Mushroom Calamari and Kale Salad

At the time I made these I was in such a hurry to eat that I didn't take pictures.  I just was not planning on blogging about my food tonight.  But now that I am, I regret not taking a picture!

I wanted to use my kale while it was still very fresh so I made something similar to this Mediterranean Kale Salad:

I sliced dino kale very thin and squeezed and rubbed the kale ribbons as she did in the video (I love her trick about rolling the leaves to chiffonade).  My method:

Green Kale SuperWoman Salad
Serves 1.  Adjust quantities accordingly.

Ingredients:
5-10 dino kale leaves (mine were very small so I used 10)
dash of salt (1/8 tsp or less)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon pine nuts
1 piece sundried tomato, chopped (optional)
1/2 cup baked and cubed buttnernut squash (optional)

Chiffonade enough kale leaves to your preference.  I did very thin slices across the stalk because I don't mind the crunchy part.  Add salt, olive oil, and white wine vinegar.  Massage the kale with your hands, squeezing and rubbing, until the kale becomes soft and juicy, at least 3-5 minutes.  Place in serving bowls, and add pine nuts, sundried tomato pieces, and squash.  Enjoy!

[Since the image is missing, imagine a dark green and shiny leafy salad, the kale cut into delicate strips, accented with bright red and yellow and orange from the toppings]

Comments: Eats light, takes a while to eat since there's a lot to chew, and is filling but only for about an hour.  I will absolutely, definitely make this again because it was so easy, healthy, and delicious.

Second dinner was inspired by my favorite dish at my favorite restaurant.   Well anyway if you read my blog you most likely won't make the Mushroom Sesame Calamari from The Artful Vegan Cookbook as it requires frying.  I do love fried food but don't eat it for obvious reasons.  I will make an occasional exception, however, like tonight.  Since I don't personally own the cookbook I hoped that this blogger gave me the right instructions.

credit

The recipe calls for oyster mushrooms (they have that chewy oyster-y consistency), but I used white royal trumpets since that is what came in my CSA box.  (Have you noticed that my whole world revolves around what comes in my CSA box?)  I also experimented with shitake mushrooms, but they got too slippery and the breading slid right off.  Plus, the flavoring was just not right.  I have a feeling that re-hydrated shitakes or whatever else would have a great consistency but I doubt I'll experiment with that since I have my 2011 fried food fix.

I needed a sauce to go with it and used a smoky hollandaise-like sauce that I made yesterday just because it was ready. 

Does the fact that I munched on three nantes carrots (my favorite!) while I deep fried my calamari make a difference?  How much healthy do I have to eat to get my equilibrium back?

As you may know from this morning's post, this has been a very sleepy house today.  To attest to this, here are a couple of photos that I just took with my phone (and edited just a bit, lol):

Dexter in "his" spot (between our pillows, or on them as it were)

Mitch, dreaming of belly rubs

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!