Food Love: Kale & White Bean Ragout w/ Polenta

Second day of my cleanse and I'm blogging about food. What am I doing? Hmmm...I guess I might need a little eye candy to get me through it, but it has not been that bad. I have a new love for Cashew Milk with cinnamon. Yummy! Anyway, I wanted to share a tasty dish I made last week from my Cooking to Conceive cookbook. Another recipe with kale in it.  Yes, we love the kale in our home. This time we had it over a little Parmesan Polenta and I added some chicken italian sausage. Comfort food to the max! 

Oh! The beans I used were organic and in a box instead of a can by Fig Food Co. Only 10mg of sodium! Loving it and a new staple in The Archie household. Pay a little more, but so worth it. Check them out here, buy them at Whole Foods.

The Recipe...

Parmesan Polenta
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) salt
1 cup (240 ml) stone-ground cornmeal (polenta)*
1/3 cup (80 ml) grated Parmesan cheese
Freshly ground pepper

Ragout
1 bunch (8 to 12 ounces or 227 to 336 grams) dinosaur kale*
2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 can (28 ounces or 800 grams) whole peeled tomatoes*
2 cans (14.5 ounces or 425 grams each) cannellini beans (white kidney beans), not drained*
3/4 to 1 cup (178 to 240 ml) chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) smoked paprika
2 teaspoons (10 ml) fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons (45 ml) chopped pitted kalamata olives
Pepper

1. To make the polenta: Bring 4 1/2 cups (1.1 liters) water and the salt to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Whisk in the polenta, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until polenta is thick and no longer grainy, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese; add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and keep warm.

2. To make the ragout: Tear the kale leaves from the stems and tough center ribs. Rinse the leaves well and cut into 1/4-inch (6mm) ribbons (discard the ribs and stems).

3. heat the oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is softened but not browned, about 5 minutes. add the tomatoes, including the juices, using a fork to break up the tomatoes into small chunks. add the beans, including their liquid, 3/4 cup (178 ml) broth, and the kale, cumin, and paprika. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, until the kale is tender, about 15 minutes, adding more broth if the ragout begins to look dry. stir in the lemon juice and olives. add pepper to taste. spoon the polenta onto plates and top with ragout.

Live Well, Eat Well!

And I'm off and running... 
 J. P. Archie

Food Love: Healthy Comfort Food...

More great Fall recipes for you this week! We are on a roll over here with the soups.  Lentils last week, this week...Turkey, Kale, and Brown Rice soup from the loving kitchen of Giada de Laurentiis. It is oh-so-yummy! This is what you call healthy comfort food. You have to try this. Very easy to make and makes leftovers for a couple of lunches. Here's what I did...

Colorful veggies make this soup beautiful
I added two cloves of garlic.

Kale is all the rage right now...it does the body good!

Herbes de Provence...smells divine.

Sauteed veggies

Add the white meat ground turkey.  Very lean!

Just added the kale.  Love the bright green vibrance!
I added a couple pinches of red pepper flakes for some kick.

Getting the italian parsley all ready to sprinkle.

Ready to enjoy!
Topped off with a little parmesan and italian parsley.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 5 to 6 large shallots, chopped
• 3 medium carrots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 1 1/3 cups)
• 1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 8 ounces ground white turkey meat, broken into small chunks
• 1 tablespoon herbes de Provence
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth, plus more as needed
• One 15-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice, drained
• 1 cup cooked brown rice
• 1 small bunch kale, coarsely chopped (about 4 packed cups)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, optional

Directions

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the shallots, carrots and bell pepper and saute, stirring frequently, until the vegetables begin to brown and soften slightly, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the ground turkey and stir until the meat turns white and begins to color very slightly around the edges, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the herbes de Provence and stir, 1 minute. Add 4 cups broth, tomatoes and rice. Bring to a boil. Stir in the kale and season with 3/4 teaspoon salt and the freshly ground black pepper. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Season with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Ladle the soup into bowls. Sprinkle each serving with parsley and Parmesan, if using, and serve.

Healthy and Yummy!

And I'm off and running... 
 J. P. Archie