Will Run For Pesto Kale Chips

pesto kale chips

My love affair with kale isn't exactly a secret.  Neither is my love for pesto.      

Something that I don't love is wind.  Have you ever been mad at the wind?  Seems reasonable to me.  So mad that you want to stand on the side of the road, throw off your helmet, flail your arms, and stomp around (kind of like a 4 year old, don't want to leave grandma's atomic meltdown)?  I do have some self-restraint so this meltdown happened in my head (that & I needed to get home) but it was by far the worst bike ride I've ever been on.

To make things even better when I got home farmer says to me, "so you're not doing anything else? That's it."  She's a jerk.  I got over myself (barely) with the help of some kale.

Pesto Kale Chips

(serves 1 kale lover)

1 bunch of kale 

 1 T basil pesto

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Rinse kale & cut off the majority of the kale stems.  In a medium bowl combine kale & pesto.  Massage pesto into kale.  Place kale in a single layer on a baking stone.  Bake for 20 minutes turning after 10 minutes.  Watch the kale carefully during the last 5 minutes of baking.  Nobody likes burnt kale.

Will Swim For Fresh Basil Pesto (and why lakes are scary)

blender full of pesto

One of my favourite quotes from Bill Cosby is "Decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it". 

I want to not drown during the swim leg of my first half-ironman. So, twice a week I put on my superhero wetsuit and swim across one of our many lakes. 

Lake swimming is scary when you convince yourself that your own arm is a muskey (5-36 pound fish) waiting to gobble you up. 

It's scary when you convince yourself that weeds are actually water snakes waiting to wrap themselves around your legs.

It's scary when you convince yourself that the duck swimming past you is actually an otter waiting to bite you and drag you to the bottom of the lake.

Lastly (and most ridiculous of all), lake swimming is scary when you convince yourself that your red headed swimming partner is Arial and the green moray eels from the Little Mermaid are in the water with you.

Needless to say my swimming workouts are never boring.  Despite all of the self-created swimming drama I would much rather complete a swimming workout than a running workout as of late.  

Zero kilometers and 8 kilometers are almost the same thing.  Right?

After all that I was lucky enough to come home after my swim workout to farmer plucking basil leaves off of their stems.

Basil Pesto

(1 1/2- 2 C)

5 C of basil leaves

1 C grated parmesan cheese

1 C olive oil

2/3 C sunflower seeds

6 cloves local garlic minced

Combine all ingredients in your blender and pulse until combined.  You might need to stop mid way through to scrape down the sides of your blender.  If you are not planning on serving the pesto immediately drizzle olive oil over the top to retain the bright green colour.

You can freeze pesto by placing it in silicone muffin cups or ice cube trays, drizzling with olive oil and then transferring it to small plastic bags once frozen. 

pesto ready for the freezer

Will Run For Pesto Portobello Pizzas

If you are a mushroom lover this is the recipe for you!  However, it wouldn't be a lie to say that the mushroom is a great carrier for pesto, sundried tomatoes, red onions, black olives and all of my other favourite toppings.  

Pesto Portobello Pizza

Portobello mushrooms

scraping the gills with a grapefruit spoon

more room for toppings

brush both sides with olive oil/pesto mixture

stuff with your favourite toppings 

bake @ 425 F for 10 minutes

serve with your favourite salad

Pesto Portobello Pizzas

ingredients

4 Portobello mushroom caps, stems removed & gills scraped

1/2 C + 1 Tbsp pesto (store bought or your favourite homemade recipe)

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 C Daiya mozzarella style shreds (or your favourite dairy/non-dairy mozzarella cheese)

1/4 C black olives

8 sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped (** soaked in just boiled water for approximately 5 minutes and then drained) 

1/4 spinach, finely chopped

2 Tbsp red onions (I used green)

* feel free to substitute your favourite pizza toppings.

**  If you happen to live in the company of someone who is in  the habit of drinking unfamiliar liquids that resemble tea (note to self do not drink unfamiliar liquids even if they are lying around your apartment/house) you may not want to leave the leftover water lying around or that person might just get an tomato surprise!**.

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Using a grapefruit spoon scrape the gills out of the portobello mushrooms.  

Combine 1 Tbsp of pesto & 1 Tbsp of olive oil and brush all sides of the mushrooms.

Place 2 Tbsp of pesto in the scraped out portion of each mushroom.  Top with your favourite toppings ( mozzarella style shreds, black olives, spinach, red onions and sun-dried tomatoes).

Place mushrooms on a baking stone and bake until mozzarella style shreds are melted and mushrooms are cooked.  This should take approximately 10 minutes.

Enjoy with your favourite salad!