Kale and caramelized onion recipe

 

Warning: this is another super healthy post from Segur. This dish is delicious, I promise, but I realise I’ve posted two very green and healthy dishes sequentially, and for some of you that might be a little too much. So if you are looking for a sweet treat instead, perhaps try these blondies, or these muffins. But, if you fancy a hearty, simple earthy dish, with creamy and sweet elements, then this might just be for you.

So, a little background on this post - I’ve had a couple of kilograms of brown onions sitting in our kitchen for the last few weeks. I’ve been meaning to make caramelized onion chutney, to continue my preserving experiments, with my new preserving pan. But as is often the way, I seem to be continually distracted by other projects and activities. But I decided today was the day and the chutney, which I’ll post about in the next couple of days. Once it's finished simmering away, and slowly reducing on the stove.

As I was caramelizing onions anyway, I decided to put together a healthy lunch using some of the onions and a bunch of organic kale, which has been sitting in the fridge for a few days. I often steam kale, and toss it with soy, garlic and ginger. But today I thought I’d honour its Tuscan roots and go for a slightly richer dish. I added a couple of handfuls of chopped kale to oil in the frying pan and tossed it around a little. I then dropped in a couple of tablespoons of the caramelized onions and fried it off a little further, allowing the kale to soften and morph into an even brighter green. I added a little Turkish feta that was in the fridge, which finished the dish off with a rich creamy, slightly salty kick.

This is a really simple dish, and makes a fantastic midweek lunch. It would also be lovely served as a side dish, for dinner. You can also caramelize additional onions and they’ll keep in the fridge for at least a week. They are great on pizzas, or stirred into pasta. Here’s the recipe:

Recipe

(Serves one, scale up as required)

One onion (sliced)

Two large handfuls roughly chopped kale (any variety will do)

Dash of balsamic vinegar

30 grams feta, or any hard, crumbly cheese (a hard goat would also work)

Olive oil

Step One: Add the sliced onion to a pan, with a dash of oil. Move the onion around with a wooden spoon, allowing it to cook through and caramelize. After a few minutes add a dash of balsamic vinegar to the onion and fry it off a little more. You know the onion is caramelized when the colour has darkened. Set aside.

  

Step Two: Heat a dash of olive oil in a pan. Drop in the kale and toss. The colour will intensify quite quickly. When it does, stir through the onion, and toss again. Remove from heat, and crumble in the feta to serve. Enjoy!

Five-minute white chocolate and cranberry blondie recipe

I preface this post about quick-to-make blondies, with the statement: I love slow food. And I am committed to bringing more slow food into my life. But yesterday was not a day for slow food. The sun was shining and I wanted to take advantage of that fully, and, slowly. I spent my day watching old French men trundle past my kitchen window, in waders, carrying fishing poles, and small leather fish purses. This procession of khaki attire marked the opening of the fishing season.

I followed them to the bridge and watched them cast their lines in the river. Standing, patiently for hours, the scene was reminiscent of the film a River Runs Through, sans the young, fresh-faced Brad Pitt. In the stunning film, fly fishing is not officially a religion, but it is a serious spiritual path for certain men. I stood on the bridge near the old mill, and watched the eight French men standing quietly in different parts of the shallow river, waiting patiently for trout. The trout weren’t rising, but the men appeared happy enough, pointing their crinkled noses up, and squiting towards the bright mid-morning sunshine.  

Returning home I got to thinking about baking a quick snack. My friend across the river, the Comptesse, who I wrote about here, makes blondies. Like her salad dressing, the blondies are much praised, and also like her salad dressing, the recipe remains a guarded secret. But I had a hunch blondies could be a one bowl event, such is the Comptesse’s preference for simple foods. She prefers to spend her days outside answering the call of her extensive garden, and stores mail in her oven.

I found this at Simply Recipes. I used this as a base, but made a few tweaks. These sweet treats are incredibly quick and simple to make, and the result is sweet and chewy. As I assumed, all of the ingredients can be mixed into one large bowl with the help of a whisk and a spatula. There’s absolutely nothing fancy (or particularly healthy) about them. They are quick to mix, take 20 minutes to bake, and taste delicious. I added dried cranberries and white chocolate, which provide a contrasting sweetness and tartness to the blondie, not to mention jewel-like bright fuscia inclusions – I do love colourful food. You could also experiment with any combination of nuts, dried fruit, or chocolate.

Recipe

1 and 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1/2 cup of melted butter, melted

1 cup of dark brown sugar

1/2 cup of chopped white chocolate

2/3 cup dried cranberries

1 egg

1 vanilla pod

 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

Step One: Preheat the oven to 180C. Lightly butter the pan. I used individual tins, but you could use a medium size tin. 

Step Two: Whisk together the melted butter and sugar in a large bowl. Then add the egg and the contents of the vanilla pod. Continue whisking.

Step Three: Add the sifted flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, mix it all together. Add the cranberries and chopped white chocolate.

Step Four: Pour into the pan, or muffin tin. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool before serving.

And here's a couple of pictures of the trout fisherman and the river yesterday. Enjoy!

Quick and Healthy – Sautéed Rainbow Chard with Sumac

I’m trying to make the most of my January resolution to eat a little healthier. In addition to my staples, of steamed broccoli and kale, I’ve been taking the time to browse the market for new contenders. 

This week I came across mountains of brightly coloured rainbow chard. With its fabulous leaves of burnt yellow, fluorescent orange, deep green, and burgundy, I snapped it up. Surely it will make me healthier. Gosh I felt energised just looking at it.

In an effort to keep my taste buds interested in my resolution, I’ve spending some time perusing blogs focused on simple healthy foods, such as Scandie Foodie (also known as seriously healthy - no dairy, no sugar), for inspiration. My feeling is that Scandi Foodie would probably insert my bunch of rainbow chard directly into her juicer. Although I love vegetable juices, and am totally sold on their health benefits, I really don’t enjoy cleaning the juicer. I actually avoid it at all costs. The resulting odour leads to a certain level of domestic discontent, so the juicer tends to live a quiet life in the cupboard.  

The next healthiest way to eat chard is probably raw. And while I’m keen to increase the proportion of raw foods in my diet this January, it’ freezing here. So a hot lunch was in order. As such I decided to sauté the chard with smoked garlic, shallots and sumac. At the last minute I added some chilli pickle for an extra kick – both because chilli is said to speed up one’s metabolism, and because I love the flavour.

This dish is incredibly simple to make. The whole process from fridge to plate took less than ten minutes. It makes a tasty midweek lunch, and would also make an impressive colourful side dish.      

I hope you like it! Here’s the recipe.

 Recipe

Olive oil

2 loves Smoked garlic (minced)

2 Shallots (chopped)

Sumac (2 tea spoons)

Bunch of chopped rainbow chard

Chilli Pickle (to taste – I used 2 tea spoons)

 

Step 1: Chop the chard. Keep the stalks and the leaves separate. 

Step 2: In a pan, heat a glug of oil, the minced garlic and the finely chopped shallots. Once these are fragrant add the chard stalks.

Step 3: Once the stalks are tender, add the sumac and then the chard leaves. Add the chilli pickle and sauté for two minutes.   

Step 4: Et voila! Enjoy

Any other suggestions on ways to prepare chard? There’s plenty available at the moment and it seems to be almost always organic.