Kale's just a leafy green, people. The insanity confuses me.

Have you joined the Kale craze yet? It's freaking everywhere. That's not to say I'm not on board...I am, mostly. The hubby likes it, it's super healthy, it's not romaine...but it's a little bitter and thick and a little rabbity. 

But basically, I'm willing to play with it. I tend to just buy the pre-cut/washed bags, cause I'm lazy (what?) but if you do, make sure and pick out the pieces with the giant stems still attached. Cause they're what we refer to as nasty. 

Anyway, here's an easy one to try if you're curious and/or already on the Kale Train. Homemade Shake and Bake chicken with a roasted tomato and garlic kale salad. Try it. Let me know if you're on board.

And if you have kale recipes YOU like, let me know. Normally we do a golden raisin, pinenut, cheese with garlic lemon dressing concoction. So I'm open for new ideas!

Walnut Panko Chicken with Tomato and Kale Salad

12 oz chicken breasts (3 4oz pieces or equivalent) 

1 cup milk

1 tbsp vinegar

1 tbsp Dijon mustard 

1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts 

1/4 cup panko, toasted

2 tbsp Parmesan 

1 tsp fresh chopped rosemary (or 1/2 tsp dried)

1/4 tsp fresh ground white pepper

1/4 tsp salt

A couple cups fresh kale, trimmed and cut in pieces (just buy a bag) 

Olive oil

A cup quartered cherry tomatoes

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 

Balsamic vinegar 

Preheat oven to 425. 

Mix milk, vinegar and mustard in Tupperware or large bag. Add chicken, and let sit in fridge for 5 minutes-2 hours.

Mix remaining chicken ingredients (walnuts through salt) in shallow bowl. 

Place kale in a salad bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Use your hand to toss well, till everything is well coated. Set aside. (This tenderizes it a bit. Not a necessary step, but a good one) 

Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Make a separate foil "bowl" about 6" square. Fold up the sides so the contents don't leak. In it, place the tomatoes and garlic. Sprinkle well with olive oil and a good dash of balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. 

Place bowl on one side of cookie sheet. 

Remove chicken from milk bath, let excess drip off, then roll in panko mixture till well coated on all sides. Place on other side of cookie sheet, then bake everything for 20 minutes (or until chicken is cooked through).

Let sit 5 minutes. Add tomatoes to kale and toss. Serve with a bit of Parmesan on top. 

Don't try and trick me with your bubbles, cider...you're still not champagne.

Even though I allow myself to have some alcohol these days, I really don't want it. I'd say realistically, I've had maybe one glass of wine every week or two on average. Even during the holidays. Though I did discover that sparkling cider is far tastier with a splash of champagne on top.

That said, I have had a lot of excess sparkling cider around, and this was a great way to use some of it up. The chicken was good, but the rice was amazing.

Plus it gave me an excuse to use some of the many, many, many pecans we have gathering in the backyard right now. Too bad shelling the little suckers takes so long...otherwise we'd have some mad pie going on right now.

Cider Glazed Chicken with Browned Butter Pecan Risotto
1 tsp light butter
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup cider
2 cups chicken broth (plus additional)
2 tbsp light butter
1/4 cup chopped pecans

1 tsp light butter
4 chicken breast fillets, pounded thin
Salt and pepper
Chicken broth
1/2 cup apple cider (sparkling or regular)
1 tsp dijon mustard

For the chicken:
Sprinkle breasts with salt and pepper. Heat the butter in a saute pan over medium high. Brown chicken about 3 minutes, flip, brown another 3 minutes, then reduce heat to medium and cook until done, 2 or more minutes depending on thickness, adding a splash of chicken broth if chicken starts to stick.

Remove chicken. Add cider and mustard, combining well, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer for a few minutes until thickened. Add chicken back to pan and cover until ready to serve. Pour cider sauce over chicken to serve.

For risotto:
Melt 1 tsp butter in large saute pan, and add rice. Saute over medium about 2 minutes. Add a half cup of cider, and let cook down, stirring often. When liquid is absorbed, repeat with remaining 2 cups of broth, half cup at a time. When broth is gone, taste the rice—if it's still a bit hard, repeat with another half cup of broth.

Melt 2 tbsp butter in a small pan. Let cook down until it just begins to brown, a minute or two. Add pecans, and toss well. Let cook another minute or two, then stir pecan mixture into rice.

Plain chicken broth is boring.

Being sick is crap. I'm achy and uncomfortable, hot and cold, and increasingly annoyed that our one bathroom is up a set of the steepest stairs pretty much ever made. At least I'm a ton better today than yesterday, when the best part of my day was getting to eat soup in bed. I just feel terrible that the hubby seems to have caught it, too.

Good news? All either of us want to do is lounge, so we've each claimed a couch and seem to have settled in for the long haul. It's a big football day-fantasy playoffs-and we're stoked to see how much we(he) wins. But since I have the attention span of a hamster when it comes to football, I've also got a new book (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) to entertain me. You gotta love zombie slayers in petticoats.

Bad news? Being sick makes me want pho. And my place is closed on Sundays, even if I had any intention of changing out of slippers and walking the 30 feet to my car.

I actually finally tried to make it myself a couple days ago...and it wasn't a terrible first attempt, but it makes me crave the real thing even more. I'm not going to put the recipe, since I've got quite a bit of perfecting to do when it comes to the broth. I'm just kicking myself now that I didn't save any of the enormous amount I made.

I used chicken broth as the base rather than make my own stock, and I didn't have the right ratio of spices (which were anise, cloves, cinnamon, onion and ginger, which I was somehow totally out of), so it was a bit bizarre. But all our garnishes were impressive, so it was edible. So I'll keep trying. It gives me something to strive for, I guess...I won't lie, I was really hoping to nail it(pout).

But luckily for my ego, I also made some candied nuts to take to my parents' house, since I offered to do a fancy salad for Xmas dinner. And those, I nailed. (I think my dad's exact words were "If you ever just want to bring a vat of that stuff over...") And it was yummy. I think I make mine a bit differently than a lot of people, but the way I do it lets the nuts get toasty. Just make sure not to let it overcook and burn.


Candied Nuts
About 3 cups nuts (I like a combo of almonds and walnuts)
About 1.5 cups sugar
dash vanilla
dash allspice
good shake cinnamon
pinch salt
1/2 cup craisins

In medium saucepan, combine nuts and sugar over medium heat. Add vanilla, cinnamon, all spice, and salt. Stir constantly until sugar has melted and evenly coated the nuts (It takes a good 10-15 minutes, so have something good on tv to entertain yourself). Add craisins, and mix well. Turn off heat and immediately spread onto wax paper. Let cool, and break into small pieces. It keeps well in a big Ziploc.