Some days, things go exactly according to plan. Spirits are high, the sun shines, you finish your work by lunch and have so much free time that by dinner you’re almost wondering what you should do next. You cook an elaborate, delicious dinner, and enjoy every bite of it. Maybe you even save room for dessert.
Today was not one of those days.
Today, I fell out of the way of positive thinking, and I fell hard. Floptimism reigned on high today, and all I could think of was throwing in the towel – with school, with applications, even with cooking dinner. Especially with cooking dinner. When your world feels like it’s crumbling, even if it’s because of wholly superficial reasons, it’s easy to take it out on food and your body. At least, I find that to be the case. So tonight, in my gloom, I considered just going straight for dessert, or at the very least for my phone to dial the local pizza joint’s number. But I knew what was upsetting me had nothing to do with my dinner plans, and giving my body the instant gratification of an indulgent meal wouldn’t ultimately solve anything.
On days like today, it’s good to have an arsenal of ridiculously easy, ridiculously healthy recipes. I won’t go far as to say that after I cooked my healthy meal and ate it, I saw the light and everything was better. But I did at least have a nutritious meal in me. I wasn’t left feeling weighed down by emotionally-driven decisions. And in the end, I did find a way to get myself up off of my pseudo-shag area rug and pull the shambles of my day together. I even opened my eyes to some pretty great things that happened today, that I had been blind to earlier on.
Think of this recipe for kale in a peanut sauce as one of those ridiculously easy, ridiculously healthy recipes that you can keep on hand if a bad day gets the better of you. I paired it with a leftover burger and my toaster oven hadn’t even heated the burger through completely before this dish was finished – that’s how quick this is to make. And on top of it all, it tastes really good. The peanut butter makes it creamy and feel indulgent, too, so you might even be able to satisfy that emotional distraction with it. And if not, at least you tried, and that little square of dark chocolate will still be waiting for you when you’re done to try its hand at easing the crumminess of your day. No one’s judging.
One Year Ago: Baked Eggs in a Tomato Parmesan Sauce
Sauteed Kale in a Peanut Sauce, adapted from The Local Cook
Yield: 2 servings
The Ingredients
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tomato, chopped
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground cumin
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 cups kale
½ cup + 2 teaspoons water, divided
2 tablespoons chunky natural peanut butter
2 scallions, chopped, for garnish
coarse salt, for serving
The Method
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add the onion, garlic and tomato. Simmer the mixture for 2-4 minutes, then add in the spices (coriander, cumin, cloves, and cinnamon). Stir in the kale and ½ cup of water, stirring occasionally but allowing the greens to steam until they are soft. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining water and peanut butter until the kale is evenly coated with the peanut butter. Top with scallions and a scant amount of coarse salt before serving.
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