Happy Monday friends!
I hope you had a fantastic weekend. I spent most of the weekend preparing for my first day at my new job–wish me luck! And of course, part of that preparing is making lunch and snacks to take with me all week, so I don’t have to worry about putting something together every night. Luckily, the new Real Simple magazine was delivered to my iPad Friday night, so I had a ton of new inspiration. I was so so excited when I came to the end of the magazine and the Quick Takes food section was 10 Ideas for kale!
As I’ve mentioned before, I was first introduced to Kale through our weekly CSA boxes and knew absolutely nothing about how to use it except in soup or eventually, as cheesy kale chips (which are amazing and easy to make and so much more inexpensive than the store bought ones). But I’m obsessed with the taste and that it’s such a nutritional powerhouse, so I love learning how to incorporate it into new dishes–I took 5/10 screenshots of the recipes to save in my album!
One of the recipes that I knew I wanted to recreate immediately was the kale and pepper stir fry, a simplified stir fry with kale (duh), bell peppers, ginger, soy sauce, and sesame seeds. I had to modify a bit, as always, to make it work in my kitchen, but I’m pretty obsessed with the results!
Here’s how you make it:
First, heat canola in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic, red bell pepper, and a mirasol pepper and cook for about 1-2 minutes.
Add freshly grated ginger and combine. I recommend keeping your ginger in the freezer, so it’s easier to grate when you need it.
Add the kale and low sodium soy sauce, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the kale shrinks and combines, about 5-6 minutes. Stir in rice vinegar and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
I’m definitely looking forward to lunch today!
Gingery Red Pepper Kale
*Adapted from Real Simple Magazine October 2012
Ingredients:
2 cups kale, chopped
1/2 tablespoon ginger, grated
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 mirasol pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
1 tablespoon slivered almonds, toasted
Steps:
Heat canola in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic, red bell pepper, and a mirasol pepper and cook for about 1-2 minutes.
Add fresh grated ginger and combine.
Add the kale and low sodium soy sauce, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the kale shrinks and combines, about 5-6 minutes. Stir in rice vinegar and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
To finish the dish, mix in some toasted sesame seeds and almonds.
Enjoy!
Time: 15 minutes
