Flush with
baby kale right now, this dish was probably my best improvised dish yet this year. Inspired by many a salad I have eaten I took something raw and turned it into something warm and hearty and so good you can make new friends just by sharing it. The key to this dish is that the beets and the onion are somewhat sweet, and while the aged balsamic vinegar is somewhat sweet as well, the acidity balances the dish so perfectly that I want this dish to be my final one on death row. I’m not there yet, but just in case, you know?
You really want to slice the beets thinly as they will be sauteing in the pan rather than being boiled. You also don’t want to over cook them as a little texture is very nice in this dish. The onions should soften and the kale should be cooked gently, for just a short period of time. You don’t want to turn them into a spinach like mush, they should retain some of their crunch, which the stem will provide.
6 cups of baby kale? yes, it cooks down, even after a minute or two. But it’s so darn nutritious that why not? 618% of the Vitamin A you need for a day! 411% of the Vitamin C you need for a day! Fiber galore! It can make you rich! Kale! Seriously, why the heck not? Plus, you can fill your tummy for 211 calories. Seriously, do I really need to convince you? Fat loss schools and Weight Watchers be damned, this doesn’t need to be a side dish. While it is great on its own, the aged balsamic vinegar gives it that ‘je ne sais quoi’ that makes me want to serve this at my next dinner party. It’s not inexpensive stuff, but one bottle will last you forever, seriously.
Kale is an extremely overlooked vegetable, and is best in early summer. Stuff your face while you can because kale is one of the most healthful foods you can eat, and it’s very filing as it is full of fiber. The good kind of fiber. Regular kale is a bit more tough, so baby kale is my personal choice, but you could certainly make this with regular kale as well. Just cook the kale a little longer. You won’t regret trying this dish. And you can thank me by sending huge bags of cash.
 Baby kale |
 Aged Balsamic Vinegar |
 cooking |
| Baby Kale with Beets and Onions |
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Recipe type: side, entree
Author: Warren
Serves: 2
A lightly cooked kale salad, a new take on what has been a boring bistro salad.
- 6 cups baby kale
- 1/2 cup beets, sliced thinly
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium red onion
- 1 tbsp aged balsamic vinegar (w/ must)
- Slice the beets into tin little discs.
- Do the same for the onions.
- Saute the beets for a few minutes to soften.
- Add the sliced onions and soften as well, just a few minutes.
- Add the baby kale and let wilt, but not cook to a mush.
- Plate, and drizzle with aged balsamic vinegar.
Serving size: 313g Calories: 211g Fat: 8.3g Saturated fat: 1.1g Unsaturated fat: 7.2g : 31.5g Sugar: 7.2g Fiber: 5.8g Protein: 8.0g Cholesterol: 0g
This could easily be topped with pine nuts (pinoli) or goat cheese to great effect. Don’t hesitate to experiment.
Nutritional Analysis
-No cholesterol
-High in calcium
-High in dietary fiber
-High in iron
-Very high in manganese
-High in potassium
-Very high in vitamin A
-High in vitamin B6
-Very high in vitamin C
1.2.4
Tags: balsamic vinegar, beets, kale, onion
American, Appetizer, Budget Recipes, Dinner, Gluten Free, Low Calorie, Low Carb, Quick Recipes, Sides, Vegetables, Vegetarian
It’s farm share season, and in early summer, that means spinach! I often eat spinach raw in a salad, but it is a great addition to cooked dishes as long as you don’t overcook it into mush. So looking for something simple, I decided on a chicken recipe with spinach in a light white wine and lemon sauce.
I’m chicken recipe oriented for a number of reasons. It’s healthy. It’s relatively inexpensive. It takes on flavors easily, being somewhat neutral, so it is a natural for when you want other ingredients to shine. While in the case of this dish the lemon and white wine come to the front of the stage, by barely wilting the spinach, it will retain its flavor and the chicken will provide the texture and the protein (you could possibly use tofu in this dish, but I would miss the depth of flavor that the chicken offers as it cooks). I have made this with and without chicken broth and haven’t really noticed much difference, other than the sauce can be a bit this if you use the broth. The chicken should offer enough flavor to make the broth unnecessary.
This is very much a standard in my family as it is quickly prepared and cooked, and quite healthy too. I much prefer it to the many boring chicken dishes I am forced to make sometimes. Grilled chicken is nice, but a little wine and lemon juice go a long way to take a boring chicken breast to new levels. Chicken recipes are a dime a dozen, and this is not an uncommon one, but this is the simplest version of this recipe I make, and it is worth the minimal effort to make it.
 Chicken, thinly sliced |
 Cooking garlic |
 Chopped spinach |
| Chicken and spinach with white wine and lemon |
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Recipe type: Entree
Author: Warren
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Total time: 30 mins
Serves: 4
This chicken dish is packed with flavor and a great way to use up a lot of spinach, the mix of textures is fantastic.
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
- 2 bunches Spinach
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 1/4 cup chicken broth (optional)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- salt and pepper to taste
- Slice the chicken into thin strips for fast cooking and a very tender consistency.
- Rinse the spinach and chop roughly.
- Heat olive oil in a pan and add add garlic.
- After a minute (before garlic browns) add the chicken and cook until just done.
- Add wine and lemon juice (and broth if you chose to, I often don’t).
- Toss in the spinach, and cook for just enough time for the leaves to wilt, but not overcook.
- Salt and pepper to taste and serve.
Serving size: 282g | Calories: 221 | Fat: 9.3g | Saturated fat: 2.0g | Unsaturated fat: 7.3g | : 7.8g | Sugar: 1.1g | Fiber: 3.8g | Protein: 25.6g | Cholesterol: 62mg
If you find that the sauce is too thin, pour in a little corn starch dissolved in cold water and continue cooking for 30 seconds. You will find that the sauce thickens up nicely (this is the trick to all those thick sauces in Chinese restaurants, they often have corn starch dissolved in chicken broth ready for use, so you vegetarians our there may want to ask if they use broth or water for their corn starch thickener).
2.2.1
Tags: chicken, lemon, spinach, white wine
American, Budget Recipes, Chicken, Dinner, Low Calorie, Lunch, Quick Recipes, Vegetables
This may not come as a surprise to anyone, but did you know that you can make popcorn in a microwave? Yes, shocking, I know. But what I dislike about buying bags of prepared popcorn ready to go into the microwave is that they are mostly filled with unpronounceable substances that I would not put in my body given a choice. They are also a ridiculous amount of money for what you get. This afternoon, I went out and bought a bag of regular popcorn for almost nothing. I placed a handful of kernels into a brown paper bag, folded up the top and placed it in my microwave oven for about 2 1/2 minutes. 2 and 1/2 minutes later, I was enjoying a bowl of cheap as dirt popcorn seasoned with my favorite smoked salt. I’m not as surprised at how easy this is as much as I’m blown away by the idea that I hadn’t thought to try this long ago. I’m sure many of you reading this may already know how easy this is, but this was my mini epiphany. Now I can make popcorn flavored with just about anything I like and I don’t have to take out the pot and oil, or pay more than movie popcorn prices for a simple bag of microwaved popcorn. This is, by far, the simplest popcorn recipe I have ever come across and works incredibly well.
Chai is the name for a spiced Indian tea that is generally served milky and sweet. I particularly like chai in the winter, as it is hearty and warming, but I find it quite satisfying as iced chai tea in the summer as well.
As with most food, there is no rule with chai, it is all about personal preference. Find the flavors you like. Experiment with them. Add more, add less of others. In India, chai, like curry, is no one mix. Different regions use different flavors, and even one particular family may make their curry or chai in a completely different manner than the family next door. Basically, find the flavors you like and play with them until you find your preferred taste.
What I do is simple, I take a black tea that I like (it can be a malty Assam, or a lighter Ceylon, or any thing in between. Using a tea bag from the store will work well too since a lot of flavor comes from the spices that steep with the tea, so heck, go ahead and use that bag that came with your Chinese food last night.
My chai ingredients:
Black tea
Green cardamom (crack the pods open)
Black peppercorns
Cinnamon (whole or small pieces, powdered will work, but won’t filter out easily)
Cloves
Ginger
Vanilla Extract (just a few drops)
Milk
Sugar
Directions:
Steep the mix in hot water for about 3 minutes. Add milk and sugar to your taste, it’s really that simple.
I find the best way to make chai is with an infuser basket. Place your selected ingredients in the basket in your cup, and remove when done. You could always toss all the items in a pot and pour the tea through a strainer, whatever is easiest for you.
Tags: cardamom, cloves, ginger, spices, tea
Budget Recipes, Dairy, Drinks, Indian, Low Calorie, Low Carb, Misc, Quick Recipes, Vegetarian
Roasted garlic is one of the easiest things to make and is not only great when included into other recipes, but it is magnificent on its own, squeezed out onto a crust of bread. Garlic is a lucky little bulb; like all nubs in the Allium family, it has a high concentration of both flavor and sugar. When roasted, the Maillard reaction changes those sugars into a garlic caramel, which coincidentally are two of my favorite flavors.
Roasted garlic bulbs make for a simple snack to have around, and while it may take some time to roast, it’s pretty much fire and forget as you pop them into the oven for a while, wait, and they are ready to eat. Roast, let them cool a bit, snip off the top and squeeze onto a toasted baguette and you have license to ignore the kids.
One tip, though. Most recipes you find suggest you cut off the top of the bulbs with the head intact and then roast. That’s fine if your goal is to peel the bulbs, but I find it much easier to pull the bulbs apart without cutting them, roast, and squeeze the garlic out. Peeling roasted garlic is a hassle I’ll leave to the celebrity chefs who dump that work on their assistants.
Ingredients:
1 head of garlic
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Pull the garlic bulbs apart from the head and place in a sheet of aluminum foil.
3. Fold up the foil to create a pouch, leaving some air space.
4. Place foil pouch in the oven for 45 minutes.
5. Let the garlic cool a bit before attacking it. Just snip the top off a bulb and squeeze out the sweet, garlicky goodness.
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