Tag Archives: kale

Purple Matters!

Purple Kale Salad_mainIf colour means anything let purple take control. It’s always interesting to see what happens if you let a colour decide on the dish. Obviously, make sure the other ingredients go well with it. This one is colorful and tasteful like a dynamite!

[highlight]INGREDIENTS[/highlight]

Bunch of purple kale
Bunch of palm cabbage
1 Radicchio
1 Beetroot
2 Purple carrot
2 Spring onions
1Celeriac
1 Avocado
3 x3 cm Ginger
Black sesame
Rice vinegar
Sea salt
Ground pepper

[highlight]INSTRUCTIONS[/highlight]

1. Bake the beetroot, or use pre cooked beets. Pre-heat the oven to 200c, rub the beets in some olive oil and wrap in foil. Toss them in the oven for 1 hour, depending on their size. Take out and let cool in the foil. Once cool enough to handle, remove their skin and cut in segments, set aside.

2. Was and discard the kale in cold water. Transfer to a pan and blanch in just boiled water for 20 seconds, finish with cold water. Squeeze out all the water, drop in a bowl and fluff with a fork.

3. Peel the carrot and ginger cut in in the carrot strips and the ginger in matches. Heat up a wok, add some sesame oil and fry the ginger for a minute or 2. Save 1/4 of the carrot strips and add the rest to the ginger and stir fry for another 3 minutes. Take out and set aside.

4. Finely slice the spring onion, slice the celeriac, grate a lemon and finely chop the red pepper. Add tot the carrot/ginger mixture and sprinkle with lemon juice.

Purple Kale Salad_done

The Almighty Miso Soup

almighty miso soupStock up on some miso paste and kombu, wack it in your freezer and you are 30 minutes away from a quick miso, all year round. Miso is easy to adjust and fits with summer and winter ingredients. The soup, back in the days named misoshiru is high in minerals and protein, so slurp away I would say!

[highlight]INGREDIENTS [/highlight]

Kombu, 5×5 cm cut in strips
handful shiitake
1 cup spinach or palm kale
1 small broccoli
1 carrot
2 or 3 shallots
2 big tablespoons miso paste
bunch celery leaves
soy, if desired
sea salt
ground pepper

[highlight]INSTRUCTIONS[/highlight]

1. Cut a sheet of kombu into small strips and drop them in a pan with plenty of water, about 1.5 liter, bring to a boil. This will be your stock.

2. Whilst the stock is warming up thinly slice the shallots and carrot. Tear the shiitake and spinach leaves and cut the broccoli in small roses.  Reduce the heat and drop all the ingredients, but the spinach leaves, in the soup, simmer for 10 minutes.

3. When the vegetables  are softened spoon in the miso paste and stir until the paste is completely dissolved. Add the spinach leaves to the soup and bring to taste with salt,  pepper and perhaps some drops of soy sauce. Be carefull it doesnt become too salty. When the soup is done  add the celery leaves and serve in bowls.

* You can serve the soup with kale chips! Wash as small bunch of kale, discard the core and chop it in small bits. Toss with some olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and transfer to a baking tray. Bake in a low temp oven (60c) for up to 15 minutes, or until crisp but not burned!

finished miso

Punk Kale Salad

Punk Kale salad

Kale is the thing to eat now in cities like London and New York, spiced up in a salad or as side. Here in Holland kale is a popular winter number, originally mashed up with potatoes. Our urban Rooftop in Rotterdam was overloaded with the green stuff and since the weather was still not cold enough to long for that steamy pot of mash I came up with a salad, new style. Believe me, this will make you want to skip winter altogether…

INGREDIENTS
serves 4
5 to 6 bunches of kale
mint leaves
a mix of sultanas and raisins
dried apricot
red onion
roasted and salted almonds

Dressing:
1 tp lemon juice
2 ts  honey
1 ts horseradish
2 ts oil
3 ts cider or white wine vinegar
mixed ground pepper
course sea salt

INSTRUCTIONS
1.Pre-heat the oven to 180 C, remove the outer skin from the onion, chop in 4 and wrap in foil. Throw in the oven for up to 20 minutes. Remove, let it cool, segment the onion and set aside.

2. Soak the sultanas and raisins in water for 20 minutes and drain, set aside.

3. Remove stalks from the kale, chop roughly and wash under cold water. Drop the kale in the sink and pour boiled water on top, stir for 20 seconds, drain and splash with cold water. Squeeze out all the water, drop in a bole and fluff with a fork.

4. Chop the apricots and almonds, set aside.

5. Prepare a dressing by whisking together all the dressing ingredients.

6. Mix kale with onion, sultanas, apricots, almonds and toss. Pour the dressing over the kale, mix well and serve. Awesome as a side dish with veggie fries or as a lunch salad.

Kale salad-done