 1 Shallot, diced
• 3 T Olive oil
• 1 t Honey
• 2 T Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 T Poppy Seeds (didn't have them!)

Method 

Place kale in a large salad bowl and add 1 T olive oil. Toss kale lightly to coat and then slowly massage the oil into the leaves until they are a darker green and tender. This should take about five minutes. Add blood orange rounds, avocado, feta and pumpkin seeds.

Make the dressing: whisk the olive olive, honey, and cider vinegar with shallots and poppy seeds until well combined. Dress salad lightly in 2 stages, tossing salad in between. Serve immediately.

Kale & Orzo Salad

Sadly I don't have any pictures of this salad, but there are so many things to love about it! For one, it includes kale, a difficult vegetable to eat raw due to its tough texture and bitter aftertaste, but one loaded with vitamins, fibre and other nutrients. Soaking the kale in lemon juice and chopping it in small pieces makes this a salad-lover's dream. This recipe includes everything under the kitchen sink, so you get a great mix of flavours as a result. I didn't have hemp seeds or sun-dried tomatoes, so I left them out this time. The salad was still deeeeeelish.

Adapted from: http://www.staradvertiser.com

Serves 8

• 5 cups kale leaves, stems removed
• 4 T lemon juice
• ½ red onion, thinly sliced
• 3 T balsamic vinegar
• 1 carrot, sliced into thin 2-inch matchsticks
• 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
• 3 T extra virgin olive oil
• 2 t cumin
• 2 t turmeric
• Pinch of cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes
• ¼ cup sunflower seeds
• ¼ cup hemp seeds (optional)
• ½ cup toasted nuts, such as almonds or macadamia nuts
• 1 cup dried cherries or dried cranberries
• ½ cup sun-dried tomato strips
• 2 T toasted sesame seeds
• 1 T sesame oil
• 2 cups cooked orzo pasta
• ½ cup feta cheese
• Flaky sea or kosher salt, to taste

Slice kale into thin strips, cutting crosswise. The result should be about 2- to 4-inch strips. Place these in a bowl with the lemon juice. Rub the juice into the kale and let sit for 2 to 4 hours in the fridge. Place sliced onions into a bowl with balsamic vinegar and let marinate for at least one hour.

Remove onions from vinegar and discard any liquid left at bottom of bowl. In large serving bowl, toss kale with onions, carrots, celery, oil, cumin, turmeric and pepper.

Add sunflower and hemp seeds, nuts, cherries or cranberries, sun-dried tomatoes, sesame seeds, sesame oil and orzo. Toss again.

Add feta cheese and toss lightly to disperse ingredients throughout the salad rather than leaving them sitting at the bottom of the bowl. Taste and add salt, tossing lightly to combine.