Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Creamed Kale (and creamed spinach!)

I while back, I was contacted by the publicist for Joy Bauer, who has written several healthy-eating sort of books and is the nutritionist for the Today Show. She asked if I wanted to review some books and maybe host a book give-away on my site.

Well, hmmmm... It all sounded so ... diet-like. I said that I don't use any diet foods or artificial sweeteners or any of that sort of thing. But they assured me that Joy is into local fresh foods and they'd be interested in my take on her recipes.

Okay, I can do that.

Two books arrived. One was Food Cures. At first I thought it was going to be some sort of hocus-pocus book that would claim to cure whatever ailed me. Instead, it was more about what nutrients are in which foods and what those nutrients are good for. So if you've arthritis or dull hair or whatever, there are foods that are better for you than others. That makes sense. Eat the right food to give your body what it needs.

The second book was Slim & Scrumptious which is a cookbook. I browsed through it a couple times, looking for a recipe that I wanted to try, but ... sigh ... the book uses a lot of low-fat products. I'm not morally opposed to low-fat products, particularly if the fat is removed in a non-weird way. Like milk. That's normal. Low-fat natural cheeses are fine, too.

Some of it, I don't care for. Like the products that use thickeners and stabilizers. Again, I'm not morally opposed to that stuff. Most of it is pretty normal, like adding gelatin to make the products thicker. It's just not something that I like, compared to the original versions. And frankly, some of that stuff is ... weird.

I realize that a lot of people like low-fat products, so I just didn't want to make a recipe from the book and substitute full-fat products for low-fat and call it a day. I wanted to stick to the theme and make something diet friendly.

It's not like I'm a fat addict or anything. When I think it's necessary for a recipe, I use full-fat products. On the other hand, I've been known to substitute my home made full-fat Greek-style yogurt for sour cream. It's got less fat than regular sour cream and none of the weird thickeners that I avoid. Sure, it's fatty for yogurt, but it's light compared to sour cream.

So I browsed through the book looking for a recipe I could modify for my style of cooking, but without upping the calorie count by a huge amount. I settled on the creamed spinach recipe that called for low-fat cream cheese.

The rest of the ingredients were pretty typical - garlic, red pepper flakes, onion ... not a lot left to be modified.

But then I figured that switching the main ingredient would do the trick. Spinach cooks down to nothing. But if I used kale ... well, it cooks down quite a bit, but it doesn't disappear the way spinach does. Leave the full-fat cream cheese in the recipe, but the number of servings would increase because the kale wouldn't shrink nearly as much. Problem solved.

The resulting dish didn't seem very creamy compared to creamed spinach that I've had in steakhouses. I thought the flavor was good, and the creamy flavor was actually discernible. To be honest, if I wasn't following this recipe, I probably would have skipped the cream all together and added some lemon juice or a flavorful vinegar and eliminated the fat issue entirely. But that wouldn't be a good adaption of the recipe, would it?

If I made it again and wanted it creamy AND lower calorie, I think I'd use my home made yogurt to add a lot of creaminess. To keep it from breaking down, I'd add it after taking it off the heat. I ran the numbers on it (using some estimates for the probable calories in my home made yogurt) and I figure I could add up to 1 cup of my homemade yogurt - which would be a lot - and end up with fewer calories per serving than the original recipe. I imagine I'd use a lot less yogurt, though, which would be even better.

To be clear, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the original concept - just that I don't buy low-fat products. If you use them, you'll probably love this book. And even if you don't use them, you could make these recipes with a few alterations.

Creamed Spinach (Original Version)
Adapted from Slim & Scrumptious by Joy Bauer

1 large shallot, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 10-ounce bags fresh spinach, large stems removed, leaves roughly chopped
3 ounces (6 tablespoons) low-fat cream cheese
1/4 tablespoon kosher salt

Liberally coat a large saute pan with oil spray and preheat it over medium heat.

Add the shallot and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.

Add as much of the spinach as will fit. Using tongs, turn the spinach over in the pan, adding more spinach as it wilts and makes space until it's all in the pan. Continue cooking until the spinach has wilted but still has some texture, 3-5 minutes.

Move the spinach to make space for the cream cheese. With the back of a spoon, mash the cream cheese to make it melt. As the cheese melts, stir it into the spinach until the cheese is completely melted and incorporated into the spinach.

Season with the salt and continue cooking for another 3-4 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Creamed Kale
Based on Slim & Scrumptious by Joy Bauer

1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 of a medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 bunches kale, ribs removed, torn into pieces, and washed
3 ounces cream cheese

Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan on medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring as needed, until the onion begins to soften. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, and salt, and continue cooking until the garlic is fragrant and the onions are soft.

Add the kale, along with any water still clinging to the leaves. Cook, turning the kale over with tongs, until the kale has wilted. Cover the pan and reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the kale is tender, about 10 minutes. If you need extra water to keep it from burning, add it as needed.

Uncover the pan and cook until most of the liquid is gone. Move the kale over in the pan, add the cream cheese, and mash it down to help it melt.  Stir to coat the kale with the cheese. Serve hot.
Yum

17 comments:

ltravers said...

Since I have diabetes, I do have to deal with the issue of lowering fat content in creative ways. I actually preder the idea of adding a flavorful vinegar to either kale or spinach. I can be reached at Serious Eats Water Cooler!

cooterhollow said...

Oh, up in these parts, kale and spinach are about the only things that grow reliably well, and survives early snow, July hailstorms, and whatever else we throw at it.

Hence, I really need to know how to do more than steaming it. Because I love it steamed, but STILL!

Jenny N said...

oh, I always love a good new cookbook :)

Jenny N said...

I am also a follower!

Brooke said...

I haven't jumped on the Kale bandwagon yet, but I am always trying to feel my family healthy meals so this cookbook would be well used!

Brooke said...

I follow you on Google Friend.

brookekittle@hotmail.com

christellar said...

Love this donna! Like creamed spinach, but seasonal for now! I am getting some dinosaur kale again tomorrow and I can't wait to CREAM it :)

Anonymous said...

never had kale... but it's so IN now that I should try it. Must search the name in Spanish to find the right vegetable in our produce aisle, if not available, will include in my TO COOK list of things I make when I visit my sister in FL... I am with you, i DO NOT substitute for non-fat products. They're all filled with chemical junk that in the end is worse than the fat.

Sara said...

I love kale! My favorite way is in a soup with sausage, yum! :)

Anonymous said...

This seem like a great cookbook to help me keep my weight under control.

Cindy B.
cindyskitchen@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

I tweeted a link to this contest.
http://twitter.com/#!/ Cinbat03

Cindy B.
cindyskitchen@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

I'm a new follower on Twitter and Facebook.

Cindy B.
cindyskitchen@yahoo.com

Hanaâ said...

What a great giveaway. I love kale and spinach. My fav kale dish is called stamppot boerenkool. It's basically kale mixed with mashed potatoes and gravy on top andsliced hardboiled eggs.

Hanaa said...

I already followyou on twitter: HanaasKitchen

looloolooweez said...

I follow your via Google Reader.

I'm interested in this cookbook mostly for my library's sake. I'm sure to copy at least 1 or 2 recipes to try -- I'm addicted to cookbooks, frankly -- but most of the cookbooks I've collected over the years have gone to the library. That way, I figure, more people get access to the recipes they need, AND the library doesn't have to worry about budgeting for it!

Can I also just say that I REALLY appreciate your honest reviews? You offer these giveaways but you don't pretend to be 100 percent satisfied with the product, and that's really refreshing. An honest review sometimes makes me MORE interested in the product even if it isn't the most flattering. So, thanks!

Alicia - Bakeaholic said...

Oh I LOVE Kale! I just discovered it this year, and have been making kale chips ever since!! I follow you on twitter already =)

SCTiger said...

Thanks for the Giveaway opportunity! Down south we love our greens and kale is one of them! I always look for recipes that make cooking healthier.

sandichildressatgmaildotcom

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