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Man I Love This Tuscan Kale Salad!

4/19/2015

 

Tim says, 
"This kale salad is fantastic. Darn near like eating candy."

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Angie responds, 
"Well, I don't know about candy but this salad 
definitely wowed me."

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This 
Tuscan Kale Salad 
is an excellent side with pasta.




This Kale Salad is straight outta 
Dr. Weil's website.
But let's clarify what kind of kale...
this recipe calls for 
LACINATO kale, 
otherwise known as 
TUSCAN kale.



Tuscan Kale Salad
Straight outta Dr. Weil's website...check it out!
Ingredients
4-6 cups kale, loosely packed, sliced leaves of Italian black (Lacinato, "dinosaur," cavolo nero) midribs removed 
juice of 1 lemon 
3-4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 
2 cloves garlic, mashed 
salt & pepper, to taste 
hot red pepper flakes, to taste 
2/3 cup grated Pecorino Toscano cheese (Rosselino variety if you can find it) or other flavorful grating cheese such as Asiago or Parmesan 
1/2 cup freshly made bread crumbs from lightly toasted bread

 Instructions
  1. Whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and a generous pinch (or more to taste) of hot red pepper flakes.
  2. Pour over kale in serving bowl and toss well.
  3. Add 2/3 of the cheese and toss again.
  4. Let kale sit for at least 5 minutes. Add bread crumbs, toss again, and top with remaining cheese.


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Let's set the record straight on the difference between Curly kale (of which is the norm for most of us)....
looks totally familiar, right?...





And now this is Tuscan Kale, more commonly known as Lacinato Kale
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T
hey also call it Dinosaur Kale.


But I say, 
yeah no, 
that is stoooopid. 
We will just continue to call it 
Lacinato Kale.

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Lacinato Kale 
will say it's specifically "Lacinato" 
on the tag.




Tuscan or Lacinato Kale is different from 
Curly Kale 
by 
color 
and 
taste. 
Tuscan or Lacinato is a darker green (almost a blue green)  and it is a bit more bitter and earthy tasting. 
It's Delicious!




Okay, so here's the fixins for this fine salad...
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First, 

remove the midrib thingies from the kale.






Slice into ribbons...
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I interrupt this exciting Tuscan Kale Salad post to bring you pictures of the marinara I threw together for the pasta that we were going to have as well. I chopped up red and yellow peppers, red onions, garlic, carrots and basil and threw them into organic diced tomatoes with a little bit of red wine and salt and pepper.. 




Okay, going back to the topic of today's post, the Tuscan KALE SALAD, anyhoo, get your lemon juice ready, olive oil, red pepper flakes, parm and garlic.
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Mix the olive oil, garlic, fresh lemon juice, pepper flakes and salt and pepper. This smells great! 
It is at this point that you KNOW this is gonna to be a nice, light, tasty salad.






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Mix that lovely dressing in.
You will want to make sure to toss the kale with the dressing, toss good, toss it real good. 

Leave no stone unturned here.







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Throw that freshly grated Parmesan 
on top.







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Toss.

Together. 

Not out. 

Duh. 








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Ta-Daaa!!!! 
I present to you a blurry picture of this yummy kale salad!





Saddle up this salad next to some pasta or a steak or veggie burger...just about anything!



As I said at the top of the post, Tim said this is darn near like eating candy.
(This coming from a man who would never touch a vegetable to save his soul 
just 5 or 10 years ago.) 
This Kale Salad is flavorful, a little sweet, a little savory, a tad spicy and light and refreshing.



To print the recipe, just click on the link and go to 
Dr. Weil's website. (I had to cut and paste recipe.) 
Dr. Weil's Tuscan Kale Salad.




So the other morning, 
the sun was just perfect about 6:30am and I went out to snap a few shots with my craptastic $100 high dolla camera....






I've finally comes to terms that every picture I take out here, 
SOMETHING always needs painted. 
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I'm convinced little hobbits and gnomes live in this tree. And woodpeckers.
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I was genuinely excited the other day to show Tim of a picture of a grain bin just like ours that had been converted into a cute, girly woman cave. 
He did NOT find it amusing one bit.
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Looking to the west with the early morning east sun casting shadows. 
The only time I'll ever be tall and skinny in my life. 
It was fun while it lasted :)
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Okay, tis all I gots for today!! 
(Remember, gots is a word....in the Pretend Word Dictionary)
Hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend! 
Thanks for checking in and we'll 
talk at ya soon!













Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna Rolls and Batman and Cats...Yeah, Just The Normal Stuff At This Casa

4/12/2015

 

Oh my goodness gracious!! 
It has been almost 
THREE MONTHS 
since I last posted!



I LOVE LOVE LOVE blogging and have missed posting all 
the good (yum yum) 
the bad (NOT so yum yum)
and the ugly (blech-worthy) dishes
I've been making.
 
But I have been soooooo busy with 
#1. 
Work 






And #2. 
Life

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Um. Yeah. Don't ask. This is just between you and me, K??!! 







And #3. 
Hanging out with our #1 and only grandchild 
Little Boy Blue!!!!
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Oh yeah, I almost forgot.








#4.

Shooing cats out of the year-end records boxes...


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Gino 
says, 

"Now you see me..."





"...now you don't, sucka!"
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Giblet Pearl-Thanksgiving Day Kitty 

is smart,

she knows that humans 
never give much attention to the lids.
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Gino, however, 
continues his 
stare-down with
"The Man" 
(aka Angie) .










In fact, Gino recruited sweet Noodle to assist him in his defiance of 

"The Man".
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Noodle says:
"The Man can kiss my grits! Wait, what? The Man is my human momma, Angie?? I didn't mean it, Mom! I love uuuu Mom!!! Pick me up and love on me, moooommmm!" 





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"Dude. 
I'm just here for my twice daily treat,"
 
says the always elegant Baby.





"Although it will always be my job  to investigate every empty box that enters my kingdom."
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Gino, unflinching to the repeated requests to 

GET THE HECK OUT OF THE BOX, reiterates his defiant stance.

 "Listen lady, if I told ya once, I told ya a million times, I ain't goin' down without a good paw whack."






So yeah, 
not much has changed in three months.

Except....

SPRING!!!!!
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Toys on the sidewalk.


First sign of Spring, eh? 
:)





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Pots waiting to be potted.




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Green  peeking through 
brown soil.




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Llilies that will 
bloom orange.





And a Christmas wreath by the barn that needs put away.
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Course, 
the wreath has been there about five years. 


What?

Clearly I have an inability to follow through on boring tasks, 

like putting things back where they belong.
*Sigh*









Okay, let's get to some serious food 
stuff now.
LOOK AT THESE!!!
Oh my! 
These are cute little 
Butternut Squash and 
Spinach Lasagna Rolls.
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I've made these five times in the last two months and Ima make them again tomorrow night!!
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These are little nuggets of individual lasagna rolls, filled with a creamy spinach ricotta mixture and topped with sweet butternut squash and a dollop of cheese.




Here's the fixins for these Lasagna Rolls from skinnytaste.com!
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I was out of shallots so I subbed a white onion. Worked great!






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Whether you boil or bake this butternut squash,


 it all comes out awesome.




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Nice and earthy bake here...





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Boil up your lasagna.

This dish makes 9 lasagna rolls so I usually cook up ten strips.

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I use this brand because its whole wheat.




Prep up the garlic, shallots, parsley and I added some chopped sage leaves this time.

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Defrost the spinach and wring out the moisture.


So the recipe calls for an immersion blender to mash the cooked butternut squash. I didn't want to get mine out so I got out my regular blender.
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Dear Readers,

Do NOT do this. It's ridiculous. Just mash with a potato masher, takes like one minute and 

NO MESS.

Love,
Angie




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Saute up the shallots and garlic. 


I added additional garlic and chopped sage for added flavor as this can be a tad...missing something.




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Add
the butternut squash into the skillet.




If the squash mixture is a little too thick, add some liquid or some of the pasta water. I added wine according to some recipe reviewers. 
Add salt and pepper and a bit of the Parmesan too.





In a separate bowl, combine the spinach, ricotta, Parm, egg and salt and pepper.
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Will look like this when combined...creamy but maybe missing just a tad flavor, that's why I added the garlic and sage to the butternut squash topping.
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Lay out your lasagna noodles. 
I laid them on wax paper that had been sprayed with olive oil spray so they wouldn't stick.
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Spread the ricotta and spinach mixture evenly over 
the nine noodles.
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Spread some of the squash mixture on the bottom of the dish.




Roll up those lasagna sheets, they roll up very nicely in fact, each and every time.




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Top
each roll with the squash mixture and cheese.

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.





They look delicious just like this, don't they?
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But throw them in the oven for 40 minutes and this is how these little cuties come out.

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I really liked these! 
At the first bite, you might be expecting a big burst of flavor but that big burst is not there. The sweet and savory and creamy flavors are subtle here and that's okay.
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I keep making and making these, 
I don't know why, they are kind of addicting though.
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These are cute too, with the ruffly edges.
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Mmmmmmm, creamy ricotta spinachy goodness.
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Okay, I drizzled some maple syrup over each roll for a bit more oomph so that's a nice option too. 
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Here's the recipe! 
(Remember I added some chopped sage and extra garlic.)
Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna Rolls
Staight outta the Skinnytaste.com website...go there for full recipe and directions!!!

Ingredients:
For the Butternut Parmesan Sauce: 
  • 1 lb butternut squash, peeled and diced
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1/4 cup shallots, minced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tbsp fresh grated parmesan cheese
  • kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the Lasagna:
  • 9  lasagna noodles, cooked (use gluten free noodles for gluten free)
  • 10 oz package frozen chopped spinach, heated and squeezed well
  • 15 oz fat free ricotta cheese (I like Polly-o)
  • 1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 large egg
  • salt and fresh pepper
  • 9 tbsp (about 3 oz) part skim shredded Italian Blend Cheese (I used Sargento)
  • 1 tablespoon parsley, minced

For full directions, click right here to go over to the exact recipe on skinnytaste.com for all the directions!! It's worth it!!

Or go to Epicurious where the recipe and directions are posted and people give great advice on the reviews!




Okay guys, that's all I got for today!! 
Hope I didn't bore you too much with all these pictures of cats and a Batman man and a displaced Christmas wreath.



Little Boy Blue (who is now 3 1/2 yrs old) says...
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"My young, 
very hip, 
cool 

Grandma Angie 
hopes you come back and visit her blog again soon. 

My Grandma makes yummy bacon and oatmeal!"

For full disclosure purposes, the words 
"young" 
and 
"very hip" 
and
 "cool" 
uh, may have been the blog author's words. 
Wink, wink.




Hope to get another post or two up 
this week!!!!
Have a great week!!
Talk at ya soon!!

















    Author

    Angie Madsen
    One half of a team that blends their work and personal life together
    in fun ways.





    Recipes
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