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  • Black bean kale quesadillas

    Black bean kale quesadillas

    Black bean & kale quesadillas | seefoodplay.com

    Happy Friday, y’all!

    This recipe was meant to be “Black bean quesadillas” but then I thought… what if I had something other than beans & cheese for dinner, you know, to healthify this recipe a little bit? Then I looked over to the two uneaten bags of kale sitting in my fridge and I realized that I should stop avoiding them and see if I could sneak them into this recipe. The only reason I even bought them is because they were on sale, and I thought I should finally give Kale a try.

    See, I have had a bit of a hang up with Le Kale, until only very recently. I know it’s supposed to be a super food, and be super good for you, but something about just how fashionable it became turned me off. When I was living in Paris, Kale was pretty much the coolest thing ever! Parisians were obsessed with le Kale, and were putting it in everything. Everything! People are even out here walking around in t-shirts with “Kale” printed on them! So naturally given all the hype, I thought this was another food fad that would come and go. You see, I’m a spinach lover, and I’ve resisted this food trend for a while thinking that Kale and Spinach offer essentially the same benefits and nutrients (which is more or less true). Then, I tasted a kale Mac ‘n cheese recipe. And everything changed. The stuff’s delicious, y’all!

    For a pretty good breakdown on the Kale vs Spinach debate, check out what Huffington Post has to say about it:http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/07/02/kale-vs-spinach_n_3534191.html

    So here’s how I transformed my classic black bean quesadillas to a nutrient-packed (and trendy 😉) vegetarian meal, perfect for getting dinner on the table in under 20 minutes and still keeping it totally healthy. You guys — these black bean kale quesadillas are legit!! Easy, filling and healthy – make these now…! 🙂

    Black bean & kale quesadillas | seefoodplay.comBlack bean & kale quesadillas | seefoodplay.comBlack bean & kale quesadillas | seefoodplay.com

    In other blogging news, I’m super excited to announce that I’ve started building a Yummly recipe catalog (which you can check out here) and have also become a Yummly publisher! It’s super convenient to have all of my recipes in one place, and I can also look up other amazing recipes from other sources — win win!

    All you need to do is browse the picture index on my Yummy publisher page, and when you see a recipe you like just click it and yummly will bring you back to the recipe here on seefoodplay.com.

    If you want to add one of my recipes then just click the “Yum” button to share 😉

    Ingredients

    • 2 teaspoons of olive oil
    • 1 cup of Kale, sautéed in olive oil & a dash of garlic powder until tender
    • 1 can of black beans
    • 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
    • 4 flour tortillas
    • 1 cup of homemade salsa (or jarred salsa if you are in a hurry!)
    • Cilantro for garnish

    Instructions:

    1. Mix together your kale, beans, salsa and cheese in a small bowl and set aside.
    2. Add some olive oil to a large frying pan and heat on medium for about 30 seconds.
    3. Place your tortilla in the pan, then add a few ablespoons of the bean mixture to half of the tortilla, then fold over the other half to create a half-moon shape.
    4. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side or until nice and golden.
    5. Repeat steps with the remaining tortillas and bean mixture.
    6. Serve with a few cherry tomatoes and some fresh chopped cilantro.

     

  • Oven-roasted asparagus with garlic

    Oven-roasted asparagus with garlic

    Oven-roasted asparagus | seefoodplay.com

    Hello, my name is Veronica, and I’m addicted to asparagus. Seriously, we eat the stuff several times a week and just can’t get enough of it! It used to be my “weekly splurge” when we lived in Paris because it was oh so expensive there, but I buy it like it’s going out of style now that we live in London and I can get enough for two at around £2!  Google tells me that it’s often thought of as a “luxury vegetable” – I didn’t even know such a thing exists…! I totally understand why, though, because whenever I make them I feel like I’m feasting on some precious food treasure that I don’t want anyone too many people to know about, lest there be an international shortage of these delightfully green weird-looking things. Asparagus is one of those foods that can be really amazing, or horribly offensively disgusting. Can you tell that I feel strongly about this vegetable?

    Lots of people do know about asparagus and how amazing it is, though, and everyone has their own way of preparing it. I’m just going to put this out there: there’s a right way and a wrong way. I try not to be too “my way or the highway” when it comes to cooking, but some things are just oh so wrong.** Boiling is the wrong way, and grilling/roasting is the right way.

    My husband Jonathan wasn’t really a big veggie fan when we first started dating and this was a serious cause for concern for me: about 99% of my favorite recipes have either tomatoes or mushrooms in them (this is only a slight exaggeration) and these are two things that he used to despise. 

    Most of my veggies are prepared in the oven, though (or grilled) and this made all the difference! Whenever I ask which veggies he wants for dinner these days, his answer is almost always: broccoli, asparagus or corn! Yes, miracles do happen. He tolerates mushrooms now but still won’t go near a tomato (except for when I got him to eat green tomatoes once, after convincing him they were cucumbers. I know..terrible wife, but it worked and he liked them!).

    Anway, on to the good stuff: how to make perfect asparagus the right way.

     Oven-roasted asparagus | seefoodplay.com

    Ingredients: 

    • 150 grams of Asparagus
    • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
    • 1/2 teaspoon of fresh ground pepper
    • 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
    • 1 tablespoon of Good Olive Oil*

    Instructions:

    1. Bring a pot of water to boil, and preheat your oven to the maximum temperature or broil feature.
    2. While waiting for the water to boil, use a vegetable peeler or sharp paring knife to peel about 1 inch of the bottoms of your asparagus.
    3. Once the water is boiling, throw in your asparagus for 15 seconds. Yes, 15. Not 30 and certainly not longer. The blanching process will essentially only cook the very outer layer, and will leave the inside nice and crispy.
    4. Strain your asparagus well, and transfer to a baking dish large enough so that the asparagus stalks aren’t touching.
    5. Sprinkle them with salt, pepper and garlic powder and drizzle on the olive oil.
    6. Roast for 10 minutes, then serve immediately.

    They will come out crispy on the tips and softer but not mushy on the stalks. Otherwise known as perfect oven-roasted asparagus with garlic. Enjoy 🙂

    *you can taste the quality of your olive oil in this recipe, so now’s the time if there ever was one to use your good stuff.

    **Funny story… as I was writing this post, I thought “hmm I wonder if there are actually people out there saying that one should in fact boil asparagus? And if so, who are these crazies?” The number one recipe that came up massively surprised me, and even caused me a moment of self-doubt. Have I been getting it wrong all this time?? Nahhh – I stand by my belief that asparagus should never be anything-but parboiled. Can you guess where the first recipe for boiled asparagus is from, though? Google it for yourself and see if you’re as surprised as I was… 😉