Pancakes & Product Reviews: Stonyfield Farms Yogurt

 

Today I have perhaps the last of my product reviews from the goodie box I received from Around the Plate. We were given a coupon for a Stonyfield Farms yogurt, and I have to say, I was a little hesitant to use this one. Stonyfield Farms has developed a bad reputation with me for being excessive in the sugar department. I’m sorry, but 29g is just not ok for first thing in the morning for me – even if each and every one of those grams is organic and devoid of the words “high,” “fructose,” and “corn syrup.” L loves Stonyfield Farms, and I’ll eat it on occasion – usually as more of a dessert than a full on meal. I like the company, but I knew I wasn’t crazy about all of the flavors’ nutritional profiles. Still, I wanted to give the company another try. After all, as I’ve mentioned before, there is a lot to be said for a company who cares about the impact it has on the world around it.

I decided that the best way to approach this review was to find a recipe that called for yogurt, and use the Stonyfield brand. To me, this blog isn’t about food reviews. I’ve certainly done my fair share of them, particularly recently, and plan to do a few more over the next month or so. However, I don’t want them to take away from this blog’s true purpose – sharing food and recipes with you. So, this is a hybrid post: a review of Stonyfield Farms and their yogurt, plus a delicious pancake recipe that calls for yogurt in the ingredients.

But first, let’s talk about this yogurt, because I’m sure I’ve done a great job of drawing you in with my attacks on its sugar content (it’s amazing any company tolerates the reviews I give, right?). I went with the 0% Super Fruits flavor (think Pomegranate, Raspberry, and Acai) – not only was it modest in sugar (22g), but it was a flavor that you don’t see very often. I do have to commend Stonyfield on that. As much as I adore my Chobani and I think they have fantastic flavors, I long for more exotic, creative flavors. Stonyfield has flavors like “Banilla,” which I’ve heard is out of this world, “Chocolate Underground,” which – despite being laden with sugar, and probably understandably so – is definitely something I could enjoy for dessert, and “French Vanilla” which just sounds a little more indulgent and fancier than the typical vanilla.

In terms of Nutrition, it’s a pretty standard yogurt – 120 calories, 130mg sodium, 22g carbohydrates (pretty much exclusively from sugar, which will be partially added and partially naturally derived from lactose), and 6g protein. It delivers 25% of the daily recommendations for Calcium. Because the sugar is a little higher than I’d like to see, I might be inclined to choose the low-fat over fat-free varieties, just to give my body a little bit of a glycemic buffer – but really, 22g isn’t obscene. The other flavors that inch up closer to 30 are more of a concern. It seems that Stonyfield Farms has heard the cries of other sugar police like myself, because they’re in the process of rolling out a new, lower-calorie, lower-sugar line of yogurt (100 calories, 30% less sugar), using Stevia with a touch of cane sugar (read more about the switch here!).

The taste came through as a more or less typical mixed berry yogurt. The raspberries play the starring role, but you do get a hint of the pomegranate and acai in a nice, subtle way that makes it just a little different from the other mixed berry flavors on the market. It’s also not a very thick yogurt – it’s one of the more liquidy ones I’ve seen, especially compared to the thickened greek yogurts that I’m so used to – which could be nice for anyone who is a little turned off by yogurt’s consistency. 

The bottom line: I have to admit, I like the taste of Stonyfield, and I do like what their company does and how it presents itself. I’m definitely interested in the reduced sugar line they’re making now, and will have to update this post if I ever get the opportunity to try it. Until then, I personally will stick to yogurts with lower sugar contents for my day-to-day use, but that’s just a personal preference. I know so many people who can’t get enough of Stonyfield Farm’s products, and I can definitely see why. For anyone who is less concerned with their sugar intake, the nutrition panel was already commendable; now with the introduction of Stevia, that’s even more true; the taste is excellent; and the price is more than reasonable. This is a great option for yogurt, and definitely one of the best non-greek varieties on the market right now.

 

So about these pancakes, since something that Stonyfield Farms encourages is creating healthier food by using yogurt as an ingredient. They’re not nearly as thick and fluffy as I like my pancakes to be, but they do taste good, especially mixed with the extra yogurt and a warm berry sauce as toppings. I did find myself adding flour to the recipe that otherwise just called for oats, because I wound up with a very soupy consistency. The recipe suggested greek yogurt, so I have a feeling the thinness of the batter had a lot to do with the fact that I used Stonyfield. Once I added the whole wheat flour, though, the batter was a really nice thickness and cooked up beautifully, so don’t view that as a deterrent. 

 Tomorrow is National Pancake Day – a perfect excuse to tell you about this yogurt and these pancakes at once - and I have to smile at the fact that it falls on a Tuesday. I’ve mentioned it before, but growing up there was this traditional in my house known as “Pancake Tuesdays.” Not a Tuesday went by that my grandmother and, once she passed on, my mom didn’t crack open that box of Aunt Jemima pancake mix and whip up a batch for my sister and me. It wasn’t until college that the tradition broke, though I have to say that a really good stack of fluffy pancakes can still win me over, even in the worst of moods. They are, for me, the ultimate comfort food.

One Year Ago: Champagne Chocolate Sauce

Past Pancake Recipes: Bread Pudding Pancakes, Buttermilk Pancakes with Fruit & Yogurt Topping, Pumpkin Pancakes, Sour Cream Pancakes

Super Fruit Pancakes, adapted from This Mama Cooks

Yield: 4 servings

(printable recipe)

The Ingredients

1 cup oats

6 egg whites (1 cup + 2 tablespoons)

1 cup (approximately 2, 6-ounce containers) Stonyfield Super Fruits yogurt

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon honey¹

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ cup white whole wheat flour

The Method

Heat a griddle over medium heat. Add all of the ingredients except the flour to a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth and well-mixed. Fold in the flour and, once the pan is hot, ladle the batter onto the pan, using roughly ¼ cup per pancake. Allow to cook until the batter has set and bubbles have appeared all over the tops, then flip and cook an additional 3-4 minutes.

Serve with your favorite toppings!²

Notes:

¹I used the blackberry honey crème from Honey Ridge Farms (read my review here), but any liquid sweetener will work.

²I made an easy berry sauce by simmering ¼ cup frozen raspberries and ½ cup frozen strawberries (per serving) until thick, then added the leftover yogurt that I had as a second topping.

The opinions expressed and images shared in this review are entirely my own. Although Stonyfield Farms donated the coupon sent to me via the wonderful people behind the Around the Plate community, no further compensation or incentive was given. I am not affiliated in any way with Stonyfield Farms.

TweetPin It

 

Easy, Healthy & Delicious: Balsamic Avocado Salad

Would you ever think to combine the flavors of balsamic vinegar and avocado? When I first saw the recipe, I was intrigued in the way that I always get when faced with a surprising new marriage of ingredients. I love weird food, or at least different food. I knew that I had to try it for that very reason – and really, of all the bizarre food combinations I’ve made and eaten in the past, this is really tame. So if you’re not as curious as I am with food, I think you’ll still enjoy this.

The salad is cool, creamy, and even a little sweet. It has a little bite to it without being overtly spicy, which is nice. The balsamic flavor was a little subdued, although I admittedly didn’t do too much measuring and may have been a little heavy handed with the lime. I would suggest doing what I always forget to do: once you make the marinade, taste it and actually adjust the flavors. For some reason, I never bother with this last step when cooking. I still really liked it, paired with my all-time favorite, go-to protein source: an egg (poached this time, which added to the creaminess of the dish).

One Year Ago: Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies

Balsamic Avocado Salad, adapted from Eat Yourself Skinny

Yield: 4 servings

(printable recipe)

The Ingredients

1-2 tablespoons lime juice

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 ripe avocados

8 cherry tomatoes, quartered

½ red onion, chopped

1 jalapeno, diced with seeds

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

The Method

Whisk the lime juice, vinegar, and oil into an emulsion in a medium bowl. Add the avocados, tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, and cilantro, and toss to combine. Season with freshly ground pepper, and serve!

Seriously, does healthy & delicious get any easier than that?!

Oh, and please ignore my very unattractive poached egg in the picture. I'm still wrapping my brain around the nuances of cracking an egg into a simmering pan of water and having it come out in a pretty little package.



Tweet

Pin It

Thirty Minute Thursdays: Warm White Bean Salad with Thyme

Some foods are just made for certain weather. I don’t even mean the obvious ones – piping hot soup and freshly baked bread during a blizzard or fresh tomato and mozzarella salad in the midst of a heat wave. There are other dishes, more subtly tied to a climate or season, that just make you feel right when eating them at that time of year. This warm white bean salad from Rachael Ray is one of those. As I ate it, it just worked with the chill that had developed outside. This dish was made for winter, and I don’t know that I would have thought that before tasting it.

It’s warm but not heavy, and savory in a gentle way. It really is a wonderful dish, and whether you serve it as a side dish or a lighter main course, I really think you’ll like it. I doctored it up a little – swapping in spinach for the radicchio, mostly – and think that you could reduce the oil if you really wanted to. But then, this is a dish to comfort you in colder weather, and doesn’t a salad richly dressed in healthy olive oil sound indulgent enough to do just that?

One Year Ago: Sassy, Saucy Eggplant Parmesan

Warm White Beans with Thyme, adapted from Rachael Ray’s Classic 30 Minute Meals

Yield: 4 larger or 6 smaller servings

(printable recipe)

The Ingredients

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped¹

2-3 cups spinach, torn

4 cups white beans, drained and rinsed if canned

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

The Method

Heat the oil in a medium skillet, then add the garlic over medium heat and sauté for 2 minutes. Add in the thyme, beans, and spinach and toss to coat and combine. Season to taste with pepper and allow the mixture to warm through, another approximately 2 minutes. Garnish, optionally, with fresh thyme leaves, and serve.

Notes:

¹I used a combination of fresh and dried based on what I had in my kitchen, and really enjoyed it – so don’t feel tied down to either option. Work with what you have and what you like.




 Tweet

Pin It

Polenta con Marinara di Funghi - a way to feel fancy while you really indulge in a simple polenta with mushroom marinara

To anyone who thought their final semester at college was a joke, I have to say, I’m jealous. I always thought of senior year, particularly the spring semester, as more of a formality – I’d only have classes a few days a week rather than the full five, I wouldn’t start class early in the morning and wouldn’t stay late in the day, and the classes wouldn’t be all that demanding. What a dream that would be! Nutrition does not afford such luxuries. I’m sure many other majors are the same. The classes I’m taking now are the most rigorous I’ll ever have, and I find myself waking up at 7 in the morning on weekends and not finding time to breathe until nearly 9 at night. I’ve had to stage several self-interventions as the stress escalated within me, and by the end of the day I collapse into bed and am shocked when I hear my alarm going off just minutes later – or so it seems.

It goes without saying that I have been craving comfort food, and one of the most satisfying dishes I’ve found to alleviate stress and exhaustion is polenta. It’s smooth and creamy, warm and filling. It’s like a pillow for my taste buds to relax on. In fact, this mushroom and polenta mélange was exactly what I needed, with flavors that work well together and a warmth to it that transcends just physical temperature and actually soothes you. The recipe also yields an alarming amount of food, yet it amounts to just about 450 calories if you eat the full serving, so you can feel like you’re stuffing yourself into a stupor (thus satiating that all-too-pesky compulsion to eat when stress gets the better of you) without actually doing too much caloric damage. Now that’s what I’m talking about.

Lastly, I want to say that I hope the name I devised for this dish doesn’t offend anyone. I know very little about Italy or true Italian culture: I barely speak a lick of the language and I’ve certainly never visited the country. However, I am currently reading Under the Tuscan Sun, and although this by no means makes me even remotely knowledgeable of Italian culture, it has sparked in me a little bit of inspiration. This polenta dish may be worlds away from authentic. The name I created for it may be butchering the language. I certainly hope not. But something as fluid as “Polenta con Marinara di Funghi” seems to embody this dish so much more appropriately than the all too boring “Polenta in a Tomato-Mushroom Sauce” that it really is. Again, I mean no harm, and freely admit my ignorance. It just sounds pretty, you know?

One Year Ago: Buttermilk Pancakes topped with a Yogurt-Fruit Puree

Polenta con Marinara di Funghi (Polenta in a Tomato-Mushroom Sauce)

Yield: 2 servings

(printable recipe)

The Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic

¼ cup chopped onion

1 ½ cups chopped baby bella mushrooms

1 ½ cups (no salt added) diced tomatoes

½ cup (no salt added) tomato sauce

2 tablespoons dried oregano

1-2 teaspoons dried thyme

3 cups water

2 teaspoons (no salt added) chicken bouillon¹

½ cup instant polenta

1-2 tablespoons pesto

½ - 1 cup spinach, chopped or torn

2 tablespoons chopped, fresh basil

The Method

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and sauté 5 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms and continue sautéing for an additional 3-5 minutes. Finally, add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano, and thyme to the skillet. Bring the mixture to a simmer and continue to simmer over low heat.

Meanwhile, in a separate pot, boil the water with the bouillon added. Pour the polenta into the boiling water and remove from the heat, stirring constantly until it thickens and bubbles. Pour it onto a lipped platter or bowl, allowing it to spread out in a rustic, imperfect way if possible.

Remove the mushroom sauce from the heat and stir in the pesto and spinach. Pour the sauce over the polenta and sprinkle with the chopped basil.

Notes:

¹For a fully vegetarian meal, feel free to use vegetable bouillon (do they make that?) or replace the water-bouillon combination with vegetable stock. I only use chicken bouillon because that’s what I keep in my pantry.









 Tweet

Product Review: Honey Ridge Farms' Honey Cremes, plus a recipe for a Citrus Omelet w/ Honey Creme Drizzle

New nutrition majors are militant. They’re overzealous, enthusiastic, and on a mission to cure the world of all nutrient maladies. It’s endearing, in a sense. I was one of them. My view on food is still much more strict than the average Joe’s, but I’m a far cry from the pseudo food Nazi that I was even just one year ago. The one battle I still forge on in is the one against sugar. I have demonized sugar a thousand times over in my head. I can indulge and treat myself to a cupcake or ice cream cone without batting an eye, but try to sneak a few extra grams of that simple carbohydrate into my yogurt? My almond milk? My dried fruit, which already has such high concentrations of sugar to begin with? Forget it. My brain has drawn a glaring red line between dessert foods and everything else I eat throughout the day, and you can guess which side sugar and its associated ingredients/food products are confined to.

I know I need to work on this. It isn’t that I want to move toward a complete, uncontested and unequivocal acceptance of sugar, but I need to be less rigid. I even cringe at honey, agave, and some dried fruits. So when I got two little jars of the most adorable honey crèmes I have ever seen with my Around the Plate goodie box, it was a bitter-sweet feeling. They sounded fantastic, but what would I eat them on? They sounded way too sugary, way too rich for spreading on a breakfast scone (heck, right now I wouldn’t even eat most scones for breakfast – honey crème or not - due to their nutritional profile); fruit already had its own sweetness, so I wasn’t sure I could add it to that, either. I worried that I would let these products go to waste, and the folks from Honey Ridge Farms and their products deserved more than that.

You see, Honey Ridge Farms is a family business run out of Brush Prairie, Washington. They produce single-floral source honeys in many varieties, all of them 100% from the United States. When it comes to more commercial honeys, many of them can’t even be considered honey anymore, and it can be incredibly challenging to find a 100% U.S. made brand. Although I will most likely continue to purchase my honey from more local sources, since Washington is still on the opposite side of the country for me, it’s refreshing to hear of an American company with its feet still planted firmly in the ground and its values entrenched in the wellness of our world - people, places, and “things.” Honey Ridge Farms even goes a step beyond supporting local bee keepers and the use of only the highest quality ingredients – they donate a portion of their profits to fund research aimed at promoting bee colony health. As deathly afraid of bees as I am, I know the devastation our ecosystem would face if they were to vanish, and their populations are being seriously threatened. You can feel good about buying honey from Honey Ridge Farms, and that’s not something that can be said of most honey manufacturers and distributors.

So now you know why I couldn’t just shrug off these honey crème samples – the company was too good to ignore. So, I swallowed my militant, anti-sugar qualms and incorporated it twice (yes, you heard me right – not once, but twice!) into my breakfast routine. Scandalous, I know, but we all need baby steps sometimes. I still have only tried the lemon honey crème – I was nervous to open both and have them go bad, since it will admittedly take me some time to go through a full container on my own (a little goes a long way!) – although the more I think about it, the more appealing some sort of blackberry-lemon honey crème combination sounds, doesn’t it? But I digress.

I opened that jar of lemon honey crème and found a thick, creamy texture that reminded me just a little of a semi-liquid fondant. Because it’s so sweet on its own, I find that it’s easier to use in the right proportions if you heat it first to thin it out and spread it out across whatever it is you’re eating it with. I’m not sure if this ruins the integrity of the honey, as the company prides itself on the fact that they don’t heat it during the process of making it. I hope I haven’t broken some cardinal rule of honey crème eating by thinning it out. If you have an insatiable sweet tooth, go ahead and slather it on your favorite muffin recipe or mix it into oatmeal as it is.

I used the honey crème to make a sweet drizzle to go over a citrus egg white omelet, which was excellent. The strong sweetness of the honey balanced out the intensity of the grapefruit. Next time, I would consider chopping the fruit into smaller pieces and letting them soak in the honey and spice mixture, reserving some honey for the topping but switching most to the filling. It was a beautiful way to use the honey crème, though, and would definitely recommend it. Scroll down for the recipe (which has been changed to reflect the alterations I just mentioned)!

The second time I tried the honey crème was also with grapefruit (I know, I know, not very adventurous of me). This time, I mixed it in with diced grapefruit chunks and broiled it until it began to glow. Did you know that grapefruit glows when it heats and caramelizes? It develops a very warm tone to it, seriously. I then let it cool completely and stirred in some vanilla greek yogurt for a citrus honey parfait, which was also wonderful.

So, after all of that, what do I really think about Honey Ridge Farms’ cute little jars of honey crème? I have to say, I’m pretty impressed. I still don’t find myself reaching into the fridge every chance I get to use it, but it’s a nice treat every now and then. I’d love to try it thinned out as a salad dressing (fruit or veggies!), maybe blended with some frozen bananas for an extra sweet banana “ice cream” dessert or with some almond milk and fresh fruit for a smoothie, or stirred into hot tea for an extra special cup. I can really think of a number of ways to enjoy it, and it’s certainly different from regular honey, which makes it an even nicer treat. These would make great gifts for people – how about pairing a jar or 2 with a batch of your favorite muffin or scone? They’re also not wildly expensive, considering the level of attention and care the business puts into its product and the fact that you can use it so sparingly and still get a punch of flavor. The only downsides I found were its slight spreading difficulty at its natural consistency (but that’s certainly not enough to prevent me from liking the product) and the missing nutrition facts panel. I’d be interested in a nutritional profile (the ingredients are listed on the container and are very impressive, but there’s no indication of serving sizes, sugar content, etc.), though I would imagine it’s fairly comparable to regular honey. The fact that it’s missing is not uncommon for a smaller, family-based business.

If you like honey and incorporating it into your recipes, I would definitely recommend this product. Even if a part of me still shies away from straight sugar (and yes, even if honey isn’t processed like white sugar is, it’s still sugar), I can still praise Honey Ridge Farms for all of their efforts to stay green and responsible. The next time you find yourself in need of a small gift for someone, or you run out of your favorite honey and are itching for something new, try ordering from Honey Ridge Farms. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

For more information on Honey Ridge Farms and its products, you can explore their website or Facebook page, or follow them on Twitter via @HoneyRidgeBuzz.

And if you do buy their lemon honey crème, try making this omelet. It’s kind of fantastic.

One Year Ago: Caramelized Apple Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Citrus Omelet with Lemon Honey Crème Drizzle

Yield: 1 serving

(printable recipe)

The Ingredients

¾ orange, segmented and chopped

¼ grapefruit, segmented and chopped

lemon zest and cinnamon, to taste

1 ¼ teaspoons lemon honey crème, divided

1 teaspoon walnut oil

⅓-½ cup egg whites

The Method

Melt the honey crème in the microwave to thin it. Combine 1 teaspoon of the honey crème with the orange, grapefruit, lemon zest, and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside. Reserve the remaining ¼ teaspoon of honey crème.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in an omelet pan over medium heat. Once hot, pour in the egg whites and cook until set, lifting up the edges to let the unset parts run onto the bottom of the pan. When the eggs are virtually completely set, add the citrus mixture to half of the omelet, and fold the other half over it. Turn off the heat (or, if you have a gas stove, turn it to the lowest setting), and allow it to sit on the warm burner to heat through and finish cooking. Serve the omelet drizzled with the remaining ¼ teaspoon of honey crème.

The opinions expressed and images shared in this review are entirely my own. Although Honey Ridge Farms donated the products sent to me via the wonderful people behind the Around the Plate community, no further compensation or incentive was given. I am not affiliated in any way with Honey Ridge Farms.









 Tweet

Thirty Minute Thursdays: The Chili for "Veg-Heads" that even the "meat-heads" in our lives will love!

Chili is, perhaps, the greatest dish ever invented, and it’s perfect for the kind of weather dampening the mood outside my window. It’s grey, cold and wet, and quite frankly, nothing much sounds better to me right now than a pair of comfy sweatpants and a nice, hot bowl of chili. It’s comfort food turned healthy (well, usually – the way I make it, it is!). It can be spicy to add a different kind of heat to warm me up, and it’s really filling. To me, you can eat it any number of ways – with cornbread or without, with a dollop of greek yogurt or not, piled high with cheese and toppings, or bare bones and beautiful.

The recipe I have for you today is definitely spicy, definitely filling, and beyond satisfying. It doesn’t have too many toppings, though you could certainly add them – just a sprinkling of tortilla chips for crunch and, though I didn’t think to do this at the time, a dollop of greek yogurt to cool your taste buds down just a little bit with each bite. That’s all this meal needs. It’s also vegetarian, which is really how I prefer my chilis anyway. I’ve had some fantastic turkey chilis, some phenomenal beef ones, but in the end there’s something so great about a bowl of beans and vegetables in a thick, tomato sauce. Even if you’re not a vegetarian, you can definitely get behind this one. And, as the top of the recipe indicates in Rachael’s notes section – the leftovers only get better, which is so true. So make this, make a lot of it, and enjoy every bite. In the margins of this recipe I wrote GOOD! – capitals, underlining, and all. There’s no reason to be shy about how much I enjoyed this dish. Rachael Ray, you certainly hit it out of the park with this one!

One Year Ago: Very Veggie “Mac-n-Cheese” Spaghetti

Chili for “Veg Heads,” adapted from Rachael Ray’s Classic 30 Minute Meals

Yield: 4-5 servings

(printable recipe)

The Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup chicken or vegetable broth

32 ounces (no salt added) crushed tomatoes

14 ounces black beans, drained and rinsed well

14 ounces red kidney beans, drained and rinsed well

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 ½ tablespoons chili powder

several healthy shakes (8-10) of hot sauce

1 cup spicy vegetarian refried beans¹

sliced scallions, for garnish

tortilla chips, for garnish or dipping

Plain greek yogurt, for garnish

The Method

Place the oil in a medium-large saucepot over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the onion and peppers, sautéing and stirring for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook 1 more minute, then pour in the broth, scraping up the debris from the bottom of the pan. Reduce the liquid by half, cooking 2-3 minutes, before stirring in the tomatoes, beans, seasonings, and hot sauce. Once heated through, mix in the refried beans to thicken.

Serve chili topped with coarsely crushed tortilla chips, sliced scallions, and a dollop of greek yogurt.

Notes:

¹Quick tip! Make your own – it’s so easy, ridiculously cheap, and super healthy, plus you can add whatever spices or ingredients you want. I used a recipe that I found at GNOWFGLINS.





 Tweet

Sesame-Hoisin Kale

I talk a lot about low-carb meals here, and I always feel as though I should be prefacing these references with a PSA about how beautiful carbs really are and how I do genuinely support eating an adequate amount of them. I just personally happen to gravitate toward a very high carbohydrate diet, and if I don’t make it a point to eat a few low-carbohydrate meals eachweek, I tend to be a bit of a carb loader. So when I go off on these “…and it was even low-carb!” please don’t take me as Atkins’ number one fan.

With that being said, I do enjoy eating a very low carbohydrate meal from time to time. Unfortunately, I’ve found that carbohydrates have a lot of staying power, and it can be tricky to make a healthy, filling meal without them sometimes. This recipe for Sesame Kale is, unfortunately, an example of that. It tasted great – naturally sweet yet savory, a little chewy as wilted kale tends to be. I wanted the poached egg that I served on top of it to be less cooked to create a creamy sauce for the kale, but it didn’t really happen. C’est la vie. Hoisin also came through as the dominant flavor rather than sesame, so maybe this should be called Hoisin Kale - but does a rose by any other name still taste as delicious? Why yes, yes it does.

The only thing I would change would be to either use it as a side dish for a larger meal or throw in a piece of toast. I’m waving my white flag of surrender to the carbohydrate enthusiasts out there – you’ve won this one. It did not satiate me as a low-carb dinner, but it isn’t as though I left the kitchen table famished, either. I just needed a little pick me up later on in the night. Take that as you will – but whether you make this exactly as I’ve indicated or you incorporate it into a more filling dinner, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this one.

Sesame-Hoisin Kale, adapted from In Good Taste

Yield: 2 servings

(printable recipe)

The Ingredients

10 cups kale

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon hoisin sauce

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

The Method

Place the oil in a large skillet over medium heat and set aside until hot.

Meanwhile, wash the kale but don’t dry completely. Remove the leaves from the stems and tear or chop them into smaller, bite-sized pieces.

When the oil is hot, add the garlic to the pan and sauté for no more than 1 minute before stirring in the kale. If the kale is particular dry, add up to 1 tablespoon of water. Cover and cook for 3 minutes, stirring once about one-third of the way through. Once the kale has wilted, stir in the hoisin sauce and season with the black pepper before serving.







Tweet