Kale Pesto. Can it be worth the effort? I asked myself that question for a long time. Finally, I did what I should have done from the beginning. I tested it.
Kale has become very popular the past few years. And that’s not so strange. It’s probably one of the healthiest and nutritious plants you can find. If you don’t, believe me, you can read this in-depth article “26 Science-Backed Health Benefits of Kale”. The list of nutrition value and health benefits seems almost endless.
If you eat it raw, that will say.
I suspect that a good part of all these vitamins and minerals will be destroyed when you cook it.
I’ll admit it here and now. Raw kale is nothing I crave. If you love it, I can only say congratulation. But I’m just not that fond of it. That’s probably one of the reasons why I haven’t tested that kale pesto until now.
The taste of raw kale is to be a bit special, but it may be acceptable if I mix it with other strong flavors that I’m more or less addicted to, I reasoned to myself. So I took kale, Rucola, almonds, lime, parmesan, garlic and mixed it with olive oil with a hand mixer. I added a little salt and pepper and tasted.
A happy smile spread across my face (I suppose). Finally, I had found a way to enjoy raw kale. It was just as tasty as I had hoped, but maybe not quite dared to believe that it would. It was just simply delicious.
The taste of kale had melted together with all other wonderful flavors to a very happy marriage. It reminded a bit of a basil-based pesto. But slightly milder in taste.
I knew instantly that this was something I would do again. Many times. And I promise. It takes not more than 5 minutes with a hand mixer. Probably less with a blender.
So were this kale and Rucola pesto worth the effort? Yes, it certainly was.
5 minutes kale and Rucola pesto
A flavorful kale and Rucola pesto that won't take more than 5 minutes to make. Can be served with all dishes that goes with ordinary pesto.
We waste far too much food. Have you heard that before? I’ll bet you have.
I’m also sure that many of you have read countless of advice about how to minimize food waste.
The problem is that it’s so time-consuming. You should plan your meals, find recipes for leftovers, freeze, pickle, preserve, compost…..
The list is endless. And you feel exhausted by just thinking about it.
Where on earth are you supposed to find the time for all these activities? You have a full-time job, kids, the dog, a house, and your old aunt to take care of.
If you are lucky, you may get one hour for yourself before you go to bed.
At the same time, you can read about the enormous amount of food that is wasted every year. Roughly one-third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year — approximately 1.3 billion tons — gets lost or wasted according to FAO. And that makes you feel guilty. For you know that you don’t do much, if anything, to reduce your food waste.
I know how it feels. I used to feel the same.
What you need is a strategy. A strategy which makes it easier to become a more responsible person. And the strategy is easier than you think.
Do not try to do everything at the same time.
Just pick one activity that you think you can manage. It doesn’t matter how simple it may appear. The important thing is that it somehow reduces your amount of food waste. Don’t feel guilty that you can’t do more. Put all those feelings aside and just concentrate on one thing. To make that specific task to a natural part of your everyday life.
Here are a few examples of simple activities that can reduce your food waste.
How often does it happen that you throw away the last piece of bread because it has become stale before you could eat it up? If it happens at all, divide the loaf in two when it’s fresh, and put one piece in the freezer.
Put new groceries in the back of your fridge or pantry, so you’ll use older food first before it expires.
Buying in bulk is not always a good idea. I know, it’s tempting to buy that 5 dollar bag of avocados. It’s such a good deal. If you manage to eat all of them before they become a brown mess that will say. You can, of course, freeze some of them, but will you remember to do that?
Convince yourself that the expiration date is something that is totally insignificant, invented by evil, greedy individuals who want you to buy new food instead (I know it is not like that but it has a good effect on the motivation). Trust your sense of smell instead. Most of the food is perfectly edible long after the expiration dates.
All these examples require a minimum of effort. But they can be a good start to something really good. A new conscious human being who cares about our environment. Yes, I’m talking about you. Just pick one of these examples and follow it slavishly until it’s as natural as brushing your teeth. Then pick another example. Before you know it, you will be what you thought was impossible.
One of those super humans, that plan your meals, find recipes for leftovers, freeze, pickle, preserve, compost……
You are a bit skeptical now, aren’t you? OK, maybe I can manage to cut the bread in half and put in in the freezer you may think. But pickles? It sounds so complicated. And who likes pickles anyway?
That’s a normal reaction. Most of us find excuses when we are confronted with something that makes us feel uncomfortable. We’re starting to invent all possible sort of problems and obstacles that will probably appear.
Ignore all these problems. They are insignificant. The only thing you have to concentrate on for now is to cut that damn loaf in half and put one piece in the freezer or whatever activity you choose to do.
All other problems are on another level that you can deal with in the future. And even if you never reach that level (which I think you will) you can always console yourself with one thing. At least you are doing something. And that’s so much better than doing nothing at all.
Imagine walking out of a grocery store with four bags of groceries, dropping one in the parking lot, and just not bothering to pick it up. That’s essentially what we’re doing.
I faced a problem some days ago after too much Christmas food. I craved for Panzanella. Now, I know what you’re thinking. Is that a problem? Yes, here in Sweden it is because you need tomatoes for a Panzanella. And the tomatoes taste nothing here at this time of year. At least most of them.
It must be possible to make a decent Panzanella here in the north even if it’s in the middle of freezing winter. At least I tried to convince myself of that.
So I went to the grocery store and bought the best tomatoes I could find. They were not that bad. It was more flavor in them than I had expected.
But I had read that it is possible to coax a little more concentrated flavor out of them by salting and draining them.
So that was just what I did. The result was above expectations. The tomatoes tasted more, and they were even slightly crispier.
I decided to save the drained tomato juice for the vinaigrette. There was still some tomato flavor left in it. Instead of wasting it I could spread it all over the salad.
After that, it was time to think about the rest of the ingredients. One of the main ingredients together with the tomatoes is, of course, the bread.
You may have read that you should use fresh roasted bread for the best result. Because I hate to waste food I always try to use some of the stale bread pieces that usually remain in the bread box. I think that dishes like Panzanella was invented for that purpose. They gave poor people an opportunity to use pieces of stale bread that everybody had in their bread box.
But the bread still needs som softness. You don’t want croutons in your Panzanella. It should be crispy on the surface and soft in the middle.
Just rip the bread into pieces and roast them in the oven for a few minutes. Just enough to give them some crispiness and some nice color.
Crispy on the surface and soft in the middle.
I think you need a minimum of five ingredients for a classic Panzanella.
Tomatoes, bread, garlic, red onion and basil. But I wanted something more. I just love grilled bell pepper, so I included that as well.
But there was another reason to include the bell pepper. Even if the tomatoes was quite good, they still lacked som sweetness. That’s exactly what you get when you grill bell pepper.
Some people have problems with raw onion. But there’s a trick to reduce its pungency. Soak the sliced onion in ice cold water. That will draw out the sulfates and make it more tolerable.
A Panzanella also needs a high-quality vinaigrette. I used olive oil, red wine vinegar, some of the tomato juice and a small dollop of Dijon mustard. The mustard helps the vinaigrette staying together better. It doesn’t matter how much you whisk. The oil and the vinegar will separate if you don’t add something emulsifying.
Always use your (clean of course) hands when you’re dressing a salad. Your salad spoon and fork are not as gentle as your hands, and they won’t tell you if the salad had enough of dressing.
After that, the only thing left to do is to enjoy the salad. Perhaps with a glass of white wine.
In conclusion, I would like to point out that you can add more ingredients. I have been using anchovies and capers with excellent results. Be careful with the anchovies, though. Otherwise, they may take over the whole show.
With anchovies and capers.
Apart from that, I only have one more thing to say.
It was possible to make a decent Panzanella in the middle of the winter.
Panzanella, (Tuscan bread and tomato salad)
A classic Panzanella. A Tuscan bread and tomato salad that makes you believe the summer is here, even if it's in the middle of winter.
2slicesstale sourdough breadOr any other pieces of white bread that lay around in your bread box.
9 / 250ounce / gramtomatoesYou can use any kind, as long as you'r striving for the best quality.
1glovegarlicminced.
1/2smallred onionsliced and possibly soaked in ice cold water.
1pcsbell peppergrilled
1handfullbasil leavesroughly chopped
3-4tablespoonextra virgin olive oil
1/2 tablespoonred wine vinegar
1small dollopdijon mustardHow much is a small dollop? I'm not sure. Maybe half a teaspoon?
Optional ingredients
3-4pcsanchoviesIn oil, of course.
1-2 tablespooncapers
Instructions
Cut tomatoes in half and place them in a strainer or colander over a bowl. Season with 1 teaspoon sea salt and toss to get everything coated. Let the tomatoes drain for at least 15 minutes.
Rip the bread into pieces and roast them in the oven at 350°/180°C for about 10 minutes. They should be crisp and firm and just slightly browned.
Grill the bell pepper and cut it into slices.
Cut the red onion into thin slices and soak them in ice cold water if you want to reduce the pungency.
Add garlic, vinegar, some of the drained tomato juice, olive oil and mustard in a bowl and whisk to a homogeny dressing
Put bread, vegetables, dressing, and basil in a large bowl. Wash your hands properly and mix everything thoroughly. Wait a few minutes before serving to allow the bread to absorb some of the dressing.
