Shredded Kale and Brussels Sprout Salad aka the Shallot that Brought me to Tears

Shredded Kale & Brussels Sprout Salad
Serves a dinner party of 10 with plenty leftover. 

My other Easter side was a yummy carrot salad.  Leave it to me to ensure there isn't a shortage of veggies on the dinner table.  It's kind of my thing.  This oober green salad was delicious and turned out really well, aside from the shallot making me bawl my eyes out.  My time tested trick on how to handle onions and shallots making you cry?  Suck it up, it will be over soon.

I don't need to bother typing out a recipe, when it's already written and photographed so elegantly.. So, see here.  But I will copy and paste it and and I'll add some notes...
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For the dressing:

1 Tablespoon minced shallots (Just use a whole giant shallot, because what does one do with the leftover?)
2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard (Apparently, optional, because I forgot it.)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (I wanted more.  Juice of 3 lemons.)
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest (Zest of 1 lemon.)
2 teaspoons honey or agave nectar (A blop of honey. More like 2T.)
1/4 cup olive oil (I didn't measure it and I used canola.)

For the salad:
4 cups finely shredded Lacinato kale (loosely packed) (I didn't really measure - Bought a healthy loose amount from the store.)
4 cups finely shredded Brussels sprouts (loosely packed) (1 package of sprouts.)
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted (Toasting, meh.  I just used a package of slivered almonds.)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese (Measuring, meh.  I used the rest of a package of shredded parm.)

DIRECTIONS:

Make the dressing:
In a small bowl, whisk together the shallots, mustard, lemon juice, lemon zest and honey. Stream in the olive oil while whisking continuously until well combined. Season the dressing with salt and pepper to taste. (You can add more lemon juice or agave nectar to adjust the acidity or sweetness to your personal taste.)  (Or just add all ingredients and shake it in a mason jar.)

Assemble the salad:
In a large bowl, toss together the shredded kale, shredded Brussels sprouts and toasted almonds. Add as much dressing as desired, tossing to combine, then add the cheese and toss. Serve immediately. (I have a feeling it will be delicious a day later also.)

Kelly's Notes:
To shred the Brussels sprouts, cut off the stems, halve them and using a very sharp knife, cut them into shreds. (Or use the food processor.  Amaze-balls.)

To shred the kale, strip the leaves from the stems, stack the leaves on top of one another, roll them up and then cut the roll into ribbons. 

Carrot Raisin Pineapple Salad

An Easter potluck with friends and family. The perfect time to inflict a craving upon your loved ones. For whatever reason, I've been wanting this sweet carrot salad. And just like that, it is prepped, in the fridge, and awaiting consumption tomorrow.  (And perhaps a bit lighter than the one I occasionally snag from Chick-Fil-A.)

Ingredients:
2 pounds carrots - shredded
20 oz can crushed pineapple
1 cup raisins
fat free greek yogurt and light mayo until moist enough.  I probably used 1/4 C each

Mix.  Voila.

Irish Soda Bread - Altered...

Wake up in the morning and make bread at 8am on a Saturday?  Why not...  Have a few gatherings to attend today and don't want to show up empty handed...

I used Ina Garten's recipe... So I will spare you most of the details.

But since I can't just let a recipe be a recipe... Here were my alterations:

1 C raisins instead of currants
1/2 the flour I used was whole wheat
I used fresh grated orange zest
I threw in 2  tsp of caraway seeds for good measure
I split the dough into two smaller loafs

Delish...

   

Sunday Morning Update:  Makes phenomenal
french toast.

A Kale Salad to Remember

A little while back, I was taken out to a fancy pants dinner at Teddy & The Bully Bar.  It was a fantastic meal of small plates.  One standout was the kale salad.  The ingredients seemed simple and I decided I wanted to recreate it.  Theirs had pine nuts and currants.  I made mine with dried cherries and walnuts.  Anyways - inspired by that salad, here is what will now be a staple in my fridge.

Ingredients:
1 bunch kale
1-2 lemons
2-3 T olive oil
Salt, pepper, garlic powder
2 T dried cherries
1/4 C walnuts
Healthy sprinkle of Parmesan

Directions:
Wash and finely chop kale.  Place in bowl.  Squeeze juice of 1 or 2 lemons, add oil, and all other ingredients.  Toss well.  Eat!  One of my favorite things about kale is how hearty it is.  You can leave it dressed in the fridge and it is still good days later.  Add a bit more parm when you go to eat, and voila.  Ready made salad.  Add more protein and you have a meal.

"BBQ" Chicken Sammich

Step 1. Impulsively buy a whole chicken when you're grocery shopping.

Step 2.  A few days later, after you've already eaten dinner, oil it, salt and pepper it, and season it with whatever herbs you want.  Last night I used Tony Chachere's because who doesn't love cajun spice?

Step 3. Roast it.  Time/Temp of 425 for 90 minutes for a normal sized chicken.  Magically, this is the same amount of time it will take you to watch 'You've Got Mail.'

Step 4. Let chicken cool and rest.  Pick it a part and package it up for lunch during the week.  (I think later this week I'll use some for my delicious curried chicken salad.)

Step 5. When packing your lunch haphazardly at 7:55am, grab a portion of chicken and add 2T of your fave BBQ sauce to the same container.  (Also pack, spinach, sandwich thin, veggie sides, and a piece of fruit.)

Step 6. Noon - go to the cafe.  Toast bread.  Heat chicken for 60 seconds.  Make a sammich with spinach and "BBQ chicken."

Yum.

        

Cumin Seed Roasted Carrots

Today is off to a pretty good start.  I got a massage, did some pilates, and then cooked all the vegetables... one of the yummies created was cumin seed roasted carrots.  So simple and uses up your cumin seed, one of those spices you buy for one recipe and then sits on  your shelf for all eternity... until now.

Ingredients:
2 bunches whole carrots
healthy sprinkle of cumin seed ~ 1T
~ 2 T olive oil
salt and pepper

Directions:
Peel carrots and cut in spears.  Toss in all of the rest of the ingredients.  Roast at 425 for 30 minutes.  Enjoy!

Spiced, Sugared, Bourboned Pecans

Time stamp: 3:30 pm 12/28/13 - Full tin. 

This year has been a special Christmas.  It was my first year not at home in Atlanta.  We can blame the cute as a button-ness that is my new niece and the true blessing it is that my brother and his family are a mile away from me.  So, this year my parents came to Arlington for a Virginia Christmas.  And along with an SUV load of luggage and Christmas presents, my mom brought pecans.  Delicious, golden, soft, sweet pecans.  Her source?  The veterinarian's office of all places.  Don't ask.  Just find yourself some pecans to put in your face.  Preferably delicious ones.  

This recipe will last 5 adults about 6 hours or so.  And heaven forbid you let the tin go empty.  This was the third time tinkering with the recipe (ingredients as well as time and temp) and as the saying goes, third time's a charm.

Ingredients
1 egg white
1 T bourbon (you're only using 1T...  go ahead, grab the top shelf)
3 C pecan halves
1/2 C sugar
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t cloves
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t  cayenne pepper (more if you're feeling ballsy)

Directions
Preheat oven to 300.  Beat egg white and bourbon in a large bowl.  Stir in pecans letting soak while you mix up the sweet spice mix.  Mix up the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl.  Toss in to the pecans stirring to coat.  Cover a cookie sheet in foil (for easy clean up).  And put nuts on cookie sheet being sure to have a single layer.  Bake for 25 minutes, stirring and monitoring often.  The first (still edible) fail/attempt on Christmas Day was a bit charred.  Happy to do all the dirty work, so you can just go straight to the winning recipe.  Enjoy!  

Time stamp: 8:45 pm 12/28/13 - Nearly gone.
Also, a giant 5 pound cupcake for hermano's birthday.