Curried Kale Cakes + My Plate, My Planet

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Global South curried kale cakes in a sea of blueberries by Eve Fox, the Garden of Eating, copyright 2015

Greetings, Earthlings. Have you heard about My Plate, My Planet? It's a new campaign that aims to get sustainability included in the 2015 dietary guidelines for Americans. Meaning that the environmental impacts of our diets would be taken into consideration for the first time, well, ever! Kind of a huge deal...

You can help by sending a comment to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Agriculture by the May 8th deadline this Friday.

In honor of this worthy effort, I created an Edible Earth made of curried kale cakes floating in a sea of blueberries - two sustainable superfoods in one meal. Kale and blueberries are the kinds of foods that are healthy both for us and also for the planet - providing a lot of nutrition without requiring a lot of resources or taking a heavy toll on the environment. And they also taste great - so there's that.

Defrosting frozen kale from my freezer by Eve Fox, the Garden of Eating, copyright 2015

These kale cakes are rather addictive, if I do say so myself. I used some ragged jack kale (seeds from the Hudson Valley Seed Library) from our garden that I'd blanched and frozen back in September. The plants PRODUCED and although it was kind of exhausting to keep up with them, I've been so grateful that I took the time to blanch and freeze that kale all winter long. And we're coming to the end of the frozen goodies right as we begin putting this year's seedlings in the ground. Perfect timing.

While the kale was defrosting, I grated a small mountain of Parmesan cheese and sauteed a big onion. You can never have too much onion, in my opinion.

Grating Parmesan cheese by Eve Fox, the Garden of Eating, copyright 2015

I beat a couple of pasture-raised eggs (more on what pasture-raised is and why it's so much better) and mixed them with a bit of yogurt.

Eggs and yogurt for the curried kale fritters batter by Eve Fox, the Garden of Eating, copyright 2015

Then I mixed all that together with a generous dose of breadcrumbs (you can use a gluten-free flour mix, instead, if you prefer), lots of garam masala and a little dried thyme from our garden, a few pinches sea salt, several grinds of black pepper, and mixed.

Then came the frying. I like grapeseed or peanut oil for frying because they've both got a nice, high smoke point and a neutral taste. I like to drain greasy things on a used paper grocery bag - way more absorbent than paper towels and less wasteful. Then I either toss it in the woodstove or put it in the compost.

Curried kale cakes by Eve Fox, the Garden of Eating, copyright 2015

Every bite was savory, moist, crunchy and good. Delicious on their own eaten out of hand or with a little yogurt herb sauce or sour cream.

Add your comment by this Friday, May 8th and I hope you like the kale cakes.

-- print recipe --Curried Kale Cakes
Serves 4

Ingredients

* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
* 3 eggs, beaten
* 1 bunch kale, rinsed, washed, dried, ribs removed and chopped
* 1 large onion, peeled and minced
* 1/2 cup yogurt
* 3/4 cup bread crumbs (or use a gluten-free flour)
* 1-2 Tbsps garam masala or curry powder
* 1 Tbsp sea salt
* 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
* Milk or water to thin the batter, if needed
* Roughly 1 cup grapeseed, peanut or sunflower oil to fry in

Directions

1. Heat a few teaspoons of the oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the onions and saute, stirring often until softened. Add the kale and saute briefly to get some of the moisture out of the kale. Pour the onion-kale mixture in a medium sized mixing bowl and set the skillet aside - you don't need to wash it as you're going to use it to fry the cakes in.

2. Add the breadcrumbs, spices, eggs and yogurt and stir well to combine. If the batter is too stiff, add more yogurt or a little milk or water to thin it a bit.

3. Heat the rest of the oil in the cast iron frying pan until hot but not smoking. Test it by dropping a tiny bit of batter in and if it sizzles nicely, it's ready. Ladle large spoonfuls of the batter in and fry until the edges are browned and the cakes are solid enough to flip over then fry for another 3-4 minutes, depending on the size of the cakes and how hot your oil is.

4. When the cakes are nicely browned on both sides, scoop out and drain on a paper bag (this works better than paper towels and is less wasteful - you can compost the bag when you're done with it) and serve warm with sour cream or an herbed yogurt sauce. Chutney can be a nice accompaniment, too.

You might also like:
For more delicious recipes, gardening ideas, foraging tips, and food-related inspiration "like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter and Pinterest.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a great idea to freeze kale! I do it with spinach all the time, but for some reason kale never crossed my mind.

Anonymous said...

Hi,

My husband asked if I wanted anything from the store yesterday, so I asked him to get me 3 bunches of spinach. He came back with 3 large healthy and forbidding bunches of kale! I had no idea what to do with them until I read your post. Guess Garry is going to have lots of kale cakes in his future. Thanks a lot. Janet

Eve Fox said...

Ha! I have more kale recipes if you want them, too. http://www.thegardenofeating.org/2012/08/14-unbeatable-kale-recipes.html

Took me a while but I have really learned to love the stuff. Hope you and Gary like the cakes!

Unknown said...

How much is "a bunch" of kale?! All the kale recipes I find say "a bunch of kale", which is great if you're buying it by the bunch in a store, but it doesn't help me know how much to pick from the garden! And I really want to try this recipe!

Eve Fox said...

Ha! I just picture what a bunch looks like in the supermarket and try to approximate it from the garden. Don't get hung up on exact amounts - this is very flexible! Give it a try.

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Curried Kale Cakes + My Plate, My Planet

Global South curried kale cakes in a sea of blueberries by Eve Fox, the Garden of Eating, copyright 2015

Greetings, Earthlings. Have you heard about My Plate, My Planet? It's a new campaign that aims to get sustainability included in the 2015 dietary guidelines for Americans. Meaning that the environmental impacts of our diets would be taken into consideration for the first time, well, ever! Kind of a huge deal...

You can help by sending a comment to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Agriculture by the May 8th deadline this Friday.

In honor of this worthy effort, I created an Edible Earth made of curried kale cakes floating in a sea of blueberries - two sustainable superfoods in one meal. Kale and blueberries are the kinds of foods that are healthy both for us and also for the planet - providing a lot of nutrition without requiring a lot of resources or taking a heavy toll on the environment. And they also taste great - so there's that.

Defrosting frozen kale from my freezer by Eve Fox, the Garden of Eating, copyright 2015

These kale cakes are rather addictive, if I do say so myself. I used some ragged jack kale (seeds from the Hudson Valley Seed Library) from our garden that I'd blanched and frozen back in September. The plants PRODUCED and although it was kind of exhausting to keep up with them, I've been so grateful that I took the time to blanch and freeze that kale all winter long. And we're coming to the end of the frozen goodies right as we begin putting this year's seedlings in the ground. Perfect timing.

While the kale was defrosting, I grated a small mountain of Parmesan cheese and sauteed a big onion. You can never have too much onion, in my opinion.

Grating Parmesan cheese by Eve Fox, the Garden of Eating, copyright 2015

I beat a couple of pasture-raised eggs (more on what pasture-raised is and why it's so much better) and mixed them with a bit of yogurt.

Eggs and yogurt for the curried kale fritters batter by Eve Fox, the Garden of Eating, copyright 2015

Then I mixed all that together with a generous dose of breadcrumbs (you can use a gluten-free flour mix, instead, if you prefer), lots of garam masala and a little dried thyme from our garden, a few pinches sea salt, several grinds of black pepper, and mixed.

Then came the frying. I like grapeseed or peanut oil for frying because they've both got a nice, high smoke point and a neutral taste. I like to drain greasy things on a used paper grocery bag - way more absorbent than paper towels and less wasteful. Then I either toss it in the woodstove or put it in the compost.

Curried kale cakes by Eve Fox, the Garden of Eating, copyright 2015

Every bite was savory, moist, crunchy and good. Delicious on their own eaten out of hand or with a little yogurt herb sauce or sour cream.

Add your comment by this Friday, May 8th and I hope you like the kale cakes.

-- print recipe --Curried Kale Cakes
Serves 4

Ingredients

* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
* 3 eggs, beaten
* 1 bunch kale, rinsed, washed, dried, ribs removed and chopped
* 1 large onion, peeled and minced
* 1/2 cup yogurt
* 3/4 cup bread crumbs (or use a gluten-free flour)
* 1-2 Tbsps garam masala or curry powder
* 1 Tbsp sea salt
* 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
* Milk or water to thin the batter, if needed
* Roughly 1 cup grapeseed, peanut or sunflower oil to fry in

Directions

1. Heat a few teaspoons of the oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the onions and saute, stirring often until softened. Add the kale and saute briefly to get some of the moisture out of the kale. Pour the onion-kale mixture in a medium sized mixing bowl and set the skillet aside - you don't need to wash it as you're going to use it to fry the cakes in.

2. Add the breadcrumbs, spices, eggs and yogurt and stir well to combine. If the batter is too stiff, add more yogurt or a little milk or water to thin it a bit.

3. Heat the rest of the oil in the cast iron frying pan until hot but not smoking. Test it by dropping a tiny bit of batter in and if it sizzles nicely, it's ready. Ladle large spoonfuls of the batter in and fry until the edges are browned and the cakes are solid enough to flip over then fry for another 3-4 minutes, depending on the size of the cakes and how hot your oil is.

4. When the cakes are nicely browned on both sides, scoop out and drain on a paper bag (this works better than paper towels and is less wasteful - you can compost the bag when you're done with it) and serve warm with sour cream or an herbed yogurt sauce. Chutney can be a nice accompaniment, too.

You might also like:
For more delicious recipes, gardening ideas, foraging tips, and food-related inspiration "like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter and Pinterest.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a great idea to freeze kale! I do it with spinach all the time, but for some reason kale never crossed my mind.

Anonymous said...

Hi,

My husband asked if I wanted anything from the store yesterday, so I asked him to get me 3 bunches of spinach. He came back with 3 large healthy and forbidding bunches of kale! I had no idea what to do with them until I read your post. Guess Garry is going to have lots of kale cakes in his future. Thanks a lot. Janet

Eve Fox said...

Ha! I have more kale recipes if you want them, too. http://www.thegardenofeating.org/2012/08/14-unbeatable-kale-recipes.html

Took me a while but I have really learned to love the stuff. Hope you and Gary like the cakes!

Unknown said...

How much is "a bunch" of kale?! All the kale recipes I find say "a bunch of kale", which is great if you're buying it by the bunch in a store, but it doesn't help me know how much to pick from the garden! And I really want to try this recipe!

Eve Fox said...

Ha! I just picture what a bunch looks like in the supermarket and try to approximate it from the garden. Don't get hung up on exact amounts - this is very flexible! Give it a try.