Blue Potato Winter Kale Soup

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blue potatoes, kale soup, kale soup recipe, soup recipe, winter soup

It’s finally getting chilly out here in sunny LA and I’m remembering my mid-west / East Coast roots and craving a hearty kale soup. So I put together some of my favorite ingredients and created a pot of broth-y, soul-warming soup. Makes me want to knit a sweater, or at least wear one.

Ingredients:

•   Kale – dinosaur, red or green curly – slivered

•   Peruvian blue potatoes – cut in half

•   Green beans – ends cut off and cut in half

•   Zucchini – cut in slices and then halved

•   Cabbage – cut into pieces

Fig & Kale Salad

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balsamic vinegar, Black pepper, Cook, figs, green figs, Italy, Kale, kale salad, kale salad recipe, mission figs, Olive oil, pomegranate vinegar, Salad

One of my husband’s best friends grows figs in his back yard, as do his parents, who smuggled the seedling into the US from their hometown in southern Italy. The figs are always delicious, maybe because they’re shepherded through the growth process by knowing hands, maybe because they’re given with love. This salad can be made with either black mission or green figs. The sweet fig taste is the perfect complement to mild, curly green kale in a light, fruity vinaigrette.

Ingredients:

•   Kale – green curly – minced into tiny pieces and massaged with 1/8 t of the olive oil for 1 minute

•   Figs -mission or green figs, sliced into quarters or smaller

Kale spotting on the streets of Santa Monica

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Bartender, curly kale, Hollywood, Kale, Los Angeles, Matthew Biancaniello, purple kale, Roosevelt Hotel, Santa Monica, Santa Monica California

I was walking out of my doctor’s appointment in Santa Monica, and what did I see, but 3 people standing on the sidewalk waving KALE around and talking. Even from a distance, I could see beautiful purple, curly kale and green dinosaur kale. It’s the kind of thing, people just need to share about. The Santa Monica Farmer’s Market had just let out and these friends were proud to show their bounty.
Matthew Biancaniello, mixologist and bartender at the posh Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood uses kale in his favorite recipes, and occasionally will put them in one of his drink creations. He also showed me some uber-ripe, sweet and juicy persimmon he was going to mix into the perfect seasonal cocktail — even sent me home with one! Not a leaf of kale, however, he would not part with. Smart man.

Matthew Biancaniello, bartender at Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood holding up purple kale from Santa Monica’s Farmer’s Market

Kale is Everywhere! Kale Spotted in Salad at Sushi Bar

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Kale, kale in japanese salad, kale is everywhere, kale salad, kale spotted in sushi bar, kale spotting

Kale is popping up everywhere — from health food cafes to chic, fancy restaurants. It’s even showing up in milkshakes (yes, there is a vegan blueberry kale shake at Sun Cafe in Studio City that’s surprisingly delicious).

I had lunch at Mori Sushi in Los Angeles last week with two friends. I thought I’d be free from kale in a sushi bar that’s so authentic the chef grows his own rice and uses real crab in his California roll.

But then I looked down at my Japanese salad with traditional yuzu dressing and whoa! There was kale in the salad!

Kale knows no bounds, people!

Before you know it, it’ll be in toothpaste, candles, clothing (it’s very high in fibre – I’ll bet hemp doesn’t hold a candle to it — or should I say pipe?), and we’ll be loading it into our gas tanks instead of gasoline. Kale really is the new beef.

Kale & Cabbage Slaw

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Cabbage, Kale, kale salad, kale slaw, Olive oil, organic carrots, Parsley, Sea salt

Kale and cabbage slaw

A bag of Trader Joe’s shredded cabbage sits staring at me in the refrigerator crisper drawer. Why on earth was this purchased? I can’t really say, except it must be in order to become yet another expression of how kale can be integrated into our daily lives using simple, always available ingredients. And here they are:

Ingredients:

• 5 Cups Shredded Cabbage
• 3 Kale Leaves, pulled from stalks and chopped finely
• 2 Organic Carrots, scrubbed and sliced finely or julienned

Zucchini Pasta with Kale, Broccoli and Carrot Peels

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almost raw, broccoli, carrots, fake pasta, healthy food, kale recipe, natural food, raw food recipe, spinach, spiral slicer, Spirooli Spiral 3-in-1 Slicer

Zucchini Pasta with Kale, Broccoli and Carrot Peels

I’m inventing a new way of cooking pasta that doesn’t include pasta. I’m calling it the “Fake Pasta” movement and here’s one of my first recipes, which of course, happens to feature kale. After seeing a local chef use a spiral slicer, which can turn zucchini, carrots, sweet potatoes, or all manner of vegetable into SPAGHETTI (whoa!), I knew I had to have one.

Turkey Chili with Kale, Carrots & Peppers

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Chile powder, chili, Kale, kale recipe, Olive oil, Onion, Tomato paste, Turkey, Turkey chili recipe

Kale Turkey Chili

This is an adaptation of a Turkey Chili recipe from my friend Susan Nickerson. I believe she calls it her “husband catching chili” because she apparently ensnared her husband with its charms. But my chili is devoid of beans (avoiding the starches when possible) and I’ve “vege-fied” the recipe to ensure it’s packed with vegetables, including, yes, kale. My husband is a devout meat eater so this is one of the many ways I sneak vegetables into his meat dishes without him knowing it. Wait, he’ll never see this, will he?

Kale & Parsley Root Soup Recipe

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coconut milk, gluten-free, healthy cooking, Kale, kale recipe, kale soup recipe, natural food, organic carrots, Parsley, parsley root, soup recipe, sweet potatoes

Kale and Parsley Root Soup

Part of my quest for better health includes eliminating as many high glycemic foods as possible. The most difficult friend to turn my back on is the potato, which I adore. So I’ve been trying to be creative in finding recipes that use alternative starches to the potato, including some pretty exotic-looking bulbs like the one featured in this recipe: the parsley root bulb. My best friend when I was little was half-Lebanese and her mother made the most incredible food, much of it abundant with parsley, which is rich in iron and a completely underappreciated green. This Kale and Parsley Root Soup Recipe features both the root and the leaves of the parsley plant. And, of course, our star green: kale.  

Kale Chiffonade Salad with Peaches and Pine Nuts

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Babcock peaches, balsamic vinegar, curly kale, Kale, kale salad, kale salad recipe, organic kale, peaches, pine nuts, raw kale recipe, white peaches

Kale Chiffonade Salad with Peaches and Pine Nuts

September is the time of year in Los Angeles when for a mere $6, you can buy one of the most incredible, juicy, flavorful peaches in the history of time. Babcock Peaches are the gold standard. Babcock is a variety of white peach, so any ripe white peach will do the trick. You may need to check your local farmer’s market and have a lot of cash ready, but it’s worth it. If no white

Kale & Broccoli Frittatta Recipe

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broccoli, broccoli frittatta recipe, frittatta, frittatta recipe, health food, healthy cooking, Kale, kale recipes, organic, quiche

Kale and Broccoli Frittatta still hot in the pan.

Frittatta is a delicious and efficient way to get protein and nutrients into one dish without processed carbs. Frittatta is a lot like a quiche sans pie crust. Frittattas are made with numerous ingredients (i.e. asparagus, bacon, etc), so why not “kale” one up? A warning: my frittattas — and my recipes in general — are heavy on vegetables and light on eggs. The eggs also play an important role, however: they are rich in choline, which