Move over Popeye – Olive Would’ve Liked Kale Better

Looking for a quick go-to salad that takes 20 minutes to make, and holds up throughout the week? We have you covered. Kale is all the new rage these days, and for good reason. This green superfood is phenomenal combined with the crunchiness of the brussels. For the best results, make the salad in advance and let the kale absorb the dressing overnight to eliminate the bitterness.

Thanksgiving in the Forch household, means everyone is responsible for providing their own dish. This salad was so popular, it even made the cut into Mama’s best-kept Thanksgiving recipes, but also resurfaces on our dinner table at least once a month. Try it out – you will have a new appreciation for kale & brussels! This recipe was adapted from Bon Appétit Online.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 small garlic clove, finely grated
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt plus more for seasoning
Freshly ground black pepper

2 large bunches of Kale
2 packages Trader Joes Brussel Sprouts
1 1/2 cups finely chopped carrots
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup sliced almonds with skin
1 cup grated Manchego cheese

DIRECTIONS:

-Combine lemon juice, Dijon mustard, shallot, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.
-Toss chopped kale, TJ’s brussels sprouts and chopped carrots in a large mixing bowl.
-Pour dressing on the kale, brussels and carrots. Set aside for 1 hour to enable the kale to absorb the dressing.
-Remove from refrigerator, and add cheese, salt & pepper to taste.
-Garnish with almonds.

A GULP & a Crunch of Kale,

-M

THE DEW DID ME

Beets and pudding filled Doughnut’s Emily..

My co-worker’s face looks like he has just put a war-head into his mouth and his body is clenched like he is about to vomit. Beets and Doughnuts make him cringe due to a memory from child-hood that involved a heavy beet diet from Ma’ and jelly filled questionablness. He will not and cannot imagine consuming another.

Mountain Dew and Cottage Cheese w/ Tomatoes does it for me.

Mountain Dew: 13 year’s old, Christmas Eve, At home with Gran, Unable to eat the crab dinner, suffering from “up goes the window in-FLU-Enza.” I can remember the green drink as I chugged it down to replenish my pruned up body. It sat in my stomach. The rest of it is history that I am sure many of you would love me to be spare the chunky details. I will not ever again Do the Dew because the Dew certainly did me.

Cottage Cheese w/ Tomatoes: Hot summer days, 20 years old, Best friend’s recipe to die for, Fredericksburg, Va, Skipping class, Wal-Mart groceries, Broke, and a Bottle of red wine vinegar. Oh how I loved every second of it. I loved every second of it so much that I ate it every day M-F. Cottage Cheese w/ Tomatoes tonight for dinner? HECK NO. The sound and picture of it together makes my abs contract in revolt-ion. I loved until I hated.

Those memories tied with food, either good or bad are simply enjoyable to re-visit. To laugh at another, to shed a tear, to punch a wall, to squirm together because of a food borne memory is a gift.

Grapefruit, Warmed, with Raw Honey OR Brown Suga: 15-16 years old, High-School mornings, Broken toaster oven, Ma’s lovin, Hyundai Elantra, Baby fat, Too early of a wake up call, Abercrombie and Fitch, 953 Tanglewood Road, M still asleep, Dad’s morning car ride discussions. Tempted by the fruit of my mother..Okay kind of weird, BUT it makes me warm inside to recall these memories and also hummin’ a lil’:

“Grapefruit, bathin suit, you chew a little juicy fruit
Wash away the night
Dive in, you guzzle gin, commit a little mortal sin
its good for the soul”

Good for the soul indeed Jimmy.

Leaving you with a moment to find your food-borne memory and my Big Girl Baked Mango Stuffed Grapefruit recipe.

A GULP of times passed.

EM

Big Girl Baked Mango Stuffed Grapefruit

(yields 1)

1 Ruby Red Grapefruit

5 Chunks of Frozen Mango (I used Trader Joes)

Raw Honey or Organic Brown Suga

1 Tbsp of Coconut if desired

Pinch of Sea Salt

Set the oven to the broil setting. Slice grapefruit down the middle. Use a sharp knife and cut triangles along their edges and just where the grapefruit meets the outside white part. Slice mango chunks into small shavings. Cut a whole in the middle of the grapefruit. Stuff grapefruit with mango shavings. Sprinkle with coconut if desired. Take the pinch of sea salt and sprinkle over both halves. Drizzle raw honey and or brown sugar over both halves. Broil for 10-12 minutes until grapefruit is warm and or the brown sugar is melted on top.