{Handmade} LACINATO KALE SALAD

The kale party continues! This salad is great room temp or chilled, but can also be sauteed as a warm salad. Lacinato kale is a great kale to start with if you aren't a huge kale fan because it's not as tough & curly. It's almost like a kale / Romain lettuce hybrid. It looks like this if you are not familiar:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~LACINATO KALE SALAD~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yield: 

1 main portion or 2 sides


Materials:

1 small bunch or 0.5 large bunch Lacinato Kale (I used 10 leaves)
0.5 cup size chunk purple red cabbage (omit for sautee)
0.5 cup raw or roasted walnuts
scant 0.5 cup dried cherries or cranberries

For Dressing:

1 tbs. olive oil
1 small garlic clove, pasted
pinch Red Chili Flakes
0.5 tsp. whole grain mustard
0.4 tsp. maple syrup
salt & pepper to taste
0.25 lemon or orange, juiced
0.4 tsp. dried tarragon

Procedure - for COLD SALAD:

Use a small Mason Jar and shake together, or whisk together dressing ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Rough chop kale and add to bowl/tupperware with lid.  Top with cabbage, walnuts, & cherries. Add dressing, lid and shake to distribute dressing all over kale. Eat right away, or let sit 1-2 hours before eating to soften kale. 

Procedure - for SAUTEED / WARM:

Rough chop kale & set aside. 

Heat olive oil up in pan over low, add garlic & chili flake. Once garlic is softened slightly, stir in mustard and maple syrup. 

Turn pan up to med-high and add kale, salt & pepper. Cook kale a few minutes until wilted slightly and crispy on the edges, tossing so that the garlic doesn't burn. 

Pull of heat, add lemon juice & tarragon. Toss.

Serve / eat immediately.

Results:

I loved this salad more than the Red Kale Salad & thought it was even better sauteed.  We had alongside breaded pork chops for dinner...delish!

{Handmade} RED KALE SALAD

I used to eat dirt as a kid. Hey, there are worse things. At least it's natural! Glue? Ew! Crayons? No thanks! But dirt? I liked. Perhaps I had a mineral deficiency. Perhaps I had more than a mineral deficiency? I heard that. Maybe you are wondering how this is relevant to kale salad...well, kale is one of those greens you know is good for you because it tastes like dirt in a good way. You can just taste the vitamins and minerals. One of my favorite ways to eat kale is by making a salad with it. It isn't technically a "raw" salad because I use lemon or vinegar to help breakdown the kale a little, but you get more vitamins and minerals than in cooked preparations. Plus, it is delicious! If you are looking for more ways to eat kale...give kale salads a go because the variety of kale, toppings and dressings you can use make the options endless. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~RED KALE SALAD~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Materials:

1 small bunch or 0.5 large bunch Red Kale
0.5 small apple, diced
1 small carrot, diced
0.25 cup slivered almonds

For Dressing:
0.25 lemon, zested & juiced
2 tsp. Olive Oil
0.5 tsp. vinegar of choice (see note below)
1 small garlic clove, pasted
salt & pepper to taste
pinch Red Chili Flakes

Mixed together, tasted, and decided to add:

0.25 tsp honey
0.5 tsp Dijon mustard

Note: My favorite vinegar for salad dressings is Queen Creek Olive Mill's Pomegranate White Balsamic. It is so delicious that sometimes I sprinkle it on a salad, add some S&P and call it done. You have to try it! If you live in AZ & haven't visited the Mill, you need to because it's beautiful and so much fun. They do a oil pressing tour, olive oil & vinegar tastings, have harvest events, a shop, restaraunt, gelato bar & more. They even have Chocolate Olive Oil, people! If I lived closer, I'd be there every week. http://www.queencreekolivemill.com 

Procedure:

Use a small Mason Jar and shake together, or whisk together dressing ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Rough chop kale and add to bowl/tupperware with lid.  Top with chopped apple, carrot and almonds. Add dressing, lid and shake to distribute dressing all over kale. Let sit at least 1 hour before eating to soften kale. You can even store in fridge up to 4 hours before eating.

     

Results:

This salad was yummy. If you love kale, you need to make some up right now and have a kale party!


Discussion:

My next post will be another kale salad using Lacinato/Tuscan/Dinosaur/T-rex/Can you pick one name please!? Kale that can be eaten cold/room temp or sauteed. If you are a kale liker, but not lover, I would try the Lacinato Kale Salad first. :-)

{Handmade} GIARDINIERA for CANNING

Homemade Giardiniera....yum!

I am new to the wonderful world of canning and have so much fun making homemade versions of canned and pickled foods that I love. I don't know why I hadn't tried giardiniera earlier on in my life. I always have a hard time spelling & pronouncing it and still do not know if I am pronouncing correctly. I was anti-pepper and cauliflower up until a couple years ago. I have always loved pickles, but I was a pickle purist and didn't see how any pickled food could be better than pickled cucumbers. Again, why? Oh well...no use pondering all the delicious pickled yum-yums I've passed on over the years. Instead, I choose to make & eat more of it now!

Below is my first giardiniera experiment. I researched a  peck of pickled peppers bunch of different types and methods & combined my findings to create....duh da da daah....the perfect homemade giardiniera!! At least I hope it is...you have to let it sit at least two weeks before inhaling eating. For now, the lovelies are just sitting pretty on my counter smiling at me. What? Veggies can totally smile. I will add comments in a couple weeks so you all know the results.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GIARDINIERA for CANNING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Portion sits overnight, but active prep & cooking takes about 1 hour. Yields 6 pints. Keeps up to 1 year.

Materials:

Veggies

2 English cucumbers, sliced in rings & quartered

4 stalks celery, sliced on a diagonal        

2 large carrots, peeled & thinly sliced

0.50 head cauliflower, cored & chunked in small bite-size bits

0.5 bag sweet bell peppers, seeded & sliced in rings 
          (alternatively, you can use 1lb mixed bell peppers)

2 each red (Fresno) & green jalapenos, sliced in half-rings......
          To seed or not to seed?! I left the seeds & membranes in the Fresnos and in 1 jalapeno,   
             but seeded the other jalapeno. It's up to your taste-buds how hot you like it.

0.25 large sweet onion, sliced

Pickling Liquid

1 c. each Cider, White Wine & Red Wine Vinegars

3 c. water 

2 tbs. + 1 tbs. sea salt

1 tsp. red chili flakes


Additional Jar Fixings

black peppercorns

6 bay leaves

1 head garlic, separated out & peeled

6 sprigs oregano or marjoram......whichever is more to your liking


olive oil and/or chili oil


Procedure:

                                           
Day 1 - Add cucumber and celery slices to a big glass bowl. Add enough cold water to cover and 2 tbs. sea salt. Stir to combine. Refrigerate overnight.

Day 2 - Drain cucumbers and celery. Rinse really well and drain again. Add other veggies to bowl and mix gently to combine.

Wash and sterilize 6 pint jars (I used wide-mouth). Heat vinegars, water, and additional 
1 tbs. sea salt over medium heat until just boiling. Crush red chili flakes in the palm of your hand as you add and stir well. 

When you are ready to fill, add a few pinches peppercorns, bay leaf, 3 garlic cloves and a sprig of oregano or marjoram to the bottom of each jar.  Pack each with the veggie mixture to the top of the jar's neck (about 0.5in from the top rim of jar). Next, ladle in the hot pickling liquid until veggies are covered, leaving 0.5in head space. Add a tbs. of olive oil or chili oil to the top of each. 

Remove air bubbles by slidding a chopstick between the veggies and jar and pulling towards the center slightly. Repeat around the circumference of the jar. Add lid and twist on ring until just fingertip tight. Process for 10 minutes (I had to do 3 batches of 2 for the size of my basket. Carefully remove jars and avoid tipping as you scream when the handle comes of your basket and you burn your hand saving a jar from falling and smashing on the tile and flinging broken glass and pickeled veggie lava all over you set on a towel on the counter. Keep  spaced out and undisturbed to cool overnight. 

After 24hrs, check that that all have sealed properly. If so, store for a minimum of 2 weeks and up to one year.  Refrigerate for a couple days before eating. If any did not seal properly, put them in the fridge and eat within a couple weeks.


Hypothesis:

The perfect homemade canned giardiniera has just been created. 


Results:

To be determined...