Cooking Club Season 1, Episode 1

Some ladies and I have decided to get together roughly once a month, each of us bringing a different course, sharing the recipes, learning some new things. Among the group are people who eat meat, don't eat meat, don't do dairy -- lots of diets to take into account. I'm not sure how they all will pan out, but Episode 1 was all vegan and vegetarian, which works for me!

I tackled the vegan entree of Pumpkin Baked Ziti with Cashew Ricotta and Sage Crumb Topping, straight from the Veganomicon cookbook. Other deliciousness was squash/ginger/shallot soup, homemade bread, cheesecake, sweet potato hummus and the first recipe I'll share:

Kale with Peanut Dressing, with instructions by A.A.

1 head of kale
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
A few dashes hot sauce or sriracha, depending on how spicy you like it
water
Ginger, fresh or powder (optional)
Garlic, fresh or powder (optional)
Agave or honey (optional)
Sesame seeds to garnish (optional)
Red onions to garnish (optional)

I put on a pot of boiling water, and while I wait for it to boil I
make my peanut sauce. You may already have a peanut sauce recipe you
love, so feel free to run with that. Mine is a mix of peanut butter,
soy sauce, rice vinegar, hot sauce, and water. I don't really measure,
so the measurements above are really general. I usually heat a blob of
peanut butter in the microwave for 20 seconds. Then pour a little soy
sauce and stir. Then add the rice vinegar and hot sauce, stir again,
taste, adjust, then add a little water to thin it all out. (Sometimes
I'll add those optional ingredients above, but when I'm doing it
quickly, I leave them out.)

Now your water's boiling. Remove all the leaves from the kale stems
and then blanch the leaves in the boiling water for about 1.5-2
minutes, until soft.

Next, put it in an ice bath or run it quickly
under cold water to stop it from cooking further, and to keep it
green. Now you want to get the water out of it so it will soak up the
dressing. You can squeeze it with your hands (this will bunch it up,
but you can separate it again) or dab it with a clean kitchen towel.
Then mix it with the peanut dressing you've made. You can eat it right
away, but I actually like to refrigerate mine a little first.

The kale cooks down a lot, so a whole head of kale really makes about
2 portions.


This was delicious! AA confessed she put a ton of sriracha in it, but that's just fine with me. So good! I can't wait to try this on things other than kale too, as I've been on the hunt for the perfect peanut sauce.