Creamy Kale Pesto Sauce

This is seriously my favorite go to pasta sauce. The flavor and color is so vibrant! Every time I make it, I try it with different things. I make it a lot so this is an updated version of my previous post Creamy Kale Pesto. It goes great with any meats and veggies you have in your fridge on top of pasta. My class harvested our carrots so I had tons of fresh carrots at home. I peeled and steamed them to add to the pasta. The next night I had it with roasted cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, pasta and parmesan cheese. It really goes great with anything! .

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Creamy Kale Pesto Sauce

Ingredients:

4 cups kale

1 ½ tablspoons smartbalance butter

2 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons whole wheat flour

½ tablespoon cornstarch

¾ cup milk

5 tablespoons water, divided

1 ½ tablespoons nutritional yeast

½ teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons pepper

Directions:

Peel the garlic cloves and process in the food processor. Set aside.

Rinse, dry, and chop or tear the kale off the stems. Pulse kale in food processor with 2 tablespoons water until it is completely pureed into a liquid.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the garlic and stir for two minutes. Add the flour and stir for another two minutes.

Slowly add the milk and 3 tablespoons water and whisk constantly for 5 minutes. Add the cornstarch and turn the heat to medium high. Continue to whisk for 3 minutes.

Return heat to low and add the onion powder, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper.  

This is great with pasta, meat, veggies, or sometimes we just eat it with a spoon from the fridge!

Kale Salad

This is seriously my new favorite food! I have had kale salad before but, never actually made it! I looked at tons of recipes and decided to make my own that would fit to my likings and what I had on hand. I liked this salad so much that I made it twice in one week!

Mike isn't into the artichoke hearts and tomatoes like I am so I made his some grilled chicken. 

 

 

Kale Salad

Ingredients:

4-5 cups washed and cut kale

½ honey roasted pecans

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1/3 can artichoke hearts

¾ cup cherry tomatoes

2 tablespoons hemp seeds

grated parmesan cheese

Dressing:

1 tbsp good extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

½ tbsp honey Dijon mustard

1 small or ½ large lemon, juiced

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

dash of salt and pepper

Directions:

Rinse, dry, and finely chop or tear the kale, not including the stems. Place the kale in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk all of the dressing ingredients together. Pour the dressing over the kale and massage the kale for about 1 minute. Place the bowl in the refrigerator while you are working on prepping the rest of the ingredients. A good 20 minutes will give the kale a nice flavor and texture.

Meanwhile, drain the artichoke hearts and chop into bite size pieces. Rinse the tomatoes and cut into fourths. Then chop the pecans.

After 20 minutes, take the kale out of the fridge and mix in the pecans, cranberries, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, and hemp seeds.

Serve and top with parmesan cheese.

Christmas Snowman Cookies

 

Snowman Cookies

Ingredients:

½ box Ritz crackers

1 jar creamy peanut butter

1 package white melting chocolate

1 bag semi-sweet mini morsels

1 package orange tic-tacs

Directions:

Spread peanut butter on cracker and put another cracker on top to make peanut butter sandwiches. Melt the chocolate in the microwave for one minute. Stir with a spoon until smooth.

Cover a platter with wax paper. 

Dip sandwich in chocolate. Place tic-tac in middle for the nose, two mini morsels on top for the eyes, and five mini morsels for the mouth. Repeat until all chocolate and sandwiches are used.

Refrigerate and enjoy!

Veggie Burgers

Veggie Burgers 

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked quinoa

1 cup chopped carrots

1 cup chopped spinach or kale

½ cup scallions

2 garlic cloves – minced

¼ cup yellow onion- chopped

1 large egg

3 tablespoons whole wheat flour

1 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Cooking spray

salt and pepper

 

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Directions:

Cook you quinoa according to package directions. While the quinoa is cooking,  heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes on medium low. Add the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes. Stir in the chopped carrots and let cook for about 2.

 

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In a large bowl, mix the quinoa, cooked vegetables, chopped spinach or other green, scallions, flour, egg, and salt and pepper. 

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Cover a dish with wax paper. Form 4 patties with the mixture and place on wax paper. Put the patties in the freezer for 10-12 minutes (until firm).

 Spray a large skillet with cooking spray (or can use olive oil). Heat on medium. Place the burgers on the skillet. Let cook for 4 minutes and flip over. Let other side cook for 4-5 minutes.

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Serve on toasted hamburger bun, pita bread, or salad. It also goes well with tzatziki sauce, ranch, or ketchup. 

Green Goddess Rice

Green Goddess Rice

Ingredients:

½ cup quinoa

½ cup brown rice

1 cup vegetable broth

3 cups water

1 clove garlic – minced

¼ cup green onion – sliced thinly

1 medium zucchini – shredded (I use the large cheese grater)

½ can artichoke hearts in water – drained and chopped into 1/4ths

½ cup frozen peas – dethawed

1/3 cup pistachios

1/3 cup parmesan cheese

1 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Fresh basil leaves or fresh citrus oregano tastes great too

Directions:

Rinse and drain the quinoa and rice. In a large pot, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and garlic. Sauté for 1 minute over medium heat. Add the quinoa and rice. Lower heat to medium-low and stir to toast for 3 minutes. Slowly add the vegetable broth and water. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to low.

Cover and simmer for 15-18 minutes (until tender).  You may need to add more water as the rice cooks and absorbs the liquid.

Meanwhile, shell the pistachios and toast in a pan over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once the rice is done cooking, turn the heat to low. Add the green onion, pistachios, shredded zucchini, dethawed peas, and artichoke heats. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well and make sure all the ingredients are heated throughout. Serve and top with shredded parmesan cheese and fresh herbs.

Stuffed Acorn Squash - 2 ways

Stuffed Acorn Squash (2 ways)

Ingredients:

1 acorn squash

2 cups fresh or frozen kale

1/3  cup good crumbly cheese – I used a cheese that had dried cranberries in it. Feta or your favorite cheese would work well.

Cooking Spray

Salt and Pepper

¼ lb ground turkey

 1 clove garlic – minced

¼ onion chopped or 1 tsp onion powder

1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350.

Microwave the acorn squash for two minutes. Cut the squash in half and clean out seeds and strings. Wash the seeds and reserve for roasting.

Lay the squash cut side down in a baking dish with 1/3 cup water. Bake for 40 minutes.

Meanwhile season the seeds with salt, pepper, and maybe some spice if you like. Spray a large baking dish. Spread seeds over and spray the seeds with cooking spray. Let roast for 8 minutes.

Steam the kale and drain.

Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the onions, stir for 2 minutes. Add the onions and cook for another minutes. Add the ground turkey and cook until light brown – about 6 minutes.  Drain any excess fat.

In one bowl mix the turkey, half the cheese and half the kale. Season with salt and pepper.

In a separate bowl mix the kale and cheese and season with salt and pepper.

Remove the squash from the oven. Stuff each squash with the mixtures and top with the roasted seeds. Heat oven to 425 and cook the squash for another 5 minutes. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Creamy Kale Pesto

This is our new favorite pasta sauce. We seriously can not get enough of it! We like it with pasta, couscous, quinoa, and goes great with veggies, crispy shrimp or chicken, or just eating it cold out of the fridge the next day!! I made this with mushroom pasta noodles, crispy shrimp (recipe to come soon) and topped it with parmesan cheese for Mike's birthday. He loved this birthday present : ) 

 

Creamy Kale Pesto Sauce

Ingredients for Creamy Kale Pesto:

1 ½ cups frozen Kale (or can use fresh- just skip the defrosting step)

1 tablespoon smart balance light

2 garlic cloves – minced

3 tablespoons whole wheat flour

1 ½ cups skim milk

½ cup water

4 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 tablespoon cornstarch

½ teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

Defrost Kale according to package directions. I use a veggie steamer in the microwave and add about 2-3 tablespoons water.

Do not drain the water after cooking.  Pulse the kale in food processor until smooth. This usually takes a few minutes to make sure there are not big chunks.  Set aside.

Melt smart balance butter in a large saucepan. Add flour and whisk on medium low for 3 minutes. Add garlic and let cook, stirring occasionally for 3 minutes.

Slowly add in milk, whisking constantly. Continue to whisk for 4 minutes on medium low heat. Turn up the heat to medium high, whisk for 2 1/2 minutes.

Add the cornstarch and continue to whisk until thick (this only takes about 30 seconds).

Turn the heat back down to low, add the kale, water, nutritional yeast, and onion powder. Stir on low for 6-10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

 Serve generous helpings on top of pasta, chicken, shrimp, quinoa, couscous, veggies or sometimes we eat this by itself.