Kale is your friend

Kale. Kale is your friend. Sometimes, I think that is what I should have named my blog. I am obsessed with kale lately. I want to eat it every day. It just feels so good for you, which it is…it is high in Vitamins A, C, E, K & B6. Kale has one of the highest levels of the antioxidant, beta-carotene, which is believed to help combat cancer & heart disease. Plus this wonder veggie is high in fiber & calcium. But, am I gonna eat something that doesn’t taste good, no matter how good it is for me? No! But kale tastes good, soooo good. I ate it twice yesterday, actually ate it once & drank it once! Yes, drank it. I am hopelessly addicted to this Brown Smoothie from Doc’s Juices & Smoothies. But that is another post. Actually I blogged about that as a guest blogger on www.elizabites.com Go check out my post & her great blog!

So, dinner last night was so simple. I like that. I love cooking, but that doesn’t mean I want to always spend hours doing it. Sometimes I just want to eat. And these days, I want to eat fairly healthy. I have recently subscribed to Eating Well & Cooking Light, plus discovered Cooking Light’s website of recipes. I used to be an Epicurious.com girl. But the idea of reducing fat, salt, and oil really appeals to me. I must be getting old!

Dinner was a ragout of cannellini beans, turkey sausage, zucchini, tomatoes & kale, my darling kale! I found my dinner recipe on www.cookinglight.com.  It only took about 30 minutes  to make. That made me very happy. It would have been great with a multigrain baguette, but I have been trying to cut out the bread, after eating it at least three times a day for the past three years, so it totally slipped my mind until we sat down to eat. We had it for lunch again today & it was even better. The flavors were more fully developed & the kale stood up, of course, it’s such a trooper.

Here’s the recipe. I adapted it from Cooking Light, using what I had on hand.

1 Tbl olive oil

½ cup chopped onions

2 raw turkey sausages, casings removed

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 zucchini, quartered & sliced into ½ inch pieces

½ cup of water

1 bunch of kale, cleaned, trimmed & chopped up

1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes, undrained

2 15 oz cans of cannellini beans, drained & rinsed

½ tsp kosher salt & fresh ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large dutch oven, add the onions & turkey sausage.

Sautee until sausage is browned, about 5 minutes

Add the garlic & zucchini. Saute for about 5 minutes.

Add the water, kale, tomatoes & beans, salt & pepper.

(The pot is gonna be pretty full. It won’t look the water is doing much. Don’t worry.  The veggies will release more water soon.)

Bring to a boil & cover.

Reduce heat & simmer for about 10 minutes or until kale is tender.

See how the veggies released their water?

Dinner is done! How easy was that? And it is good for you, not too oily, salty or fatty. Enjoy!