Pasta with Pan-Fried Kale and Beans

  

There are days when ooey gooey homemade bread with a pound of sugar is completely necessary.
And then there are days when all you need is a big bunch of kale and you're all set.

I love kale. It's rich in nutrients, fiber, vitamins, and can even help lower cholesterol and prevent your risk of cancer! Woohoo! We're battling cancer with this super vegetable!
I try and eat kale as much as I can, it's said to be one of the healthiest vegetables around and it just makes me feel like I've done something nice for my body after I eat it. You're welcome, body.

Kale scares some people at first with its reputation as being a bitter leafy green found in only health-food junkies fridges. BUT it is slowly but surely gaining popularity and mixed with the right ingredients, it is quite delicious to even those who may be skeptical.

I've made this recipe multiple times for my family (who are just getting used to my super-healthy-natural food obsession) and they seemed to enjoy it!
My dad  likes the way the beans get crispy when fried, and said the dish was "especially delicious" (he made sure I quoted him on that one).
This was my first time making it with the pasta and my family enjoyed the addition.

This recipe is simple and can be whipped together in about 20 minutes. And its good for you! Bonus!

Pasta with Pan-Fried Kale and Beans 

adapted from: Heidi Swanson's 101 cookbooks
serves 2-4

Ingredients:

whole wheat penne pasta (I used a handful per person)
large bunch of kale (as much or as little as you would like, I used about 3 good-sized stalks)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 (15 oz) can cannellini beans (or any other white bean)

⅓ cup walnuts, lightly toasted 

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

⅛ teaspoon nutmeg

scant 1 tablespoon lemon juice

zest of 1 lemon

⅓ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

 Wash kale thoroughly and dry completely. Chop or rip into small pieces. Set aside.

Heat the walnuts in a small frying pan until fragrant and toasted. Set aside.

Start cooking pasta now according to package directions, it should take about 10 minutes.

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the beans and stir to coat them. Cook for about 3 or 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. The beans will pop and sort of explode. But that's cool. Let em do their thing.

Add the kale and cook for about a minute, so it starts to lose its structure. Stir in the walnuts and garlic, cook for a few seconds then stir in the nutmeg. Cook for about 10 seconds and stir in the lemon juice and zest (I only used about half of my zest, personal preference). Remove from heat and serve dusted with Parmesan cheese.

Your body will thank you :)

Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

Hello! Today has been quite an uneventful, yet lovely and relaxing Friday.
I woke up early for a nice run at the park, and then spent the majority of my day in the kitchen baking and cooking (absolutely no complaints there!)

Today was just a homemade bread kind of day, and I have been dying to try this recipe for months now.

I found this recipe from Joy the Baker's website (www.joythebaker.com). I'm sure you will hear a lot about Joy Wilson on this blog because I  adore her. She is my biggest idol in baking and another main reason for making this blog. I absolutely love her work, her recipes, her life... ugh I just want to BE her...okay enough drooling over Joy for now.  Her website and book are practically my baking/cooking bible so I will be posting many of her recipes in the future!

This bread is warm and delicious and will make you feel better when life stinks. Best made on a rainy or uneventful day...or heck, any day for that matter! Share this with your friends and family and they will all love you. For real.

My sister and I nick-named this Crazy Bread because of its quirky appearance, and the way the bubbling sugar overflowed in my oven and burnt at the bottom, causing half of my house to fill with smoke! So I recommend placing a baking sheet underneath this baby.

This bread is basically a cinnamon bun in a unique folded formation.

Take this bread out of the oven and stuff your face immedietly. It's necessary.
Just don't hurt yourself.

Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

(AKA Crazy Bread)

from  www.joythebaker.com

Ingredients:

Dough:
2 ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour (Note: I used half whole wheat, half all purp.)

¼ cup granulated sugar
2 ¼ teaspoon (1 envelope) active dry yeast

½ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, room temperature

½ stick of unsalted butter

⅓ cup whole milk

¼ cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 Filling:
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

½ stick of unsalted butter

Directions: 

In a large mixing bowl  whisk together 2 cups flour (I used 1½ all purp. and ½ whole wheat), sugar, yeast, and salt.  Set aside.

Whisk together eggs and set aside.

In a small saucepan, melt together milk and butter until butter has just melted.  Remove from the heat and add water and vanilla extract.  Let mixture stand for a minute or two, or until the mixture registers 115 to 125 degrees F.

Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula.  Add the eggs and stir the mixture until the eggs are incorporated into the batter.  The eggs will feel soupy and it’ll seem like the dough and the eggs are never going to come together.  Keep stirring.  Add the remaining ¾ cup of flour and stir with the spatula for about 2 minutes.  The dough should be sticky.

Place the dough in a large,  greased bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel.  Place in a warm space and allow to rest until doubled in size, about 1 hour.  

 

While the dough rises, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg for the filling.  Set aside.

 Melt ½ stick of butter until browned and smells wonderful.  Brown butter is such a beautiful thing. Set aside. 

Grease and flour a 9x5x3-inch  loaf pan.  Set that aside too.

Deflate the risen dough and knead about 2 tablespoons of flour into the dough.  Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 5 minutes.  

On a lightly floured work surface, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out.  The dough should be 12-inches tall and about 20-inches long.  If you can’t get the dough to 20-inches long… that’s okay.  Just roll it as large as the dough will go.  

Use a pastry brush to spread melted butter across all of the dough.  Sprinkle with all of the sugar and cinnamon mixture.  It's a lot of sugar, but Joy the Baker insists on using it all, and believe me, it is well worth it in the end.

Slice the dough vertically, into six equal-sized strips.  

Stack the strips on top of one another.

 

Slice the stack into six equal slices once again.

You’ll have six stacks of six squares.  Layer the dough squares in the loaf pan like a flip-book.  

I really had to squeeze mine together to make them all fit. 

Place a kitchen towel over the loaf pan and allow in a warm place for 30 to 45 minutes or until almost doubled in size.

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.  Place loaf in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is very golden brown.  The top may be lightly browned, but the center may still be raw.  A nice, dark, golden brown will ensure that the center is cooked as well.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 20 to 30 minutes.   Run a butter knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the bread and invert onto  a clean board. 

Woo! Mine rose up in the oven and blossomed like a beautiful scrumptious, sugary flower. (yeah. that was poetic.)

 

This bread is irresistible when it's fresh out of the oven. My sister and I cut into it right away and it was the best idea ever. It was warm, gooey, chewy, sugary, and everything else wonderful in the world, all folded into easily-pulled-apart slices. Maybe a little too easy to keep going back and peeling off layer by layer :)

This was after we devoured about a third of the deliciousness in 5 seconds. No shame.

Inspiration

 My sister Coral  has made a huge impact on my life. She is not only my best friend, but the gentle hand on my back pushing me to pursue what I'm passionate about. I want to dedicate my first post to my sister for encouraging me to even make this blog to share my love of baking with others. So here's to the start of a new experience as a food blogger thanks to my inspiration!