Sometimes you come across a sauce or dressing that you can use on anything and it tastes great! This dressing is one of those recipes. I use this on salads, coleslaw, noodle bowls, hot and cold veggies, fish, and chicken. Its the right combination of sweet and savory. I hope you like it!

​P.S. I wondered how long miso can keep in the refrigerator. According to Mark Bittman...months or years! Here is a link to his article on miso: https://bittman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/12/the-miso-primer/

 
1.  Combine the ginger, garlic, miso paste, honey, curry powder, rice vinegar, and water in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.
 
2.  With the food processor running, slowly add the oil.  Serve immediately or refrigerate until needed.

I don't know about you, but I had to learn how to like kale. The texture is tough, the flavor is bitter, and until it was promoted as "the BEST, HEALTHIEST, vegetable EVER!" I rarely encountered it beyond a garnish on a plate and in the seafood case at my local grocery store. Like many of you, I climbed on board the kale band wagon and started working it into my recipe rotation. 
A few years ago I discovered Trader Joe's Spinach & Kale Bites. They sounded delicious so I took the idea and created my own version of their recipe. They are so versitile. I use a small cookie scoop to create meatball sized bites and a larger scoop to make larger "patties" that I recently used as "buns" for an edible flower sandwich I recently featured at a cooking demonstration. They are easy to make and can be cooked and frozen with great results. Give these a try!

​Makes 24 1 ounce portions

1 small onion, diced, about ½ cup
2 Tbs olive oil
4 cups (packed) fresh baby spinach
2 cups (packed) with fresh kale, spine removed
2 eggs
1/3 cup cream cheese
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
dash of cayenne pepper
½ cup fresh flat leafed parsley leaves
½ cup fresh basil leaves
½ tsp Kosher salt
¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
4 tsp unsalted butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and brush a baking pan lightly with olive oil. 
   
   
2. In a medium sauté pan place the olive oil and diced onion and cook over low heat until soft and translucent, about 5-8 minutes. 

 

1. Using a food processor, combine the eggs and cream cheese and blend until smooth.  Add the spinach, kale and herbs and process until smooth.  Add the bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, and seasoning to the kale mixture and mix again. 

 

1. Using a 1 ounce cookie scoop, portion the mixture onto a baking pan.  Flatten each slightly and brush with melted butter.  Bake until firm, about 10 minutes.   Serve hot or at room temperature.  Refrigerate or freeze for later use.

 
Ways to serve:  Serve as a side dish, hors d’oeurves, or with sauce as a vegetarian alternative to meatballs.  Use a larger scoop to make larger patties to use in place of bread for a sandwich.

I recently presented my program "Feasting from Our Local Farms" at the Amherst MA library. What a lovely town and a very friendly group of library patrons! I prepared my recipe "Ginger Marinated Kale". Recipe is a favorite of mine, there is something about the Ginger Marinated Kale recipe that has me craving it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Try the recipe and let me know if you too become addicted to it.
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Don't be afraid that this recipe makes too much.  You will love this recipe so much that you will be eating it morning, noon, and night!  The beauty of marinating your kale is that it will taste better as time passes.  Keep your kale salad refrigerated for up to 5 days!  Each day add something different to your salad...sliced peaches, diced tofu, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, cold shrimp, cold chicken...anything you like!

Makes 12 servings
​
8 Cups of de-veined and chopped Kale 
¼ cup red onion, diced
1 glove of garlic
½-inch piece of ginger root
1/3 cup olive oil 
1 -2 tbsp Braggs Liquid Aminos
1/2 cup of water
¼ cup lemon juice
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
Pinch or two of cayenne 

1.  Place the chopped kale and red onion in a large bowl.
2.  Using a blender, combine the remaining ingredients to create a marinade.  Toss the kale with the marinade.  You can eat your dressed kale immediately, but this is best when refrigerated for 4-5 hours before eating.  
This salad can be stored in the refrigerator and eaten for up to 5 days.