Spicy Kale & White Bean Soup / CSA Week 2

It’s Christmas again! Err, Week 2 of my CSA with Gruber Farm I mean. Same thing, right?

Included in the box from Week 2:

• strawberries
• kale
• turnips
• snow peas
• lettuce
• a GIANT head of cabbage the size of my head
• sweet onions

Just like last week, as soon I picked up the box, I immediately washed and ate most of the strawberries. I can’t help myself.

I don’t know what happened to our “Summer” weather, so I had no problem using the massive amount of kale to make another soup.

Spicy White Bean & Kale Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 pound kale, stems and veins removed and leaves washed
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 2  (14.5 oz.) cans white northern beans, drained and rinsed
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 2 cups water
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
• grated Parmesan cheese, for topping

Preparation:

1. Cut the kale into small strips, about 1/2 inch thick. In a medium saucepan, heat 1olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, and cook until softened, or about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for an additional minute.
2. Add the beans, stock, water, and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Stir in kale, salt, and both peppers. Reduce heat to low, partially cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until kale is tender and dark green.
3. Serve immediately and top with freshly grated parmesan, if desired.

Nutritional perks of kale! According to The World's Healthiest Foods, kale is an excellent source of Vitamins K, A, and C, and manganese. It is a very good source of fiber, copper, calcium, vitamin B6, and potassium. It is a good source of iron, magnesium, Vitamins B1, B2, B3, protein, and many others. Check out the full profile here.

For just a few ingredients and very little seasoning, this soup has a lot of flavor. It’s not too spicy – just a bit of kick! Kale makes me feel like the healthiest person on the block. It’s just so….green.

You should also check out these kale chips I made last year.

When I walked into work on Wednesday morning, I found that my coworker Dane had brought me 3 different cupcakes: Vanilla, Lemon Blueberry, and Red Velvet. What a sweet guy! After dinner, I had no problem devouring some (most?) of the Red Velvet.

HUNGRY MEETS HEALTHY MEETS  SUGAR. REPEAT.

I must also note that I completed my “20 Pure Barre Classes in April” that night. More on that later ;)

What’s your favorite kale recipe? Next week, I’ll have a kale salad for you. It contains many of the ingredients found in a mojito! No, not the liquor. Sorry guys.

When you have a clean, healthy dinner, are you more apt to indulge in dessert?

Weekend Update Part II: A Tourist In My Own City

In case you missed it, you can catch up on Weekend Update Part I! Please don’t miss out on my awesome dance moves in that video…

Sunday: Sunday morning, my friend Melissa and I went over to Sandpiper Nursing Home to volunteer. Volunteering twice in one weekend? YES! So fulfilling. Every Sunday, Melissa and 2 of her family members visit the home to do Sunday School with the residents. We listened to her grandmother speak, sang songs, and chatted with some of the residents. They were so cute, and I had to laugh because half of them were either asleep or falling asleep!

A bit later, Rachel and I took advantage of the sunny weather for a bridge run/walk. It was in the low 50s but beautiful out. We walked the majority of the bridge and down the pier at Mt. Pleasant Memorial Waterfront Park for a total of 4.62 miles.

Unfortunately my knee started acting up on the incline of the bridge. I must have done something nasty to it during my 10-miler last week. I told Boding about the pain, and he came right over to the rescue! With him he brought “something to heal the pain, something to dull the pain, and something to forget about the pain.” In other words, he brought over glucosamine pills, wine, and a movie. He truly is my brother from a Chinese mother.

Monday: Rachel and I decided it was imperative that we take advantage of our day off and be tourists in our own city. To start off our day, we walked from her apartment to Gaulart & Maliclet French Café, otherwise known as Fast & French. This quaint little restaurant on Broad Street is one of my new favorites. Its menu has everything from breakfast, brunch, lunch, snacks, dinner, wine, coffee and more!

I had the Croq’ Baguette: ham, Dijon, Swiss & mozzarella. There was so much cheese on this warm, crusty bread. I really wish I had ordered the tomato vegetable soup to dip it in. It was perfect. Even better, my sandwich with tax was around $6. Score.

Rachel’s lunch was just as delicious. She ordered the Sandwich Provencal: black olive tapenade with tomato, basil, and goat cheese on a baguette. If you like olives, you must try this.

We agreed that we have to come back for some wine and cheese…oh, and brunch and dinner too.

Our next stop was Goat. Sheep. Cow. to pick up what we both consider “the best piece of chocolate we’ve ever had in our life.” Remember when I blogged about Sweeteeth Chocolate? Yep, their “Sea is for Caramel” bar is incredible. It was the perfect post-lunch treat.

But dessert didn’t stop there. As we walked from Church Street down East Bay Street, popping in stores here and there, we landed at Charleston Candy Kitchen where snagged a piece of chocolate praline.

We then moseyed down to Market Street Sweets and picked up another praline sample! As if our teeth weren’t already hurting, our final dessert stop was at Godiva where we both got a Crème Brulee truffle. I promise that we both saved this piece for later, as our teeth were at risk of falling out of our heads.

On our walk back Rachel’s, I found my dream house. I’m not in love with the structure, but look at those colors! Hot damn. Purple and lime green are my favorite, but on a house? Yikes.

We covered 4.3 miles and felt like accomplished tourists. My poor knee hates me, but the company and fun was well worth it!

On the way back to my house, I snapped a pretty picture of the sun setting from the Cooper River Bridge.

Oh Charleston, how I love thee.

Trader Joe’s Makes Dreams Come True

I know it isn’t nice to say this, but…

Oh.

My.

God.

My friends, this is a Sugar, Chocolate, & Coffee Bean Grinder.

I had seen this gem on both Laura’s and Katie’s blog and was immediately intrigued. As soon as I left the gym today, I paid my fourth visit (in a week) to trader Joe’s for it. Once home, I got to grindin’ on some Greek yogurt.

The verdict? Sweet. So sweet. As much as I loved it atop the yogurt, I had to taste it on its own. I then got my grind on in my mouth. Yep, I held it over my mouth and gave it a few twists. It’s fine!

In case you’re wondering, here is the ingredient list: brown candy sugar, white candy sugar, chocolate flakes (sugar, cocoa powder, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, glucose syrup [wheat, corn]), coffee beans.

Naturally, I felt inclined to unscrew the top and pour out some of the crystals. I would not suggest doing this as you may begin eating them by the tablespoon rather than the recommended 1/4 tsp.

Yes, I am guilty of doing that. What?!?!

Don’t you dare judge me – you would totally do it too. I’m thinking about topping some frozen yogurt with this!

In physical fitness news, when I walked into the gym this evening, one of the trainers, J.D., asked where I had been. My response? Twilight. I have been neglecting the gym because of this book.  I went on Saturday, ran the bridge with Matt on Monday, and hadn’t gone back to the gym until today. That is very unlike me.

For extra motivation, J.D. and I set up a free consultation and personal training session. I think this is just what I need! Included in the consultation is a body fat analysis – YIKES. Although it is not 100% accurate, we will use the body fat calipers to measure my body fat percentage.

 

Sooooooo this weekend I might want to keep the sugar grinder out of my mouth! Oh, and the booze.

Have you ever used any method to find out your body fat percentage?

What should I use my sugar, chocolate, & coffee been grinder for!? Ideas, please!