Kale with Spicy Peanut Dressing

Trying to eat vegetables that are local and seasonal can force you into uncharted territory. Growing up I wasn't aware that kale was good for anything other than as a garnish. When I was pregnant with Aitan I met Christina at M Cafe de Chaya for lunch one day. It was on this day that kale entered my life as a food to be eaten and craved. So, I was thinking about it and wondered if someone had tried to knock off the recipe for the Kale in Spicy Peanut Sauce so I did a little search online. Even better, someone had attended a cooking class at M Cafe and posted the recipe on their blog. Score. I hope you like it as much as I do.




Kale with Spicy Peanut Dressing
• 1 large bunch kale
• ¼ cup peanuts, chopped for garnish
• ¼ red onion, halved and sliced for garnish

Spicy Peanut Dressing
• ½ cup peanut butter
• 1 ½ T just like honey (I'm not vegan so I just used honey)
• 2 T low sodium soy sauce
• 2 T brown rice vinegar (already had regular rice vinegar so I used that instead)
• ½ tsp. garlic, minced
• ½ tsp. ginger, minced
• ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1 ½ oz hot water

Directions:
Remove the kale from the stems.

Add a pinch of Salt to a pot of boiling water, then blanch the Kale for 3 min. Remove the Kale from the boiling water and shock it in a container of ice water. Finally, squeeze the excess water out of the cooled Kale.
To make Spicy Peanut Dressing: Place all dressing ingredients into a blender. Blend until mixture turns into a smooth consistency.

Drizzle the dressing on top of the Kale and mix the kale and dressing together until kale is evenly coated. Garnish with sliced red onions and chopped peanuts. (As you can see I tossed in the onions and peanuts. One bunch of kale, although it was good size, seems a little too small as there was an excess of dressing. Next time I will do 1.5-2 bunches.)