Tag Archives: kale

Leafy Green Fritters

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Green Fritters 7

I love the way the feta crisps up and gets golden brown ….. this is a fantastic way of using up a fridge full of greens!  Today these were beet tops, spinach and a bit of zucchini grated in.

INGREDIENTS

  • 14 ounces Swiss chard, kale, mustard, turnip or radish greens, etc, stems removed
  • ½ cup chopped Italian parsley
  • ¼ cup chopped cilantro
  • ¼ cup chopped dill
  • 1½ teaspoons grated nutmeg (I didn’t measure; just grated a lot directly into the processor)
  • ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • freshly cracked pepper
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3 ounces crumbled feta cheese (1/2 cup)
  • Olive oil or grapeseed oil for frying
  • Lemon wedges, for serving (optional)
  • Aioli, for serving (again, optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Steam greens, or briefly drop in boiling water for a few minutes. Remove from pot and drain well, patting leaves dry with a paper or kitchen towel.
  2. Place chard in food processor with herbs, nutmeg, sugar, salt, pepper, flour, garlic and eggs. Pulse until well blended. Fold in feta by hand.
  3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, spoon in 1 heaping tablespoon of mixture for each fritter (you should be able to fit three fritters per batch).  Stick to cooking three or four at a time. I find these fritters a little tricky to flip, and the key is to make sure that you have space to flip but also to make sure the fritters are golden and crisp before flipping. Press down gently on fritter to flatten. Cook 1 to 2 minutes per side, until golden brown. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with paper towels. Add another tablespoon oil to pan and repeat. Serve warm, with lemon wedges (optional). Another serving idea is to prepare a creamy aioli and serve with that alongside …. you won’t be sorry!

Lucky me ….. I had a bunch of beet greens to use up and found this recipe on alexandracooks.com

Green Fritters 1

I minced up a generous handful of herbs.

Green Fritters 2

Crumble the feta by hand, and then just stir everything together with your cooled greens.

Green Fritters 3

Stir it all together (those little red bits are the beet tops), and you are ready to fry.

Green Fritters 4

Don’t overcrowd the pan!  3 or 4 only depending on the size of your pan.  Not only will it prevent them from browning nicely, it will be difficult to flip them.

Green fritters 5

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Butternut Squash Salad

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Roasted squash, crunchy pepitas, salty feta, and tart pickled red onions.  This salad has it all, and can be served warm or cold.  Make a big batch it keeps so well.

Butternut Squash Salad

 

1 butternut squash (about 2 pounds)

5 to 6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 cup cooked barley

Barley

1 cup chopped fresh kale, massaged well until it is bright green

Kale, massaged

Look how much brighter the massaged kale is, compared to the kale at the bottom of the photo.  Massaged kale is more tender and easy to digest also.

1/3 cup toasted salted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
3 ounces feta cheese
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped

preheat oven to 375

Peel squash and cut into bite size pieces.  Toss with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and lots of freshly ground pepper, and roast until tender, about 30-40 minutes.

To cook barley put 1/2 cup dry barley into saucepan with 2 cups water (or chicken stock for extra flavour).  Boil for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and allow to sit for 1 hour.  Drain well.  You can easily do this a day ahead.

Dice red onion finely, and set aside in small bowl or jar.  Combine the sherry vinegar, water, salt and sugar and stir until well dissolved.  Pour over onions and allow to sit for at least 30 minutes.  You can also do this ahead of time, in fact I often have a jar of these in my fridge as they are amazing on salads, sandwiches and of course tacos!

Pickled red onion

Just love the bright colour pickled red onions get, with a gorgeous pink vinaigrette.  Yum.

The pumpkin seeds I have on hand all the time aren’t salted, so I toasted them in a little bit of olive oil, with a sprinkle of fresh sea salt.  They were so delicious I kept nibbling at them, good thing I ended up with enough for the salad.

When squash is ready, toss in a large bowl with all the other ingredients and about 3 tbsp  olive oil.

Butternut squash salad prep

Get everything ready ahead of time, and once the squash is roasted toss it all together.

Credit for this amazing salad goes to Smitten Kitchen, Deb used faro and I used barley but you can use any grain you like.  The kale was my idea too, had some in the fridge and thought it would add a nice pop of colour and texture, it did!

Warm Kale Salad

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I wanted to credit Joni for this delicious salad – served warm or at room temperature, but she insisted I give the credit to her sister Brita, who originally came up with this – regardless of who gets credit, I will happily take it now as I post it and recreate it in my own kitchen! So delicious, and like lots of salads it is easy to adapt with whatever you have on hand or in your fridge.

This delicious salad is equally great served warm or at room temperature.

This delicious salad is equally great served warm or at room temperature.

Kale (chopped and massaged)
spinach
pears (bite size pieces)
dates (diced)
almonds (roasted and roughly chopped)
feta

onion, garlic, asparagus & cherry tomatoes

Saute onion until translucent, then add garlic and asparagus and cook only until asparagus is tender crisp, add cherry tomatoes, stir and remove from heat.

Dressing:

1/3 cup olive oil
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup Bragg’s
salt and pepper to taste – be cautious with the salt tho as both feta and Bragg’s will be a bit salty

Combine all ingredients – tossing in a large bowl with warm onion/garlic mixture and dressing.

This salad is so delicious and packed with nutritious bites that it can easily be a full meal – if you like add shrimp or cooked chicken, maybe a little quinoa??

Wild Rice Salad with Kale, Pecans & Blueberries

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This salad is so beautiful to look at, and packed with deliciousness in every bite.  The contrasting textures work so well together – a meal in a bowl but also an amazing side to pretty much any barbecue.  Take it to a potluck and watch it disappear!

We were delighted when Tory produced this deliciously colorful salad.

We were delighted when Tory produced this deliciously colorful salad.

1 1/2 cups wild rice
1 cup raw pecans
6 large kale leaves
3 T walnut, pecan or vegetable oil
1T brown rice vinegar
2t brown sugar
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 red or yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
4 green onions, finely chopped
1 cup fresh blueberries

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the wild rice and cook until tender to the bite, about 45 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, preheat the over to 350F. Lay the pecans in the single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until toasted, about 10 mins. Watch carefully or set your timer – they go from golden brown to burnt in the blink of an eye! Let the pecans cool, then roughly chop them, set aside.

Trim and discard the thick stems form the kale, then chop the leaves.  Use your hands to massage and squish handfuls of the leaves until they soften and turn a darker shade of green, set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, brown sugar, salt and pepper.  Add the cooked rice and toss to coat.  Add the kale, bell pepper and green onions and toss again.

At this point the salad can be kept, covered and chilled for up to 2 days.

Add the blueberries, and pecans just before serving.