the purple carrot: August 2011

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

"Cheesy" Kale Chips

Glad you all liked the sounds of our warm tomato and sweet pepper pasta last night. We loved it!

And now I’m going to bring you another recipe. It’s really one of our favorites and when it’s made, it’s never in the house longer than two days. Ever. Because we eat it. Right away.

Kale Chips!!

Yes, they look just like leaves you could go pick up outside, and, yes, when you eat them, they sound just as if you’re eating a crunchy leaf you found outside. But do not knock them until you try them!

A lot of people ask me how to prepare kale since it has such a distinctive flavor, can very really chewy, and many don’t like it plain. Well … here is my answer!

“Cheesy” Kale Chips

Ingredients:

2 large bunches of kale
1 cup cashews
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
Juice of 1 lemon
sea salt, to taste
1/2 cup water

Instructions:

Wash and de-stem kale bunches, then chop or tear into large “chips”. Place in large bowl.
Blend together all other ingredients until smooth.
Pour “cheese” into your bowl of chopped kale and massage thoroughly.
Place massaged kale onto dehydrator sheets and dehydrate* on 118 degrees for around 12 hours. (If you live in Missouri where it’s extremely humid like I do, that 12 hours will be more like 24-48!)
Take out, and enjoy!

*Note: If you don’t have a dehydrator, your oven will work perfectly fine! Just put it on a low temperature and keep watching until they’re really crunchy. It, of course, will take a significantly shorter amount of time.

Seriously addictive, and such a delicious and easy way to get in a whole lot of dark, leafy greens!

Things to Come

Okay, you guys. Today was a bit of a monumental day in The Purple Carrot household.
If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, this is old news to you Winking smile

If not, it involves Erik, much trial and error, extreme measures, and perfect New York style pizza crust:

Let’s just say we’re going to be eating some pretty good pizza from now on. #Ilovemyhusband.

See you later!

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Warm tomato & sweet pepper pasta

We just got done eating dinner and let me tell you, it was delicious!

Incorporating fresh summer tomatoes and bell peppers with the comfort of warm pasta, it’s the perfect dish for this transitional time of year when we’re a little sad to see summer go, but looking forward to the coolness of fall.

Another Erik original recipe, here’s how it’s done:

Warm Tomato & Sweet Pepper Pasta

Ingredients:

1 box whole wheat pasta of choice
1 large onion, diced
2 cups cherry tomatoes, chopped
1 large white tomato, chopped in large chunks (or regular tomato)
1 large bell pepper, chopped (we used 3 small different peppers to add color)
4 cloves garlic
oil of choice, to caramelize veggies in
1/2 cup tomato sauce
water, as needed
sea salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

Instructions:

Heat oil at medium-high heat. Add onions, peppers and garlic. Let caramelize, and add water when needed. Turn heat down to medium-low.
Start pasta water. Once it’s boiling, add half of the large chunks of white tomato to the onion mixture, as well as the salt and pepper. Then add enough water to start creating a sauce.
After about 5 minutes, add tomato sauce.
In last 4 minutes of the pasta cooking, add remaining tomatoes and turn the heat to high.
Once pasta is done, turn sauce off, mix together and enjoy!

And look at all these fun colors!

^{Such a delicious bowl full of warm vegetable goodness. I’m thankful for flavorful, fresh summer tomatoes and a husband who loves to cook!!}

What your favorite dinner so far this week?

Monday, August 29, 2011

Food Now 2011: Dinner

Back with some more foodNow!

Missed Part I? Food Now: Pre dinner

Moving right along to dinner!! First off, the tables were decorated so beautifully and elegant. I loved the white chairs and tablecloths up next to the awesome cobblestone and bridge overhead. It’s not every day you get to eat outside under a beautiful bridge, you know!

A sample of some of the table centerpieces that I loved:

Each table seated 8 and as you can see below, there were a lot of tables. I wasn’t there last year to compare, but it seemed to me there was a really good turnout!

Participating farmers in this wonderful event were:

(I included the list of local chefs and restaurants in foodNow Part I)

During dinner there was a live auction to further support the local beneficiaries.

Dinner Menu

Erik and I requested the vegan version of the night’s three course dinner and it was delicious!

First Course:

“Roasted beets and pickled carrots with petite greens”

Second course:

I don’t have the full description for this dish, but it was really good as well. It tasted like some type of zucchini very thinly sliced mixed with dark sautéed leafy greens, seasonings and more. I’m not sure what else was in the mixture!

And dessert was:

“Vegan chocolate tart made with creamy organic chocolate ganache infused with organic bronze fennel on a gluten free pecan crust” Yum!

We had a great time meeting and talking with all the wonderful people who we were sitting next to!

FoodNow was such a wonderful event! We already can’t wait to go again next year! For more pictures, visit my Facebook page and look under the Food Now album.
It was definitely a place “where the art of real food grows” Winking smile

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Food Now: Pre dinner

Chalk it up for yet another amazing food event in Kansas City!

Food Now

On Saturday evening, Erik and I attended the 2nd Annual foodNow. Held in the West Bottoms under the 12th Street Bridge, Food Now is an all-volunteer gala that focuses on raising awareness and funding for local, healthier eating in Greater Kansas City.

Uhm, yeah, that’s more than right up our alley!

From about 6:30 to 8 there was cocktails and a silent auction. We had a nice time walking around checking everything out:

At one point as we were walking around, I had stopped to take a picture and all of a sudden Erik and I hear “there’s The Purple Carrot!” We turned around, and it turns out Loretta (from Prairie Garden Farm) had recognized us, or should I say Erik’s bald head, ha, from the blog. It was funny! And once again, great to meet you, Loretta and friends!

Along with tables full of silent auction items, there were booths from foodNow’s beneficiaries that include:

Recognize the “Get Growing” on the below black chalkboard from anything else? {Hint, hint: you should!} From Farm Aid, of course! At Farm Aid the chalkboard asked “How do you get your grown on?” and at foodNow it was asking “How do you eat with the locals?” Love it!