Double Kale

Spring is finally in the air! Other than seeing the cherry blossoms bloom, enjoying the daylight past 6:30, breaking out my flip flops and eating dinner outside, there are so many things I love about spring.

1. Iced coffee.

Some of my coworkers drink iced coffee all year long, but I definitely can't get on that train. I like hot coffee in the winter, and iced coffee in the summer. I had my first one this week and it was fannntastic.

2. Mexican food.

If you've been reading for a while, you know I have a Mexican food addiction. I brought the taco salads back this week, and packed them full of sauteed peppers & onions (with taco seasoning of course), Lightlife soy crumbles (GMO-free!), carrots, black olives, habanero cheddar cheese, avocado and lime juice. Matt said they tasted so much like regular Mexican food that he forgot all about the tortilla chips, rice & beans and tortilla. Win! Soon I need to try making my own taco seasoning too.

3. Strawberry smoothies. They babies have been going down the hatch pretty much every day since the weather warmed up on Monday.

And...drum roll please...return of the kale salad!

I love, love, love kale salad, and last summer I made a bunch of different ways - from Asian style to avocado & lemon flavored. If you've never made salad with kale before, the trick is to just chop it up, add some kind of oil, and then massage it with your hands for about 5 minutes until it turns soft and manageable. Last night I made it simply with olive oil & sea salt, and it was perfect. I forgot how great the stuff is.

I had an enormous bag of kale, so I made half into a salad and the other half into a garlicky kale & smoked cheddar frittata.

To make the frittata, I cooked the kale in boiling water for a few minutes, then drained it and tossed it in the skillet with some onions & garlic I had sautéed in olive oil. Once it was all warmed through and fragrant, I added the filling into a bowl of 6 beaten eggs. Then I added about 4 oz. of shredded smoked cheddar. The entire mixture went back into the cast iron pan; I cooked it on the stovetop for about 5-6 minutes, then put it in the oven at 350 for another 10 minutes until it was firm and started to brown on top.

Once it came out of the oven, I turned it over onto a wooden board and cut it into slices. Voila - Garlicky Kale Frittata and Massaged Kale Salad. Vitamin-packed dinner!

When I served it up Matt said, "So...frittata is basically a dinner omelet?" Sure, why not. I like to think of it more as a quiche without the crust, but either way it's pretty awesome.

***

It's been a lonnng week so I can't wait to get into some sweats and relax at home for the night. My sister is coming tonight from Philly for a visit and I'm really looking forward to it. Tonight is for vegging out since tomorrow we plan to do some shopping for Miami outfits (woo!) and have a birthday party at night. Sunday evening I'm leaving my little family again for a short work trip to St. Louis, so I'm gonna try to make the most of the weekend before I have to head to the airport.

Happy Friday!