easy meal – Jackalope and Robin http://www.jackalopeandrobin.com mama, bookworm, yogi, nerd Tue, 29 Sep 2020 22:32:52 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.5.5 http://www.jackalopeandrobin.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/cropped-favicon-32x32.png easy meal – Jackalope and Robin http://www.jackalopeandrobin.com 32 32 Lemon Kale Salad http://www.jackalopeandrobin.com/lemon-kale-salad/ http://www.jackalopeandrobin.com/lemon-kale-salad/#comments Thu, 23 Aug 2018 19:10:49 +0000 https://www.jackalopeandrobin.com/foragers-garden-salad/

This tangy salad is one of my two favorite ways to use kale (the other being this spaghetti recipe by chef Curtis Stone) and was inspired by a salad I had at Featherstone Farm‘s annual strawberry social. I think I went back for seconds AND thirds!

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I’ve toyed with adding purslane, plantain, and dandelion leaves from my yard in the past (you might see some in the pictures), but these days I’m just not bothering with that. If I’m really feeling lazy or don’t have raisins, I’ll skip step 1 and just toss 1 tablespoon of vinegar in with the rest of the ingredients.

Ingredients

  • Kale, 1 bunch de-stemmed and finely sliced
  • Raisins, ¼ Cup
  • Vinegar, White or Apple Cider, 2 Tbs
  • Water, 1/2 cup
  • Walnuts, ½ cup chopped
  • Olive oil, 2 Tbs
  • Lemon Juice, from 1 small lemon
  • Garlic, 1 clove, minced
  • Parmesan cheese, ½ cup, coarsely grated or shredded
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

  1. In a small saucepan, simmer raisins, vinegar and water for 5 minutes. Let the raisins continue to absorb the liquid while you prepare the rest of the salad.
  2. In a large bowl, combine kale, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper. Massage the leaves with your hands until the liquids are absorbed and the leaves are bright green and a bit wilted.
  3. Stir in the raisins (with liquid), walnuts, and cheese and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes.
]]> http://www.jackalopeandrobin.com/lemon-kale-salad/feed/ 1 Quick and Dirty Chickpea Chili http://www.jackalopeandrobin.com/chickpea-chili/ http://www.jackalopeandrobin.com/chickpea-chili/#comments Mon, 02 Jul 2018 04:30:03 +0000 http://www.jackalopeandrobin.com/?p=8

This originally started as a recipe from the Good Housekeeping Cookbook with lots of substitutions for simplicity — like canned chicken instead of ground turkey and pre-mixed seasoning. Well, I went to send it to my dad the other day and realized it’s basically unrecognizable from the book, and I love it! It’s won workplace chili contests and survived the move to (mostly) vegetarian and I’m pretty darn proud of it.

 

Seriously, this is the cheapest, laziest home cooked meal. It’s like $4 and totally portable. I doubled the recipe and cooked it while camping with my cousins in the North Woods. Great success!

chili ingredients

Using the potato masher is the magic step that elevates this from being just a bowl of beans. It gives the whole thing this thick, creamy texture in a super short cook time.

beans with potato masher

You may not know this about me, but I hate wasting food. Or anything… I want to be a minimalist, but my little green heart struggles to throw things away. So when I open a carton of broth, I replace the original best-by date with my own date, two weeks from opening! No more questionable broth in the fridge getting chucked to be on the safe side!

 

This makes 3 servings at 270 calories each, but the kids aren’t interested in it these days, so lately I’ve been saving one serving for lunch and pairing it with a slice of this AMAZING bread from Sally’s Baking Addiction.

Enjoy! <3

Quick and dirty chickpea chili

  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion (diced)
  • 1 can red kidney beans
  • 1 can chickpeas
  • 1 pouch McCormick’s white chicken chili seasoning (for the record, this contains chicken, but I’d like to call myself a “flexitarian” so I don’t sweat it)
  • 1 cup vegetable broth
  • 1 can Rotel or diced tomatoes and green chilis
  1. In a 12 inch skillet, saute onions in olive oil over medium heat for 5 minutes until tender.
  2. Drain and rinse beans and mash half of each can with a potato masher.
  3. Add whole beans and seasoning packet to the skillet. Stir to combine.
  4. Add mashed beans and broth and boil until thickened, approx 1 minute.
  5. Add tomatoes and serve!
 

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