Kale, Quinoa & Falafel Salad

Have you seen mini kale in your supermarket or farmers market lately?
I have found these little kales in Coles, and not only are they super cute, but they are really delicious too. 
They don't have the same grassy taste that regular kale does. They have a subtle sweetness to them.
We have been enjoying them the last few months.

They are called "kalettes" and Coles has described them as a combination of kale and brussels sprouts with a nutty flavour.

I think that is a very good description.

Here's a quick and easy way to add them to a eye-pleasing salad:

KALE, QUINOA & FALAFEL SALAD

You'll need:
1 cup quinoa
1 punnet of kalettes
Approx 20 pre-cooked falafels
1 red capsicum


Dressing:

1 can chickpeas, drained
1 Tablespoon sweet chili sauce
2 Tablespoons soft tofu
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Place the quinoa in a microwave safe dish with 2 cups of water. Place a lid on and cook in the microwave for 12 minutes or until quinoa is clear and cooked through.
Allow to cool slightly.
Remove the woody ends from the kalettes and steam for 3-4 minutes.
Slice the capsicum.
Combine all the above in a salad bowl along with the falafels.
You can make your own falafels, or use packet ones. (Click on this link to see my preferred packet brand.)
To make the dressing, simply combine all the ingredients in a blender with 2-3 Tablespoons of water and blend til smooth. You can add more water if you prefer a thinner sauce.
Pour over the salad.

Can be served warm or cold.

*You can use regular kale if you can't find kalettes. Just steam and chop into rough pieces.

Question of the day:
Have you seen kalettes in the shop?

Bit-like Coconut Curry

I was going to call this "Corn & Kale Curry" but I decided "Bit-like Coconut Curry" sounded far more appealing - especially to those who are not kale lovers in our home! It has all the flavour of a curry made with rich coconut milk, yet substantially less fat.
Thankfully it went down a real treat - even none kale-loving members went back for seconds!!! I hope you enjoy it just as much as they did.

BIT-LIKE COCONUT CURRY

(Serves 4)
You'll need:
400g corn cobs (about 3 cobs) - kernels removed
1 bunch kale - finely chopped
500g pumpkin - about 1/4 medium sized one
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
2 1/2 cups soymilk
1 1/2 teaspoon coconut essense
1 Tablespoon curry powder of choice
1 teaspoon dessicated coconut (optional)

Chop all the veggies.
Saute the onion & garlic with a bit of water until lightly browned.
Add all the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. 
Reduce heat & simmer for 20 minutes until pumpkin is soft.
Using the back of a spoon gently press the pumpkin pieces so they begin to fall apart. Stir dish well so everything is well distributed.

Serve over rice or potatoes.

 

Kale Attacked Minestrone Stew

The reason for the name of this stew:
My husband came home from work, walked into the kitchen to see what I was cooking and commented: "What happened to the dinner? Did it get attacked by kale or something?"
I chuckled!
Kale doesn't tend to wilt down quite as much as other greens in cooking. Though thankfully for the sake of my husband, it does a little.... so when you throw a whole bunch into your stew although it takes over at the start, by the time it's cooked down a little bit, it seems like a much more reasonable amount!!!!! lol
Then again, I think being attacked by the "super hero" power of kale isn't such a bad thing after all ;-)
And so I bring you....

KALE ATTACKED MINESTRONE STEW

You'll need:
1 large onion
1 large zucchini
1 large carrot
2 cloves of garlic
1 can cannelliini beans (drained)
1 can tomatoes
1 bunch kale
3 stalks of both basil and parsley (fresh)
4 bay leaves
1 litre vegetable stock (I used home made)
1/2 cup soup pasta

Chop all the vegetables and herbs. In a large pot brown the onion using a bit of water to prevent from sticking. Add all ingredients to the pot and bring to the boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down and simmer for 30 minutes until the vegetables are soft (and the kale has wilted down lol).

Most of the stock will be absorbed by the pasta - making it more the consistency of a 'stew' and not a 'soup'. If you prefer this more 'soup-like' just add more stock (or water).
Remove the bay leaves prior to serving.

 
I am linking this to Meatless Monday: Watercress.
I have to confess that I can't find watercress in our regular store and I didn't have the time to look for it in other places! Any greens can be substituted for the kale in this recipe.

Pasta with Greens

If you've followed my blog for some time it will probably come as no surprise to you that I'm a pasta lover! In fact our whole family is! I am very pleased that I have finally got my husband to be a pasta eater too now!
I love to serve pasta in ways that aren't always just a standard red sauce and this is one of those alternative ways :-)
The little kick of sweet chili sauce adds a lovely touch without too much heat - don't skip it! 

PASTA WITH GREENS

You'll need:
250g pasta of choice
1/2 bunch kale, chopped into little pieces
8 large broccoli florets, chopped into little pieces
1 can chickpeas, drained

1 cup soymilk
1 Tablespoon cornflour
1 Tablespoon sweet chili sauce
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon garlic

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook for recommended time. With 3 minutes spare, add the kale, broccoli and chickpeas.

Drain the pasta and vegetables.

While the pasta is draining, use the pot to make the cheesey sauce. 
*Remove the pot from the stove*
 
Combine all the sauce ingredients (soymilk, cornflour, sweet chili, nutritional yeast, garlic) in the pan and whisk together til cornflour and nutritional yeast has dissolved and the sauce in smooth. *This won't work properly if the pot is on the heat still as you need to dissolved cornflour in COLD fluid.






Return to the heat and continue to whisk until slightly thickened. Approx 3-4 minutes. 
Pour the drained pasta and vegetables back into the pot and stir well until all pasta has sauce over it.

Serves 3

Pumpkin and Kale Soup

Its not easy being green in winter!
Summer naturally leans towards delicious green smoothies and tasty salads but when winter comes I find my greens sit in the fridge for longer than they should.....

This is a great way to incorporate greens into your winter lunches :-)

You'll need:
1/4 of a whole pumpkin
1/2 onion
1 teaspoon sage
1 teaspoon stock powder
leaves from 4 steams of black kale (or other green leafy as desired)

Chop the pumpkin into small pieces and scoop out the seeds.

Place in a large saucepan with the chopped onion, sage and stock powder.

Pour in enough water to just cover the pumpkin pieces.

Bring to the boil and then simmer for 15 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft.

Remove from the stovetop and blend with a stick blender until smooth.

Return to the heat and add the torn kale leaves.

Cover and continue to cook on low heat for 7-10 minutes until the kale leaves have slightly wilted.

Serves 2

Potato and kale stew

I love a meal that is easy to prepare but also very satisfying. 
I must admit that I don't mind a bit of chopping and stirring - that is my idea of relaxed cooking. This stew is exactly that! :-)

You'll need:
4 potatoes
half bunch of kale (approx 5-6 stems)
1 zucchini
1 can butter beans
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon stock powder
3 cups water
1/4 cup tomato paste


Chop the potatoes into rough 1-2cm cubes - no need to peel them though I do recommend giving them a brush first!
Chop the zucchini into slices.
Remove the leaves from the kale stems. 
Drain the butter beans.
Place all these ingredients into a large stock pot.
Crush the garlic over the veggies, add the stock powder and pour the water over the top. You may need more water depending on the pot size - you need enough to just cover the vegetables but not drown them. 
Bring to a boil and then lower the heat and leave to simmer with the lid on for 20 minutes.
Stir in the tomato paste and serve. 
You may want to add some fresh herbs to serve :-) I recommend parsley.

This is my contribution to Healthy Vegan Friday for the week.
You can add your recipe at these blogs:
carrie on vegan                    veggie nook                    greenthickies  

Green and Gold Tofu Scramble

When I first went vegan I was so nervous to try tofu scramble! I kept reading about it but I couldn't convince myself to give it a try. The great news is that when I finally got up enough courage to give it a try, I never looked back!

There are so many different variations to tofu scramble out there. 
This is how I enjoy it the most.  Maybe because the colours make me feel like I'm being a true "Aussie" ;-)
I love to add lots of veggies to the mix and a few flavourings. 
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

To serve 2:
300g firm tofu
4 button mushrooms
4 kale leaves
1 shallot
1/2 large capsicum (any colour you choose)
1 Tablespoon soysauce
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast

Chop the tofu into bite size pieces and place in a frying pan. Put just enough water that the tofu doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan but not so much that the tofu gets soggy - that may be a few tablespoons, depending on your pan. 
Chop the mushrooms, shallots and capsicum and add to the pan.
Remove the leaves of the kale from the stems. Break into small pieces and add to the pan. You may want to add a little water along the way just so the mixture doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
Top the mixture with the soysauce, turmeric and nutritional yeast and stir well. 
Stir frequently for about 5 minutes until all the veggies are tender.

Serve over toast or by itself.

Easy Kale Lunch Wrap

It occurred to me this morning as I was thinking about what I would have for lunch that I have had this for the last 2 weeks on Friday and was planning on having it again today. Sounds like a perfect contribution to Health Vegan Fridays if you ask me!!!

You can add your link to Health Vegan Fridays on either of these blogs:
   -  the veggie nook
   -  carrie on vegan 

Thanks ladies for hosting :-)




Place in a warmed frying pan 4 sliced button mushrooms, torn leaves from 2 kale stems, 1/2 chopped red capsicum & 1/2 cup water.
Cover with a lid & allow to heat for 10 minutes.

Serve in a heated wrap with BBQ sauce & a sprinkling of nutritional yeast!

Roll up your wrap & eat - YUM! 

So simple and yet so incredibly tasty! :-)

Miso Eggplant and Kale

You know I'm a fan of simple dishes right?!?

I swear it doesn't get any easier than this!

And yet the flavour combination is just so delicious you'll feel like it should of taken you hours to prepare ;-)

In a large frying pan combine:

• 1 medium size eggplant, cut into thick fry size strips

• 1/2 bunch of kale, stem removed, leaves torn

• 2 Tablespoons miso paste

• 4 cloves garlic, crushed

• 1/2 cup water

Put a lid over the frying pan & leave for 15 minutes.

Come back to a delicious smell, softened eggplant, & slightly wilted kale leaves.

Serve over brown rice or other grain of choice.

Join Healthy Vegan Fridays at the veggienook.

"Weird" Quinoa Meal

Do you eat similar to the way you were brought up or very different?

I'm sure my parents have never even heard of "Quinoa" or "Kale" or "Nutritional Yeast".
If I told them I had this meal for dinner recently they would definitely say it was "weird".

And they definitely wouldn't believe me if I told them that there was such thing as purple carrots!

 

Sometimes its fun to get experimental in the kitchen and try new flavours.

My recent taste experiment has been purple carrots.

So of course I had to include them in my "weird" meal!!!

I hope you enjoy this.

I found the combination of these un-common tastes rather exotically delicious!!!!

I used pre-cooked quinoa. I find having pre-cooked grains on hand in the fridge very handy. I will often make a large batch & use it several times through-out the week. 

1 cup pre-cooked quinoa (warmed up)
3 button mushrooms
1 purple carrot
2 large kale leaves
1 small brown onion

Chop the mushrooms, carrot and onion into bite size pieces. Water saute these vegetables in a frying pan until they are soft & lightly browned.
Stem the kale and roughly chop the leaves. Microwave with water in a bowl on high for 3 minutes, then drain & add to the other vegetables. Stir to combine.

To make the sauce:
1 Tablespoon almond butter
1/2 cup soymilk
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon dried sage

Stir all these ingredients together until well combined. Warm in the microwave for 30 seconds, or over a stove (if you want to make extra washing up!).

Serve the quinoa in a bowl & top with the vegetables. Spoon the sauce over the top.

Serves one.

Enjoy.