Kale has a reputation as a fad food or as a bitter garnish in some restaurants, but I love the stuff. Prepared properly I don’t get the bitter taste usually associated with it (and I always taste the bitter). Not prepared properly it can be awful, but given the right preparation, accompaniments and dressing and it is a winner.

I found a recipe for Purple potato and kale salad (Forks Over Knives cookbook – recipe changed slightly) that looked interesting and fairly light. As much as I loved the food in Chicago, I wanted something lighter and less dense. Lower calories is a side benefit as I am fairly certain I ate more in one meal in Chicago than I do in an entire day normally. So I hit the grocery store, found my ingredients and started. I used:

1 bunch kale, chopped
1 cup halved grape tomatoes
5 purple potatoes
1/2 cup tahini
1/2 lime
1/2 bunch cilantro
2 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt to taste
Oil for the pan

Wash the potatoes, slice in half (or quarter for larger potatoes) and place in a pot, cover with cold water, add a pinch of salt and put over medium heat. Once boiling, cook about 15 minutes until done.

As the potatoes cook clean and chop the kale and tomatoes.

Combine the tahini, cilantro, garlic, cayenne pepper and a pinch of salt to a food processor. Squeeze the juice of the lime into the mix (leave a little for the kale) and blend until combined.

In a large pan heat a little oil (I used sesame since I was making a tahini sauce). Add the kale and tomatoes and cook, tossing frequently, until the kale is wilted. Squeeze the remaining lime juice over the kale and tomatoes, add a pinch of salt (if desired) and toss. Add the potatoes and mix together.

For plating, I just divided this among two plates and topped with the tahini mixture.

The results? Not as good as the magical kale salad according to Bob, but I really liked this. There is a ton of flavor in this dish and it is pretty healthy. This was another ‘I don’t miss the meat’ dishes. I think this one is going into the weeknight rotation for then the school year starts again. If I chop everything the night before, I can have this done in twenty minutes. Now to figure out if I can make my own tahini. … I feel an experiment coming!