Kale and Walnut Pesto or Dip

Kale is such an amazing food. I’ve recently been eating lots more of it, after my friend Ruth told me about ‘massaging’ it with olive oil. If you haven’t tried this, do give it a go! Here is a link to an article about it from the Huffington Post. Kale is so fabulous – containing vitamins A, C and K as well as minerals like copper, potassium, iron, manganese and phosphorus. A cup of fresh kale has only about 40 calories but packs almost three grams of protein.
So I thought I’d try making a pesto or dip with raw kale, as another way to enjoy this super-green. Enjoy stirred through warm pasta, or spread onto some lovely wholemeal bread.

Kale and Walnut Pesto or Dip
Makes one medium pot

2 handfuls of chopped kale
4 tbsp walnut pieces
1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
1/4 tsp sea salt
Pinch black pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
12 cherry tomatoes or 6 medium tomatoes, chopped

Place all ingredients together in a high-speed blender, like a Nutribullet and blend until smooth or a consistency you like is reached. Taste and add more seasoning if you need. If the pesto/dip is too thick, add more oil, or a splash of plant milk if you prefer. Enjoy!

Smoked Sweet Potato & Tofu Burgers, with Kale, Walnut & Pepper Salad

Smoked Sweet Potato and Tofu Burgers

It was a three ingredient challenge. I wanted to make something different for lunch and write a new blog recipe, so I decided to ask followers of Lots Of Nice Things on Facebook if they wanted to name three ingredients for me to work with.

The first suggestion was for sweet potato, tofu and kale, which are actually three of my favourite ingredients.

Sweet potatoes are glorious. Not only are they packed with goodness nutritionally (a great source of vitamins A and C), they taste wonderful and are quick and easy to cook. They soften quickly; I roasted one medium sweet potato for around 45 mins, to form the basis of these burgers.

Tofu is also a superfood, especially for veggies. It’s a great source of protein and calcium and incredibly versatile. I crumbled it into the sweet potato in this recipe.

And kale, another gold star ingredient, is packed with vitamins K, A and C and calcium. Teamed with a few walnut halves for my salad, packed with omega 3s, this was a very health-boosting lunch.

The smoky flavour comes from the addition of smoked paprika, another current favourite in our house.

Smoked Sweet Potato & Tofu Burgers, with Kale, Walnut & Pepper Salad and Tahini Dressing
Serves 2 (makes 4 small burgers)
Preparation/cooking time 1 hour

Burgers
1 medium sweet potato
125g/4 oz firm tofu, drained
3 spring onions, chopped
¼ tsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
3 tbsp rice flour (or other flour)
1 tbsp sunflower or veg oil for frying

Salad
4 handfuls chopped kale
8 walnut halves, chopped
¼ yellow pepper, chopped
¼ red pepper, chopped

Dressing (double the quantities if you want to be generous)
1 tsp light tahini
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp light oil (I used spare sun-dried tomato oil)
1 tsp cider vinegar
Salt & pepper

1. Roast the potato on 200C for about 45 mins, until it is soft and a knife slides in easily. Cut it open and scoop out the inside into a mixing bowl.
2. Crumble in the tofu with the potato, then mash together.
3. Stir in all remaining ingredients. The burger mix should be moist, but firm enough to be able to shape four burgers from.
4. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, then cook the burgers for 4-5 minutes on each side. Turn them with a fish-slice. Both sides should go a golden-brown colour.
5. Meanwhile, mix the kale, walnuts and peppers together in a salad bowl.
6. Make the dressing by mixing all the ingredients together in a small bowl.
7. Serve the burgers with some bread or buns, on a plate with the salad. Either pour over the tahini dressing, or serve it in a bowl to help yourself.