Wilted Kale Salad with Pancetta and Fried Egg

Wilted Kale Salad with Pancetta and Fried Egg (photo by LivligaHome)

Pancetta has the wonderful flavor of a cured bacon without all the fat. It has just enough fat and salt to please your palate. I love making this dish when I don't want the hassle of a full blown dinner but do want to provide a healthy and flavorful dinner. It almosts qualifies as comfort food for me. And what's great is that it is packed full of health and goodness. Because it is warm it is a meal that can be served any time of year, including the dead of winter.

Ingredients~
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 package Pancetta, 3 ounces, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 package prepared Kale
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 eggs
Cooking Spray, olive oil flavor
2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar

Directions~
1. Place oil in hot skillet, preferrably cast iron, and add onions. Saute for 3 minutes. Next add Pancetta. Cook until slightly browned. Then add garlic. Keep on high until garlic starts to turn brown. Remove from heat and place ingredients in a bowl.
2. Put the skillet back on the stove on medium heat. Spray with olive oil spray. Add kale until mounded. As it wilts add more until all of the kale is in the skillet. Pour the chicken broth on top. Cover and let simmer 3 to 5 minutes until the kale starts to wilt but is not completely cooked. Remove from stove.
3. Place wilted kale in bowl and add other ingredients, toppped with the Balsamic vinegar. Toss and divide between two plates.
4. Spray skillet again with olive oil spray. Fry eggs sunny-side up. Place one egg on top of each serving of salad.

Serves 2. Calories per serving 340.


Enjoy! And Live Vibrant!

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Mighty-Making Green Monkey Smoothie -- a Kid-Friendly Recipe

Green Monkeys LOVE vegetables!

This smoothie is a great way to drink your vegetables! It is so packed with good nutrition you’ll be ready to zoom around on your bike or climb on monkey bars! 

Serves 2  

Ingredients~ 

1 cup cold water 

¼ cup finger carrots 

4 leaves of green kale, leaves peeled off 

1 cup cucumber, skin on, cut into big chunks 

1 cup (or one small) Granny Smith apple, cut into big chunks 

2 tablespoons instant sugar-free banana cream pudding (such as Jell-O) 

1 packet (or ¼  teaspoon) stevia 

1 cup crushed ice 

Directions~ 

1. Add water then each ingredient one at a time into a blender with its top on and the center hole open.  

2. Add crushed ice lat once all other ingredients are mixed together. 

3. Serve immediately. Divide evenly for 2- 8 ounce servings or 1-16 ounce serving.

 To make smoothie drinking even more fun and enjoyable for kids check out the Kidliga Sammie & Sax dish set that is all about making healthy eating for kids a natural way of life.

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Mediterranean Diet-- Striped Bass

Mediterranean Sea Bass @livligahome

The closer we get to summer the more I seem to include lighter foods and meals in my menus.  My husband loves sea bass. It is a pricier fish so we don't have it that often so it is a real treat when we do.

I came across a recipe for sea bass that had lots of fresh ingredients and seemed easy to prepare. This Mediterranean Striped Bass (315/cal) recipe has basil, plum tomatoes, onion, capers, parsley and olives. It is colorful and flavorful.

To complete the meal I made Baby Potatoes with Kale and Garlic (168/cal). The total calories for the meal are 483. This was an especially delicious meal. The sea bass was "melt-in-you-mouth" amazing. We discovered that kale, garlic and potatoes are one of those perfect combinations. This meal is a definite repeat. 

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Mediterranean Diet-- Kale Chips

Kale Chips @ Livligahome

Sometimes you just need something crunch and a little salty for a snack. I have found a great solution. It is VERY healthy, yummy to eat and totally satisfying. The best part is the whole family loves them. I have even served them when guests have come over for dinner. The only thing you have to be aware of is that pieces of the kale can stick to your teeth so you need to promise to do a "teeth check" after you have finished your chips!

Kale chips are very easy to make. The hearty leafed green is well suited to baking in the oven. To make the chips this is all you need:

Bunch of Kale
Olive Oil cooking spray
Pinch of Sea Salt

Here are the directions for preparation:

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F.
2. With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into chip-sized pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Spray kale with olive oil cooking spray and sprinkle with sea salt.
3. Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.
4. Serve in a basket. One cup of kale chips is about 36 calories.

This is a great snack or appetizer. It is a make-a-head recipe which is good to have on hand for holiday weekends. Enjoy & Live Vibrant!

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!
 

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Mediterranean Diet-- Greek-Style Kale Salad

Greek--Style Kale Salad

Kale is the hot "queen of greens" to use these days. It is no wonder when you read about its many benefits from being packed full of calcium, vitamins and minerals to its mighty power against cancer and heart disease. It is definitely a food to build into our diets on a weekly basis.

A couple of challenges to this is its chewy nature as a rough and tough green. You also need to find recipes that accentuate its positives. To the first issue about its chewiness, the good news it that there are now many more varieties offered at the local grocery store because of its popularity. Even at Costco they are offering baby kale which is very palatable.  To the second issue, Mediterranean Diet recipes are a great resources for tasty salads that use kale.

One such recipe I selected I found on myrecipe.com. The Greek-Style Kale Salad I chose had all sorts of yummy ingredients in it. The recipe included Swiss chard, cucumber, olives and feta. The dressing was flavorful as well. It did call for 1/2 teaspoon refined sugar which I replaced with honey. One bountiful serving is a mere 79 calories. This is a salad that can be made and included in a variety of menus and with such a low calorie count it can round out a hearty entree without pushing you over your overall calorie goal for a meal.

My daughter wasn't wild about the chewiness of the greens but she did like the combination of all the ingredients in the salad. Next time I plan on using the baby kale I found at Costco. Overall it was a thumbs up for the salad and a definite repeat.

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Maple Mustard Pork with Caramelized Apples

We had a great dinner last night. The menu consisted of Maple Mustard Pork Tenderloin with Caramelized Apples, Sauteed Kale in garlic, onion and chicken broth and Soft Polenta. This time of year I love adding roasts to my menus. Pork is a lean meat and easy to prepare. This is a delicious recipe.

This was a good meal for Super Foods. Apples are plentiful this time of year and in so many varieties. This recipe calls for Granny Smith apples. Apples are low in calories, high in soluble fiber, which helps lower cholesterol and protects us from a whole host of diseases. Kale is a cruciferous vegetable packed full of vitamins and cancer fighting benefits. It is considered the "Queen of the Greens". We prepare it the same way we do sauteed spinach. This is a super easy way to cook a vegetable.

The polenta was made from cornmeal. Very economical and easy to do. We discovered, however, that it is pretty tasteless on its own. Next time we plan to sauteed some onion and garlic with some mushrooms to add to the polenta as it cooks. Without adding many calories, I think we will add more taste and a more attractive look.

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