Sunday, January 2, 2011

Kale Recipe #1: Curried Chickpeas and Greens

The Kale dish I prepared on New Year's Day was from the new book Appetite for Reduction: 125 Fast and Filling Low-Fat Vegan Recipes
by Isa Moscowitz. It's called Curried Chickpeas and Greens. This is actually a popular indian dish made much healthier than what you can get in a restaurant.  I made some modifications including halfing the ingredients to make a smaller amount.  This recipe, when served with rice, makes 4-6 servings.

Ingredients
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tbspns minced fresh ginger
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 12 oz can Muir Glen diced tomatoes (no salt added)
2 bunches of Organic Green Kale (1 pound) stems removed
1 12 oz can Eden Organic chickpeas

Preheat a 4-quart pot over medium heat.  Add the mustard seeds and cover.  Let the seeds pop for one minute, or until poping slows down, stirring once. 

Quarter the onion and place in a blender with garlic, ginger and half of canned tomatoes.  Blend until well shredded but not pureed!  Pour into the pot. Sautee until the onions look translucent.  Add the curry, cumin, coriander, garam masala and salt.  Mix well.

Add the remaining tomatoes and torn pieces of kale into the blender.  Blend until well chopped (you should be able to see stems) but again, not pureed.  If you have a Vitamix you will need to use the tamper to push the kale down toward the blade.  Add to the pot and stir until kale looks completely cooked.  It should take around 7 minutes.

Add chickpeas and cook for another 5 minutes.  I served it with Organic Sushi Rice.  Sushi Rice has 1 gram of fiber per serving, which is better than no fiber in normal white rice. You could also serve this with brown rice.

Eat for Health Friendly?
Absolutely! This is a great Phase II meal. It definitely helps meet performance goals of getting 1 pound of nutrient dense veggies and 1 cup of beans daily. Of course when you break it down per serving you are getting closer to 1/4 pound of veggies and 1/4 cup beans, but still a good amount. If you add a large salad of mixed greens and raw veggies you are really boosting the MANDI score for this meal.

Affordable?  You bet!  $6.00 for the meal or $1 per serving!
Kale was BOGO at Publix (using the Greenwise ad from the internet and getting my store manager's approval), so I got two bundles for $2.99. The beans were Eden Organic and I got them for $1.90 with a coupon. I used Lundberg Organic White Sushi Rice to go with it. The Sushi Rice was on sale at Whole Foods 2 bages for $6. I had $1 off coupons for each bag plus I ordered a case so I got an additional 10% off. This made the per bag cost about $1.75 per bag.

6 comments:

Jessica said...

Wow, I love the nutritional rating and coupon tie-in. Thanks!!!

Gretchen said...

Thanks, it's my "new look" :) The BOGO at Publix using the Greenwise ad is done but Collard Greens are BOGO this week at Whole Foods! That's another green I plan to feature more recipes with. You can get Eden Organic coupons by emailing the company. They are only .55 off but better than nothing and I love their beans. The rice deal at Whole Foods is still going until Tuesday as far as I know.

Jessica said...

Thanks! I always forget to check the Greenwise ad. I'll look forward to some collard recipes, too. I made Isa's pineapple collards last night, and they were a bit hit with Jim (so-so with the kids, but at least they ate them!)

Michael Peach said...

Even I managed to make this for dinner last night. I have to say it tasted better than it looked. :)

Anonymous said...

This looks delicious. And I love the new blog background.

Jasmine said...

This looks so yummy! Putting it on our menu for next week!