KALE SALAD

This afternoon I went to the farmers market for the sole purpose of getting kale to make the massaged kale salad that my friend Aarti made on her new food network show Aarti Party. Coincidentally, I ran into Aarti at the market.

I love kale! I always have it in the fridge and generally eat it at least three times per week. It incredibly nutritious-from the same family as broccoli. My recipe is a loosely based on Aarti's recipe, but it is a good example of how you do not have to follow a recipe word for word. I used the same technique of massaging the kale, but I swapped out the mango for another sweet ingredient, golden raisins and instead of the pepitas, I opted for toasted almonds. Now, back to the kale massaging, you might think that sounds weird, but kale is pretty tough. By literally rubbing it with a little sea salt, olive oil and lemon juice (or a bit of your favorite salad dressing), you break down the fibers in the kale and it becomes really tender. Give it a try.

Kale Salad
1 lemon, cut in half and juiced
olive oil
sea salt
1 tablespoon honey (optional)
1 bunch kale, cut into ribbons
1/4 cup almonds, toasted (or your favorite nut raw or toasted)
1/3 cup golden raisins (or mango or apple)

Mix the lemon juice with several tablespoons of olive oil to make a simple vinaigrette. Place the kale in a large bowl, sprinkle with sea salt and drizzle with half of the dressing. Using both hands, gently rub the dressing into the kale for about 2 minutes. You will notice that the kale turns deep green and becomes softer. Stir the honey into the remaining dressing. Add the nuts and raisins to the kale. Drizzle with the remaining dressing to taste.

QUINOA-TWO WAYS

Well, really I am only going to show you one way and tell you about the other. I ate too fast to have any evidence of the first quinoa dish. Quinoa (it's pronounced KEEN WA, mom) falls into that category we hear people talking about called "whole grains," although technically, it's a seed. It is a really great source of protein, which is why you should be eating it.

In general, none of us is probably deficient in protein. We are deficient in quite a few vitamins and minerals due to the fact that we don't eat enough fruits or vegetables-that and we eat too much of the stuff that we shouldn't like sugar, refined flour, caffeine etc...So why, if we don't need to worry about protein am I suggesting quinoa? Because it is cheap, versatile and doesn't have the saturated fats that are found in many other protein sources. It cooks like rice does, in a ratio of about 2 parts water to 1 part quinoa and it cooks in about 20 minutes.

This morning, I made a big pot of quinoa. I put half of it in a bowl in the fridge for later. The rest, I left in the pot, added some almond milk, a spoonful of almond butter and a spoonful of vanilla whey powder, topped with fresh berries - quinoa porridge. Yum. Prepare it according to package directions, then treat it as you would oatmeal. I added the whey powder because I have been experimenting with other sources of protein, but you can easily omit it, add some honey, nut milk (or organic cow's milk), nuts, berries or whatever else you normally put on your oatmeal. I added a little almond butter because fat phobes, fat doesn't make you fat, but it does help fill you up so you aren't hungry as soon as you put the bowl down.

I used the remaining quinoa to create this Mediterranean inspired dish. In this house, garlic and red pepper flakes are almost always found when olive oil is present.

1 cup quinoa, cooked according to package directions*
1/4 cup olive oil, give or take
2 cloves sliced garlic
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
leftover steamed vegetables (asparagus & broccoli)
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
1 tablespoon capers, drained
1/4 cup feta

Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium low heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, cook for a minute or two, taking care not to burn the garlic. Add the capers and the vegetables and cook for another couple of minutes. Because the vegetables are already cooked, you just want to reheat them and coat them with the oil, red pepper and garlic. When everything is coasted in the oil and reheated, pour on top of the quinoa, added a little crumbled feta and more olive oil as needed.

Just in case the package doesn't say it, you should rinse the quinoa before cooking or you will notice a slightly bitter taste.

BREADED SOLE

When I was a kid, I hated fish, yet my mom made it at least once a week. Ugh. While I am sure she made other fish dishes, this is the one that I remember most because it was the one I liked best. I used to squeeze so much lemon on it to hide the taste of fish, but now, I love fish and I particularly like this simple little dish. The breading is easy and a technique that I apply to thinly sliced chicken breasts pretty often. I have also used it for tofu when cooking for some of my vegetarian clients.

Breaded Sole
serves 2

2 large sole filets
1 egg
1/2 cup flour
1/2-1 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup olive oil
sea salt and pepper

Season the sole with salt and pepper. Set out three plates. Put the flour on the first plate, break and lightly scramble the egg on the second plate and on the third, put the bread crumbs. Dredge the sole first in the flour, then the egg and finally the bread crumbs, making sure to evenly coat the fish in each.

Preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil and then carefully add the fish. Sole is a really delicate fish and doesn't need long to cook. Cook for a couple of minutes, until the bread crumbs are golden and then flip. Continue to cook on the other side for another couple of minutes until the bread crumbs are golden then remove from heat. Serve with lemon slices.

If there ever happens to be leftover fish, I like to make my version of a filet o' fish sandwich. Put the fish in a baguette with some mayonnaise and arugula. Yum.