Meatless Monday: Kudos for Kale Day

The first National Kale Day was a huge success. On Wednesday, October 2, kale lovers from all over enjoyed three Google Hangouts ON AIR, posted on facebook, tweeted, and shared favorite kale photos on Pinterest. Kale fans in SoHo hung out an actual party at Seasonal Whispers. Bloggers blogged. Adventurous souls tried some new recipes. The National Kale Day founders are already tweeting “Mark your calendar Oct 1 2014!” 

I made good on last week’s promise to try Fall Cheddar Apple Kale Quesadillas, a recipe by Skinny Chef Jennifer Iserloh that was included in the National Kale Day toolkit. I first served them on Kale Day. They were so good that we had them again on Saturday!

All you need to make this tasty dish are four ingredients: apples, kale, tortillas, and cheddar cheese and a large cast iron skillet.

What a small carbon footprint this recipe has! I used: Cortland apples from Bishop’s Orchards; kale from the CitySeed downtown farmers’ market, Cabot Cheddar, and tortillas from Maria and Ricardo’s Tortilla Factory in Canton, Mass.

Here’s the recipe:

Fall Cheddar Apple Kale Quesadilla 

(by Skinny Chef Jennifer Iserloh)

Serves 4. Can easily be halved.

INGREDIENTS

1 head of kale

4 large tortillas (whole grain if you can find them)

2 apples, cored and sliced into thin wedges

4 thick slices of cheddar cheese (or 3 oz. shredded)

DIRECTIONS

• Remove the thick spines from the kale. 
• Wash and tear into small pieces until you have 4 cups, loosely packed.
• Heat a large, dry, cast iron skillet over high heat.
• Add the kale and 1 tablespoon of water. 
• Toss until kale wilts.
• Turn off heat.
• Transfer kale to a plate and dry skillet (carefully) with a paper towel.
• Place skillet over high flame. 
• Add one tortilla and reduce heat to medium.
• Add a quarter of the apple slices and kale, and top with one slice (or a quarter) of the cheese.
• Fold over.
• Cover the pan.
• Reduce the heat to low, and cook about two minutes more, turning once or twice until cheese is melted.
• Repeat the process until you have made four quesadillas.
• Keep the assembled quesadillas warm while you continue cooking.
• Serve immediately.

Simple to make. Simply delicious. And healthy, too! Check out the National Kale Day site to learn why kale can make a difference.

Happy Monday!

Have a great week. Eat well. 

I often blog on food, food issues, or gardening on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”