Chicken Satay

Found a great recipe for chicken satay at SteamyKitchen.
Tried it today, was fast and easy.  Wife loved it.
Click here for the recipe.

Purple Kale Salad

What You Need:
1 bunch purple kale, clean and torn into bite sized pieces
1 large cucumber, peeled, and halved
1 lemon
2 avocados, peeled
Handful baby carrots, chopped
Salt
Pepper
Red pepper flakes

For the salad:
Place kale in a large bowl with carrots. Chop half the cucumber and one of the avocados and throw them in the bowl too. I put the avocado into a ziplock bag and toss with the juice from half a lemon once it is sliced. Get it coated evenly to keep the avocado from turning brown.

For the dressing:
Put one avocado, half the cucumber, the pulp and juice from half the lemon, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, and 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes into blender. Blend until thin and creamy.

I think a handful of cashews would go well in this salad.

Green Beans

These beans came out of the garden this morning, and made a great simple side dish.  We had so many we at a big plate each for dinner, and I wanted more.  Will definitely plant them again.

We just washed them and threw them in the crock pot for a couple hours with a cup of chicken broth, a tablespoon of olive oil, a tablespoon of minced garlic, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.

Grilled Eggplant Sandwich With Gruyere and Arugula

What you need:
1 loaf french bread, sliced into half inch slices and drizzled lightly with olive oil
1 handful fresh arugula
1 block hickory smoked gruyere cheese, thinly sliced
severa tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1tbsp salt
1 medium eggplant, sliced into quarter inch slices
balsamic vinegar

What to do:
First you need to brine the eggplant for half an hour.  To do this, stir one tbsp salt into a quarter cup hot water.  Then add the salt water with two quarts cool water in a large bowl.  Add the sliced eggplant to the bowl and use a heavy bowl to keep it submerged.  After half an hour, take the eggplant out and dry it off with a paper towel.  Put the dry eggplant in a dry bowl and add one tbsp balsamic vinegar and two tbsp olive oil.  Heat grill to 500.  Cook eggplant on grill for 4 or 5 minutes until good grill marks are visible.  Then flip the eggplant and toss the bread on the grill.  Cook another 3 to 4 minutes.  Remove from grill, assemble sandwiches.

Red Fruit With Lemon Balm

Fresh lemon balm on this red fruit salad adds an interesting depth of flavor.
I used watermelon, strawberry, raspberry, and grapes.

Cous Cous with Lemon Rosemary Chicken

What you need:
1 package thin sliced chicken breast
2 lemons
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 sprig fresh rosemary (4 inches)
1 package Near East garlic and olive oil Cous Cous
Salt and pepper
1 handful calamata olives, pitted
1 handful grape tomatoes
1 cucumber, peeled and finely diced
1 small package goat cheese
Parsley for garnish if desired

What to do:
Place chicken, olive oil, juice from 1/2 a lemon, and rosemary in 1 qt ziplock bag and put in fridge.
Boil 1 3/4 cups water in a medium saucepan.
Add Cous Cous and spice pack it comes with, then return to slow boil.
Slow boil for about 15 min, stirring often, until almost all water is absorbed or evaporated.
Turn off stove and let Cous Cous sit for a few minutes.
In large bowl, mix Cous Cous, cucumber, olives, and tomatoes
Squeeze in 1-2 tbsp lemon juice, cover and put in fridge for at least 1/2 hour.

While Cous Cous is chilling, heat grill to 500 degrees.
Spray grill with oil or cooking spray.
Cook chicken for three minutes, then flip, turn down heat and cook another 3 min.
When you flip chicken, slice a lemon in half and put both halves face down on grill for 3 min.
Remove chicken and lemon from grill and let rest for a couple minutes.

Take Cous Cous out of fridge, top with goat cheese, and lay chicken on top.
Squeeze one of the grilled lemon halves over chicken, and garnish with parsley.

Kale Chips

What You Need:

1 bunch fresh kale, washed and dried, stems removed.
1 cup raw cashews, soaked an hour or two.
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 bell pepper, seeds removed
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne powder

What To Do:

Place all ingredients except kale in blender.
Blend to desired texture, I like the cashews a little chunky.
Place mixture and kale into a large mixing bowl, fold together with hands.
Place kale pieces on baking sheets, with a little room between each piece.
Bake at 300 until kale is crispy and mixture is dry, about half an hour.

The original recipe for these kale chips was found at Love Veggies and Yoga

Chicken and cabbage stew

What you need:

4 chicken breasts
1 onion
1 bag of baby carrots
1 green cabbage
1/2 Jar Eden Organics pasta sauce
Salt and pepper
1 tsp red pepper flake
1 cup organic chicken broth
2 tbsp coconut aminos
2 tbsp minced garlic

What to do:

Put carrots and chopped onion in crock pot.
Season with salt and pepper.
Place chicken on top of onions and carrots, top with red pepper flakes.
Chop cabbage into 1/2 inch slices, place over chicken.
Pour pasta sauce onto cabbage.
Throw in garlic, broth, and coconut aminos.
Cook on high four to five hours.