Kale with Roasted Tomatoes and Peppers

My family gets this box of delicious local produce delivered to our doorstop every other week.  While you can check to see what comes in the box, its kind of fun to let it be a surprise and try out what ever arrives.  The produce usually comes with a few delectable recipes that feature that week's selection in the ingredients.

I obviously love Kale and roasting it with balsamic vinegar makes it doubly fantastic.  Its true that roasting during the summer can be a pain, but this is worth the extra sweat.

Serves 2

1/2 cup padron peppers
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 head kale, washed, stems removed and cut in 1 inch slices cross wise
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon pepper, divided
1 teaspoon Balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 425.  Remove stems and seed from the peppers.  Place peppers, cherry tomatoes, and kale in 3 individual bowls.  Toss each with 1/3 of the oil, salt, and pepper.

Place peppers on a rimmed baking sheet and cook for 5 minutes.  Add tomatoes and roast another 10 minutes.  Add kale last and roast until just wilted, about 2-4 minutes.

Remove from oven toss together with Balsamic vinegar and serve.

Money Penny Pasta

Things are just starting to get busy so I don't know how much I'll be cooking and blogging during the semester.  This pasta is my quick go to meal - especially using frozen veggies so I don't have to do much chopping :)

Serves 4
2 heaping tablespoons of pesto sauce
8 oz. or 1/2 a box Mini Penne Pasta
1/2 onion chopped
1/2 cup julienned sun dried tomatoes with oil
1 package frozen spinach defrosted and drained
1 cup frozen peas
Salt and pepper to taste

Prepare pasta in salted boiled water and set aside.  Cook onion over medium high heat using oil from sun dried tomatoes to sauté.   When onions are translucent add frozen spinach, frozen peas and sun dried tomatoes, sprinkling with salt and pepper.  Stir in pesto and pasta heating just long enough to help the pesto combine into dish easily.

Spicy Veggie Wrap

I was watching a travel show on food network a while ago and saw a chef make a "frankie roll."  Apparently this is a super popular street food in India.  Now I have pretty much no experience with Indian food aside from eating it, so I sort of stumbled around the internet looking for recipes.  I then stumbled through a variety of grocery stores (safeway, trader joes, etc.) and attempted to find the spices the recipes called for.

Any who I got lucky at Whole Foods and proceeded to attempt a simple veggie roll.  Next time I try making Indian food I'm going to try and watch some videos first.

2 medium potatoes peeled, chopped into bite size pieces, and boiled
1 yellow bell pepper
1 large onion chopped (I used a red onion for color)
1 carrot chopped
1/2 a cup of frozen peas
1 small can chopped green chiles
2 cloves garlic smashed
1/2 a teaspoon of red chili powder
1/2 a teaspoon ground corriander
1/2 a teaspoon mustard seeds
2 teaspoons Chaat Masala
Salt to taste
1 Tablespoon canola oil

Prepare the veggies and set aside.  In a pan heat oil.  Add mustard seeds, onions,  and green chiles - cook until onion is translucent.  Add all other vegetables, garlic, and spices cooking until tender. Salt to taste.  Set aside.

Wrap veggies in whole grain tortillas or for authenticity use a Roti.  Serve with chutney :)