Carrots and Mac N Cheese

At April 3, 2020
By megan
In carrot, Cheese, favorites, kale, pasta, Recipes
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Mac n Cheese is one of my all time favorite comfort foods. But, let’s be honest- it’s not healthy. This version cuts out a lot of the cheese and other dairy like milk and butter and adds in purred carrots for the mouth feel of a baked mac n cheese. I made a short video explaining this dish, so take a peek here: You Tube

Ingredients:

5 large carrots
1 yellow onion
olive oil
salt
pepper
ziti noodles, macaroni, etc- I used 1/2 of a box for 2 people
2 cups grated cheese
optional chopped kale

Preheat oven to 350

Peel carrots and cut into inch long pieces. Peel and quarter onion and break up the layers. Arrange the carrots and onion on a sheet tray, drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roast until golden ~ approximately 30 minutes.

Boil the pasta, drain, return to the pot and drizzle with olive oil to prevent them from sticking.

When the carrots are roasted, puree in a food processor with a little water until they are smooth.

Assemble all of the ingredients in a baking dish, reserving a little cheese for later, and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Add the remaining cheese and bake for another 5 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

Massaged Kale Salad #1

On a recent culinary tour in Denver with my company Local Table Tours, I met a gal who was hysterically sassy, smart, and memorable. She has an interesting story of living in bumble f*%& Nebraska with her husband, who always requests the same kale salad. I don’t remember the ingredients she told me, and I do hope if she reads this post she emails me with them, but she had me cracking up about massaging the kale. Apparently, one can get tired of massaging kale, so she’s started just “slapping” it with olive oil and says hubby can’t tell the difference.

Anyway, it had me thinking all week how I’ve never “massaged” kale. I always boil, sautee, or bake those hearty greens. It was time to try giving them a nice massage.

I washed, de-veined, and chopped some dino kale, and added that with some minced spring garlic, olive oil, and sea salt to a bowl.

Pre-Massage

Then, you just “massage” it, or kneed it all together like bread dough for a few minutes.

Post-Massage

And let it sit. I left it for an hour or so before tossing it with garbanzo beans, tomato, celery, and avocado.

Add some crunch, protein, and avocado

This was SO easy, so delicious, and I’m SO silly for not making this sooner.

Dinner is served.

Sweet Potato Kale Frittata

At December 28, 2012
By megan
In Cheddar Cheese, frittata, kale, Recipes, sweet potato
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I hadn’t planned to blog about this dish, but it was so simple and good, I thought- Why not?

Kale was on sale at Whole Foods, so I came home with more kale than a single woman can consume without juicing it. That meant kale was going to be added in to whatever concoction I came up with for dinner. I also had a dozen eggs I hadn’t even touched in a week, so I decided to throw together an egg-based baked dish (or baked frittata, if that is even a culinary possibility, as frittatas are traditionally skillet-fried…) But, I’m calling this dish a Sweet Potato Kale Frittata. Sorry that it’s technically not a frittata.

I sautéed half of a chopped red onion in a few tablespoons of olive oil, and then added a peeled and cubed white sweet potato (2 cups or so). When the potato was soft, I added a couple cups of thinly sliced kale and a half cup of chopped parsley. Next, I transferred the potato kale base into a bowl and mixed it with 6 eggs that had been whisked with a few tablespoons of olive oil and a little bit of grated white cheddar cheese. After all of the potato and kale mixture was coated with egg, I salted, peppered and poured it into a pyrex baking dish.

I baked it for 40 minutes or so on 350 and it came out perfectly, which could have been a fluke as I was on the phone the entire time and not even paying attention to the oven.

As I was in a no-frills cooking mood, I topped it with my favorite condiment: Ketchup mixed with Red Rocks Hickory Smoke Seasoning from Savory Spice Shop. You can’t go wrong with that combo.

Cheers!

The Kitchen Table Bistro, Richmond VT

At March 23, 2012
By megan
In Cheese, favorites, kale, local foods, Restaurant Review
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If you’re dining up in Burlington, VT, I’d suggest heading out to Richmond for a taste of The Kitchen Table Bistro. You won’t be disappointed.

On a recent trip to Vermont to visit my illustrious sister, Alison Ellis- proprietor and designer of Floral Artistry, suggested we (my mom, dad, sister, and brother-in-law) enjoy a meal at The Kitchen Table. This farm-to-table restaurant has been serving local VT fare for nine years, and we enjoyed their ninth birthday celebration menu.

We started with bread and butter (fantastically fresh and delicious bread and butter); a kale, cashew, and blue cheese salad; a beet and goat cheese salad; and the baby lettuce salad.

Next, we tasted some toasts. Yes, more of that great bread, please. The roasted red pepper and Cremont (a Vermont cheese I had the pleasure of sampling from Boulder’s very own cheese shop, Cured), was a crowd pleaser. I also really had to try the foraged mushroom toast since I’m often inspired by local Rocky Mountain forager and write of Hunger and Thirst for Life. Anyway, I’ve had foraging on my mind and if the menu says “foraged mushrooms” I’m going to order them.

We washed this all down with some Illahe Pinot Noir from the Willammette Valley in Oregon, a place I used to adore calling home. A good time was being had by all.

Mom and sister (who’s super pregnant at this point) were across from each other…

Dad and brother-in-law played catch-up, too.

And then more food came out… the entreés.

My mom ordered scallops, of course. She always orders scallops. I had stuffed quail, and apparently gave up on taking photos because I don’t have my sister or dad’s plates. I did, however, get a shot of the burger and fries.