Kale Salad

I've been a bit slow to get on the kale bandwagon, but now that I've started cooking with it, I love it! We first started with kale chips and have moved on to using it in place of spinach or other greens. This is my first attempt of using it in a salad.

After having carrots left over from making the soup earlier in the week, I decided that roasting the carrot to bring out that beautiful caramel flavour would complement the green kale perfectly. Adding some orange for sweetness and pine nuts for crunch, it was delicious.

The dressing used the juice from the orange, mixed with some oil, salt and pepper. It was mild and sweet. If you prefer a bit more zing, add some lemon juice or white wine vinegar, or use it instead of the orange.

To sate my salmon obsession, I served the salad with pan fried salmon fillets which had been sprinkled with sumac. A very simple way to serve such a beautiful fish.

Now that I've made my first kale salad, I think I'm going to have to get experimenting a little bit more. The sweet tartness of dried cranberries would also be great, as would fresh or dried apricots. Can't wait to have a bit more fun in the kitchen!

Kale Salad

1 carrot, peeled and cut into large chunks

A drizzle of olive oil

2 sticks of kale

1 orange

1 Tbs toasted pinenuts

1 spring onion, thinly sliced

1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Place carrot in a small roasting pan, drizzle with oil and toss to combine.

Roast for about 30 mins or until tender and starting to caramelise. Set aside to cool.

Cut the kale leaves away from the stalks and then tear into bite size pieces. Place in a bowl.

Boil a kettle full of water and pour over the kale leaves. Allow to sit for 1 minute, then drain and refresh under cold water. Set aside to cool and dry.

Cut the ends off the orange and then peel with a sharp knife to remove all the pith.

Segment the orange in to a bowl, taking care to reserve all the juices. Squeeze any remaining juice from the core and set aside.

In a serving bowl, combine the roasted carrot, kale, orange segments, toasted pine nuts and spring onion.

Measure the reserve orange juice and add an equal amount of extra virgin olive oil. Season to taste and whisk to combine.

Dress the salad with as much of the dressing as you feel it needs and toss to combine.

Enjoy.

Green Pizza

Pizza is a fairly common dinner in our house because it is just so quick, easy and tasty. It's one meal that I can guarantee the kids will eat and it doesn't take long to whip up. I'll often make a double recipe of the base, so that there is one prepared and in the freezer, ready to use when I don't have the time or energy to make one from scratch.

The kids love ham and pineapple, but I like to be a bit more adventurous with my toppings. Sometimes it is just salami, olives, cheese and tomato, other times smoked salmon, ricotta and rocket with garlic oil. Pizza is a great way to use up all those forlorn looking bits and pieces in the fridge too.

The topping for this pizza was inspired by a recipe I found in a Donna Hay magazine. What better way to add some greens into your diet than atop a pizza! Mixed with some panfried mushrooms, chilli, lemon and ricotta, it was delicious. The topping was simple to make too and very healthy. I had some of the mixture left over, which was great for lunch the next day. Cooked on the pizza, the kale went all crispy. You can have your (kale) chips with your pizza and not feel guilty!

If you're not sure about the kale topping on a pizza, make it to serve as a vegetable with chicken, lamb or steak. I think I'll definitely be making this one again. Even the meat-loving husband gave it the thumbs up!

I'm still trying to find the perfect pizza base, but this one wasn't bad. Next time I'd roll it a little thinner, to make the base more crispy. If you like a thicker, more doughy base, then this one would be great for you. It was also really easy and quick to make. No need to wait for the yeast to rise and simple enough to leave to mix away in the mixer while you prepare the topping.

Pizza Dough

3/4 cup warm water

1x8g sachet instant dried yeast

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp caster sugar

2 Tbs olive oil

2 cups plain flour

Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a mixer with a dough hook.

Mix on slow speed to combine, then increase the speed to medium and knead for about 10 minutes, or until elastic. You might need to add a little more water if it looks too dry.

If you don't have a mixer, you can do this by hand, but will just need a bit more elbow grease!

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to the size of your pizza tray. 

If you like it thick, it will make one base, if you prefer a thinner base, it will make two.

Kale Pizza Topping

A good drizzle of olive oil

250g swiss brown mushrooms, thickly sliced

4 stalks of kale

1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

1 cup fresh ricotta

Grated parmesan to serve

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a frypan on medium heat.

Add the mushroom slices and fry until soft and beginning to brown. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

While the mushrooms are cooking, cut the kale leaves away from the stalks and tear into pieces.

Place the kale in a large bowl with the chilli flakes and lemon rind.

Add the hot mushrooms and mix to combine and slightly soften the kale.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

Place rolled out pizza dough on your desired tray.

Spread thickly with the ricotta cheese, right to the edges of the dough.

Top with the mushroom and kale mixture. You might have some left over, depending how thick you like it.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until the base is golden and crispy.

Remove from the oven, sprinkle with grated parmesan to taste and serve.

Enjoy!