Indian Spicy Dip

Tonight I tried this recipe out for a girls night out activity or "meeting" or whatever you want to call it. You were supposed to bring your favorite crock pot recipe to share. Oh well, folks seemed to like it. Here is Kelli gracefully posing with dip in hand.

This is adapted from "Living on Live Food" and the author said it resembles the Indian dish palak paneer to her. For me, it is like a yumidy spiced guacamole (with a lot less fat).

Indian Spicy Dip

4 cups spinach
1 large avocado or 1 1/2 small avocado
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Herbamare seasoning salt*
1/2 clove garlic
1/4 teaspoon curry
1/8 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
dash chili powder
dash cayenne
dash of cumin

Blend together in a food processor. Serve as is or slightly warm (warm barely in microwave or the raw food way- in a dehydrator for a few hours at 105). ** Serve with veggies or other favorite dip "vehicle".***


* I have never heard of Herbamare before this recipe. I substituted kosher salt. You could substitute sea salt if you have that.
**I served the dip room temperature and it was yumidy!
***I served it with sliced cucumbers, sliced carrots, celery, and red pepper wedges. The red pepper plus dip combo was fabulous!

Collard Rolls

I recently returned from the western lands where I went to play (and work) with my sister. My sister is trying lots of raw food recipes. Most of the recipes we tried were from Alisa Cohen's book "Living on Live Food". Even if you have no interest in the raw food way of life, who doesn't love yummy recipes full of delicious veggies?! (Well okay, but if you were a brown food person you wouldn't be reading this blog at all, right?) Okay better stop digressing and get to the recipe. Here is the first "raw food" recipe my sister tried out on me (the picture is of Ali with a collard roll in hand).

Who knew that collard greens are sweeter than they are bitter?! I craved this recipe and made it first since returning to Georgia. And the good news- there are lots of collard leaves for cheap here!

Collard Rolls
*adapted from Alisa Cohen's "Living on Life Food"

2-4 collard leaves (depending on how stuffed you want your roll) with very fibrous end trimmed off
1 zucchini, shredded
1 carrot, shredded
1 avocado or guacamole*
1 cup red onion sliced in ringlets or diced
1 cup of mushrooms, cut in bite size pieces**
1/2 cup Braggs liquid aminos
2 cups shredded lettuce

Marinate onions and mushrooms in Bragg Liquid Aminos for 10 minutes. Stir periodically throughout the 10 minutes. Lay collard leaf flat on plate with inside facing up. Drain the onion/mushroom mixture well. Place avocado, carrot, zucchini, mushroom mixture, and lettuce inside the collard leaf (like a burrito). Roll leaf up and enjoy!


*I use mashed avocado with a bit of lime, salt, pepper and dash of cumin)
**Recipe calls for portabellos, but cremini or baby portabellos work great too. Also there is a great dried mixed mushroom mix that CostCo is carrying now that works well too. Just rehydrate the mushrooms and then marinate.

Mashed Potato Kale Cakes

This recipe is family friendly (it passed the Trevor test). It is adapted from Cooking Light.



Mashed Potato Kale Cakes
Yield: 8 patties
Ingredients

* 12 cups water
* 1 bunch kale, trimmed (about 4 ounces)
* 2 2/3 cups (1-inch) cubed Yukon gold or red potato (about 1 pound)
* 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 3 cups diced onion
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage (I used 1 to 1/2 tsp ground sage)
* 1/4 cup sliced green onions
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* Cooking spray


Preparation

Bring water to a boil in a Dutch oven; add kale. Cover and cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until tender. Remove kale with a slotted spoon, reserving cooking liquid. Chop kale and set aside.

Add potato to reserved cooking liquid in pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until tender. Drain; partially mash potatoes. Stir in kale and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Preheat oven to 400°.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, diced onion, and chopped sage. Cook 13 minutes or until browned. Combine potato mixture, onion mixture, green onions, and pepper. Remove from heat; cool slightly. Divide potato mixture into 8 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2-inch-thick patty. Place patties on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes.

Preheat broiler.

Broil patties for 5 minutes or until browned. Garnish with sage sprigs, if desired.

**Notes- Look for big bags of pre-trimmed and chopped kale in the produce area. Be sure to remove the woody spine if you are trimming your own. I kept the potato skins on and they were good. I used a metal form to press mixture into to form patties. I skipped the broil step. Feel free to reduce the salt and then add at the table if needed.

What about Kale?

Kale is a superfood that is power packed.

A one cup serving of kale has 1327% of the recommended daily value (DV) of Vitamin K, 192% of the DV of Vitamin A, and 88% of the DV of Vitamin C. WOW! It is also a great source of many other nutrients including protein- yes, protein! This web resource gives a good view of the nutritional profile for kale. Also, kale and other cruciferous vegetables have received attention because of their sulfur-containing phytonutrients that seem to be powerful cancer preventing and fighting antioxidants.

Recipes:
Mashed Potato Kale Cakes

SuperGreens

I could never write and summarize all the benefits of green leafy vegetables from cancer fighting phytochemicals to immune boosting vitamins. Trust me on this one the verdict is out, green vegetables are super good!

Here is a nice summary of 12 "Hearty Greens" from Cooking Light: 12 Hearty Greens.

Yumidy tip: eat as many and as much variety of green leafy vegetables as possible.

Yumidy menu suggestion: Salads! Lots of salads made interesting by mixing lettuces with spring green mix and adding lots of toppings such as tomatoes, cucumbers, green bell peppers, corn, green onion, what ever your imagination can think of.

I often make a themed salad such as tex-mex which might have lots of greens topped with roasted corn (leftover grilled corn), diced avocado, green onion, black beans, and salsa (medium or hot to make it interesting). Other themes are Mediterranean (olives, green onion, kidney beans, roasted red pepper tapenade) or Asian (bean sprouts, cucumbers, carrots, asian vinaigrette). (I will soon post the recipe for the asian vinaigrette I invented and the roasted red pepper tapenade I fell in love with.)