Good Good Food

I had so much fun today that it really saddens me to say that this will be my last post... until someone else posts something. Come on, people, it's turning into the Me Show again and, while I sometimes love being the center of attention, this isn't the venue. I know it's the summer and we're all a little further away from our computers (as it should be) but, really, I don't even have a barbecue! So it you've grilled something interesting, hell, if you've made a good cucumber sandwich, post it! 'Nuff said.

So I spent the afternoon in the kitchen at Young United Church/Crossways with a large group of strange women (I don't mean it like that and you know it) and one strange man (and I totally mean it like that (just kidding Tom)). This was part of a workshop with the Good Food Club. I became a member through the Veggie Van Market where I sell my jam on Thursdays. I'm not going to go into all of the details about their mission statement (seriously, check out the website. They're awesome.) but they're looking to heal the world through food and that's something that I can get behind (since that's pretty much what I believe too).

This started out as a workshop about using the fresh vegetables that are coming out of the garden right now. What it turned into was a free-for-all dinner where we all pitched in on each others dishes and we all had a turn at sticking our hands in dishwater. While we were all standing around at the beginning watching Kalynn start the sponge for bread, I dug around and put together some stuffed mushroom caps that we could munch on while we watched. It was good but I'd rather work on it a little more before I post about that one.

We had fresh whole wheat buns; a vegan lasagna made with lentils, tofu and spinach; baked nachos with fresh yellow tomato salsa; chocolate zucchini cake; and, mine, Kale in Peanut Sauce. I'd never tried the recipe before (Kalynn emailed me the basics just this morning) but Holy Smokes it was seriously tasty.

Greens in Peanut Sauce because this would work with collard or chard as well)
1 medium onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T oil
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 pound (~2 big heads) curly kale, prepped and chopped (go to 2:10 in the video to see the coolest thing about prepping kale)
1/2-3/4 c water (broth would be nice too for steaming)
2 Tbsp chunky peanut butter
1 tsp hot water

Saute the onion and garlic in oil in LARGE saucepan over medium-high until they're soft. Add the tomato and cook for 2 minutes until soft. Add the kale in one big bunch and then the water. Steam it maybe 8-10 minutes until soft but not mushy. Stir it around frequently so the leaves on the bottom don't overcook. It turns the richest deep green and the leaves are so sturdy that they keep some of the ruffley look. GORGEOUS!

Mix the peanut butter and hot water together and add to the greens for the final minutes of cooking. It's not a creamy sauce that coats the kale though, it's more a light coat of peanut. Seriously tasty.