warm kale salad with apples and raisins

it's funny how certain foods get popular. it makes me cringe when i see hipsters wearing t-shirts with kale slogans, or certain hot sauce roosters. at some point the popularity will wear off, but we're talking about food, not bell-bottoms. the fact will still stand that kale has wheel-barrow amounts of stuff that we need. interestingly, kale also has more protein per calorie than beef. so let's not discard it just because we may be sick of hearing about it!
but let's face it, even if we know it's good for us, and even if we think that eating it might make us cool, if we just don't like, how long will our determination last?
I like kale, but I like kale with things, in things, and with other things on it. like this salad. when i eat this for breakfast i feel satisfied without feeling heavy. and it's delicious.
tip: you don't feel satisfied after eating veggies for breakfast? chew. chew a lot. there is a lot more texture in a kale salad than in a fried egg with toast. take your time eating and give your brain a chance to catch up.


1/2 of a head of green kale, leaves torn from the stems
1/4 onion, sliced thinly
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 green apple, peeled and diced
dressing:
1/4 cup white wine
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp mustard
2 tsp maple syrup
walnuts

warm the oil in a large pot with a lid. add the onion and saute uncovered until it's soft.

add the kale and wine and put the cover on. turn up to medium-low or medium depending on the strength of your stove. you want the wine to steam the kale, but you don't want it to 'cook' on the bottom of your pot. mix together your dressing

check it often, giving it a stir to mix in the onions and move the kale around. when the kale is bright green and a still a little stiff add in your raisins and apples, stir and cover again for just a minute or two.

move it all to a bowl and drizzle your dressing over the top, and add as many walnuts as you like.

serves 4 as a side, 2 as a hearty breakfast.

goes well with goat-cheese/hot pepper jelly sourdough toast

Roasted Red Pepper Panzanella

A return to food! Oh how I've missed it. As it turns out, I like writing about food almost as much as eating it (living vicariously, nix the calories?). And last night I finally had it together enough early enough to try a recipe that I have been eyeing for a while now.

This salad came together pretty easily and quickly. I had roasted the peppers right after lunch and then let them sit until I was ready and that was perfect. Watching peppers roast is always one of those things that sounds so easy and effortless when I read about but it usually seems to takes longer than they say and I'm always afraid that if I turn by back they'll go from crisp and fresh to crisp and incinerated in seven seconds flat(not true). So if you feel you may have that tendency as well, I suggest the roasting happens early and leisurely.

4 large red or orange pepper
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
1/2 small onion thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 tbsp. fresh oregano and basil, chopped
1/2 loaf country style bread (I used my oatmeal molasses) torn into chunks
1 ounce thinly sliced soppressata
4 ounces fresh mozzarella, torn into pieces

Roasting the peppers:

Preheat the broiler. Rub the pepper all over with olive oil. Broil them until you've blacked the skin on four sides. You'll have to watch them and turn them a little more often as they warm up.
Transfer them to a large bowl and cover it with a plate. This will steam the peppers and loosen the skins for later. They can sit at room temp all afternoon, if need be.

When you're almost ready to eat:

Turn the over to 400 degrees.
Peel and seed the peppers. Cut them into 2 inch strips and toss them with onion, garlic, vinegar, half of your herbs, and about 4 tbsp. olive oil, in the same large bowl with some pepper juices left over.

Toss your bread chunks with a couple tbsp. olive oil and spread on a cookie sheet. Toast them for about 8 minutes, stirring them every now and them until they're crisped on the outside, but a little soft on the inside. Let them cool.

Now you can arrange everything on a platter. Toss the soppressata with your peppers and throw the cheese around haphazardly. If you like, you can out the croutons on first and pour all that pepper sauciness over them so that they absorb the flavor. Or you can arrange them amongst all the other ingredients to keep them crisp.

I served this with some pasta, soft boiled eggs, and sourdough.

Enjoy! If you tweek it your way let me know how it goes...