Hope you all had a great St. Patrick’s Day! I made it outside for a few hours and judging by what I witnessed downtown, most of you were having a good time. While I didn’t enjoy any corned beef this year (still meatfree for Lent!), we did enjoy some green food – including a kale dish like this one.

As B has started eating more slow carbs, one of my challenges has been to find new and not boring bean/veggie/meat (or other protein) combos. B would be perfectly happy eating the same meals day in and day out. Me? Maybe for lunch, but half of the fun in eating is the cooking! And half the fun in cooking is trying new recipes. So, last week for dinner, we were debating on the bean/veggie/meat combo when I suggested cooking up some Kale with Peppers and Onions for our veggie. Not a kale fan, B was skeptical. As I was putting it together, B even made the comment that he expected the ratio of peppers and onions to kale to be a little higher than he was expecting (meaning – “You’re using too much kale!”). Plus, when I had made the Kale with Lentils and Sweet Potato recipe a few weeks ago, he wasn’t sure he liked the texture of the kale, but this was due mostly to the fact that I may have forgotten to remove the stem from many of the kale leaves. Whoops! I was determined to leave a better impression this time, so I included one of B’s favorite ingredients – Cholula sauce!

As we sat down to eat our meals, I ate in silence. I didn’t want to ask … but I was dying to know what B was thinking. After a few bites it was clear. It was a hit. “We should have this again,” B told me. YES!

 Spicy Kale with Peppers and Onions 

Here’s what you need:

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 medium yellow pepper, sliced 
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped (if you like garlic a lot, feel free to make it 3)
• 1 bunch of kale, stems removed, chopped / torn into small pieces (about 4 cups) 
• 1 – 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
• 1 – 2 teaspoons Cholula sauce (depending on your taste for heat, use more or less) or your other favorite hot sauce
• 1/3 cup vegetable broth

Here’s what you do:

1. Heat the oil in a medium sized pot on medium heat.
2. Dice the onion, yellow pepper and 2 cloves of garlic.  Add to pan and let soften.
3. Tear kale from stem and chop or tear into bite size pieces. Remember to remove the stem! (This reminder is courtesy of B)
4. Once onion and pepper are translucent, add the kale and vegetable broth. Feel free to add more garlic at this time too 🙂
5. Add hot sauce and hot pepper flakes. Turn heat to medium-low, put lid on pot, and let simmer for about 10 minutes.
6. After about 10 minutes, remove lid and turn heat down. Add more hot sauce if you like and cook until the liquid is absorbed  
7. Enjoy!

I served mine with baked tofu and some black beans for a complete  Four-Hour Body friendly recipe.

Saute the pepper, onion and garlic

Chop/tear up the kale. Don’t forget to remove stem!

Add chopped kale to translucent pepper and onion. Add hot sauce, hot pepper flakes, vegetable broth and more garlic if you want.

All done! Check out how much the kale cooks down.

Enjoy! Here’s how I served mine:

Some questions to ponder:

• Have you tried any slow carb diets or the Four-Hour Body? What’s your favorite meal combo?
• Are there certain meals you have over and over again and never get tired of them?
• What’s your favorite way to cook/eat kale?