Comunidad Health Foods

I talk a lot about low-carb meals here, and I always feel as though I should be prefacing these references with a PSA about how beautiful carbs really are and how I do genuinely support eating an adequate amount of them. I just personally happen to gravitate toward a very high carbohydrate diet, and if I don’t make it a point to eat a few low-carbohydrate meals eachweek, I tend to be a bit of a carb loader. So when I go off on these “…and it was even low-carb!” please don’t take me as Atkins’ number one fan.

With that being said, I do enjoy eating a very low carbohydrate meal from time to time. Unfortunately, I’ve found that carbohydrates have a lot of staying power, and it can be tricky to make a healthy, filling meal without them sometimes. This recipe for Sesame Kale is, unfortunately, an example of that. It tasted great – naturally sweet yet savory, a little chewy as wilted kale tends to be. I wanted the poached egg that I served on top of it to be less cooked to create a creamy sauce for the kale, but it didn’t really happen. C’est la vie. Hoisin also came through as the dominant flavor rather than sesame, so maybe this should be called Hoisin Kale - but does a rose by any other name still taste as delicious? Why yes, yes it does.

The only thing I would change would be to either use it as a side dish for a larger meal or throw in a piece of toast. I’m waving my white flag of surrender to the carbohydrate enthusiasts out there – you’ve won this one. It did not satiate me as a low-carb dinner, but it isn’t as though I left the kitchen table famished, either. I just needed a little pick me up later on in the night. Take that as you will – but whether you make this exactly as I’ve indicated or you incorporate it into a more filling dinner, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this one.

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.

Welcome back, everyone! I hope that you had an enjoyable weekend, whether you were celebrating the holidays or not. I know that it was a whirlwind for me, but I had an incredible time with L’s family and am really looking forward to telling you about some of the things I made for dessert for both Christmas Eve and Day. I need a breather, though – a little reprise from all of the holiday baking and traveling. I’ve always found the day after Christmas to be a little anti-climactic. The Christmas songs go away, the energy from Christmas morning wanes but doesn’t go away completely – I find myself up today, drinking a glass of almond milk in preparation of returning to my workout routine after a few days of sacrificing it for the sake of getting all of that baking done, and I’m almost thinking to myself “Well, what now?”

This kale salad is anything but anti-climactic, though. In fact, I was so skeptical about it because I wasn’t fully convinced that I even liked kale beyond kale chips, but my produce calendar said it was in season and I’m up for giving anything a second chance. Plus, I always feel like salads should be doing more for me nutritionally than my beloved romaine, yet sometimes a big plate of raw spinach really rubs me the wrong way. As it turns out, kale is the perfect blend of the two! It has the light taste of romaine – not the same watery crunch, but still very far from the chew of spinach – with all of the nutritional powerhouse qualities of spinach. It’s absolutely my new favorite salad base!

I quartered the recipe and wound up with enough for about 2 pretty voluminous, though not necessarily entirely filling, portions. When I first made it, I ate it with an egg casserole; the next day I just had it on its own and both times it was nothing short of amazing. The vinaigrette, which I’ve made twice now and have gotten big compliments on it from everyone, is full of depth from a good olive oil and flavor from the citrus and parmesan. Lemon and parmesan really do go well together (and, by the way – I have officially switched over to the Real Deal parmesan; no more of that awful canned Kraft stuff here at Floptimsim!), and you don’t need much of the cheese to get the desired flavor. The pine nuts added a toasty chew, too. Plus, the salad got arguably even better overnight –the next day I was practically in heaven. You need to make this salad. You just do. If you’re looking for a lighter reprieve from the sugar rush of this weekend, this is perfect. If you could care less about healthy eating but just want a ridiculously good salad, a real crowd pleaser (does anyone need an idea for a New Year’s Eve or Day gathering recipe??), this is perfect, too. In fact, I don’t know if there is a situation where this salad wouldn’t be perfect.