I’ve always known that kale is super good for you, but I also have not really been a fan of it… especially raw. However, I went out for kale salad about a week ago, and it was quite good. I figured that I could make something even better, and I did. Twice.
Kale salad #1: Marinated olives, raw garlic, carrots, red wine vinegar, olive oil. This is mighty awesome.
Kale salad #2: Blood orange juice, lime juice, olive oil, raw garlic, hot pepper. Also good. A strong contender.
(The peppers were from my garden!)
Aside from the raw kale, a lot of my cooking has revolved around fresh produce. I got bronchitis for a week and a half and basically lived off Amy’s frozen food / Freebirds during that time. Once I was better, I needed some fresh food!
This zucchini falafel is something I’m working on. I made it with falafel mix (shhh, I know), but I am planning on customizing it with my own spices and legumes over time. Zucchini in falafel is a definite win. (Pictured with coleslaw and avocado / cherry tomato salad. Both lime spiked.)
This southwestern salad is with mango, black beans, cabbage, green onions, carrots, lime juice, and spicy salsa. Radishes taste really good in Mexican / Tex-mexish food, I think. Besides, my grocery store didn’t have jicama.
This lentil soup is pretty produce and herb heavy. I threw a lot of stuff in, and at the end added cayenne pepper for spice.
Besides eating, we went to our first live music show in Austin, Neko Case at Stubb’s. (I don’t count running into live music at the grocery store or airport.) Neko Case has a voice like you wouldn’t believe. Even better than her albums, I think. As Bill has pointed out, we were a lot closer than the picture suggests. Stubb’s is a pretty sweet venue. Good acoustics, and not loud enough to make my ears ring.
As usual, Austin remains:
Beautiful,
weird,
and surprising. (Flyer at the grocery store!)
April 14, 2009 at 1:01 am |
Wow. Your food looks amazing! One of the few times that I can taste what you’re trying to put in a photo. You rock.
P.S. I’ve found your aspen photo on everystockphoto and would like to use it for a Uni. project. CC licence says it’s alright to use, but wanted to double-check.
April 14, 2009 at 1:05 am |
Thanks for the complements
Oh yeah, absolutely go ahead and use the photo! I love it when other people use my stuff.
No more Aspen photos now that I don’t live in Colorado. I miss them!
May 6, 2009 at 3:58 pm |
Hi Kari,
I was looking around the internet for some Kale questions to be answered and I noticed your blog with the 2 Kale Salads. They look amazing! You seem to be pretty knowledgeable about fresh produce so I have 2 questions! 1: I am a newly wed and just getting my feet wet regarding cooking more healthy and fresh, although it has always been a goal, so do you mind sharing your 2 recipes!? 2: I have a recipe that calls for baby Kale, but just couldn’t find it at the store, so I bought regular, do you think it matters? Thanks so much!
May 8, 2009 at 1:51 pm |
If I happen to write a recipe, I do post them on here, but I feel cooking is much more about technique than recipes. Ingredients can vary so much, I think it’s much better to practice cooking and tasting from basic recipes and go from there. How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman is a good place to start. Hope this helps!