When I was in LA, I ate at M Cafe, a “Contemporary Macrobiotic Cuisine” Restaurant. One of my favorite dishes there was Kale with Spicy Peanut Sauce. I found the recipe online, but modified it in a few ways to make it even more tasty and healthful:
2 large bunches kale (or [2] 10 oz. bags from Trader Joes — not as tasty or fresh, but it works)
3/4 cup raw, unsalted cashews
1 T honey
1 T low sodium soy sauce
2 T red wine vinegar
1 tsp. garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. tsp. ginger powder
1/4 crushed red pepper (or 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
)
1/4 c. hot water
Steam the kale.
Blend everything else in a food processor or blender until it’s thin, but not runny.
Drizzle over kale.
Mix it up. Eat it. Yum.
Saves very well! Yummy for lunch the next day. Warm it to room temperature before eating. No microwave!
It was the first time I cooked Thanksgiving, so I thought I’d write down the menu.
Lots of thanks to Karla, Osnat and Brooke for help prepping, cleaning and presenting!
A twist on a margarita.
1 oz. Del Maguey Vida Mezcal (or any other from Del Maguey or Ilegal
2 oz. fresh lime juice (optionally tinted pink, see below)
1 oz. simple syrup
Shake over ice in a martini shaker, pour into a martini glass.
To color lime juice, use a tiny piece of a cooked beet, and blend it into the lime juice. Filter through a very fine strainer or paper towel.
I had a dish similar to this at a restaurant, and wanted to recreate it.
It’s great for breakfast or a snack.
1 c. Farro (available at some Italian specialty shops, select Whole Foods, or from Amazon)
3-4 c. Unsweetened Almond Milk (Hemp Milk also works well)
1 T. agave nectar or honey (or to taste)
Bring the Farro and Almond Milk to a boil
Reduce the heat to very low, and let cook, stirring occasionally, for about 50-60 minutes
Stir in agave nectar
It can be easily reheated, adding a bit of almond milk or water in the process
After living in NYC for about a month and eating out all the time, I was craving some high nutrient food. After eating one serving of this salad, I had tons of energy and felt great!
3 Bunches chopped Green Flowering Kale/Black Tuscan Kale
1 cup julienned reconstituted Sundried Tomatoes, strained
1 cup crumbled or cubed Feta Cheese (and/or a firm blue cheese)
1 cup of julienned dried unsulphered dried figs (or dried apricots)
1 cup slivered almonds (or chopped walnuts)
1/2 c. raisins (optional)
1 c. raspberries (optional)
2T High Quality Olive Oil
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice, about 3-4 lemons (or 1/2 c. red wine or raspberry vinegar)
1 tsp of kosher Salt
Wash kale very well (using water and vinegar) and dry. In a large mixing bowl add kale, salt, and lemon juice, toss well (kale will turn dark green).
Add all other ingredients and mix well.
Can be served immediately or refrigerate until time of serving. Can be prepared in advance and held for three days.
Yield: about 8- 4oz Portions
I was in the mood for a little lemon in my water today. I made my way to the kitchen, but when I got there, simply adding lemon seemed like a waste.
Here’s what I came up with instead. The proportions are guesses — I’ll do it again and change the recipe here.
1T Trader Joe’s creamed honey
2T lemon juice (all i had was bottled; i’ll remedy that next time)
1/8t cayenne pepper
14oz. water
mix the honey, lemon juice, and cayenne, and heat just enough to liquefy the honey
add it to the water, over ice
the mixture was pretty spicy. my lips were burning for quite a while. but it was so tasty.
Incidentally, i’ve had great luck curing hangovers with nothing but water and cayenne, so i bet this would work pretty well too.
Of all the desserts I make, this one seems to be the biggest hit. Several friends have referred to these as “Crack Brownies”. I’ve made these dozens of times, making small adjustments each time.
2/3 cup all-purpose flour [scoop and cut method]
1/2 teaspoon table salt or fine-grain sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 ounces bittersweet (70%) chocolate
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
10 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs (cage free are best)
1 cup coarsely chopped nuts
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips