And My Kitchen Sink

My Favorite Kale Recipe

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 09:17:35 +0000

I’ve only recently come to like kale. Growing up, the only time I ever saw it was as an unappetizing dish (“långkål”) on Swedish Christmas smorgasbords and never even considered eating it.

But thanks (again) to my extremely health conscious friend, R, I’ve given it a second chance. R is often on a raw diet (by choice) and she encouraged me to try it raw in a salad “because it’s so extremely good for you”. I did, and what a difference from that limp, lifeless vegetable from my childhood! It’s sweet, a little spicy, crisp and delicious. And she’s right, it’s incredibly good for you.

What Is Kale?
It’s a type of cabbage from the Brassica oleracea family (which also includes a couple of my other favorites: broccoli and cauliflower) and it is loaded with healthy stuff. It has crazy amounts of Vitamin A, C and K, and lots of fiber, calcium, manganese, magnesium, carotenoids and flavonoids, etc. It is an anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and caner preventive food and it helps detoxify the body and lowers cholesterol.

That’s just too many good things to pass up, so these days, whenever I make a salad, I put half lettuce and half kale in it (I like to use the curly kind) and I also like to just snack on it raw with my spicy chickpea dip.

But my favorite way to eat it is as chips. They are quick and super easy to make and we often make a batch to snack on on weekend afternoons. Note: You’ll get a fair bit of kale stuck between your teeth, so it’s best eaten only with family and close friends!

Kale Chips Recipe

You need:
Kale (preferably organic, or even better, biodynamically grown – it’s on EWG’s list of fruit and veggies with the most pesticides)

Olive oil
Salt

You can use the curly kind for this, but I have found that they tend to cook a bit too unevenly for my taste. The curly parts will be crisp and yummy and the flat parts soft and sometimes even soggy. So I use any flat leaf kind (I used Lacinato for the chips in the photo).

1. Pre heat the oven to 350.

2. Rinse and remove the stems from the kale. Rip the leaves up into smaller pieces (whatever size you want them to be, mine are usually palm sized)

3. Very lightly grease a baking sheet with olive oil (go super light on the oil, the chips will get soggy and gross otherwise)

4. Put the kale on the baking sheet in one layer, no overlapping. Sprinkle with salt (any kind works, I usually use regular table salt, but sometimes Welsh sea salt)

5. Bake for 5-10 minutes. You’ll have to test this since all ovens vary. I have a suspicion that ours does not get as hot as it claims it is, so the ideal time for me is around 9 minutes. If you have an electric oven, check on them after 5 minutes. I have an old gas stove, and electric ovens always cook better and faster than mine.

When crispy but still green, they’re ready. Take them out, put on a plate and enjoy.

Super Easy Chickpeas Recipe

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 15:45:23 +0000

This recipe is based on the Chickpea Salad With Halloumi I wrote about earlier this summer. I was trying to come up with a yummy dip for veggies and thought why not try to do something with the chickpea mix from that recipe, since it’s so good I can eat it as is out of a bowl. I think it turned out great, and my husband loved it too.

This makes roughly 2 cups (I think, we usually end up eating a lot of it right out of the mixing bowl…).

You need:

2 cans of chickpeas
½ cup olive oil
1 chopped or pressed garlic clove
2 tbsp dried cilantro
juice of ½-1 lemon
2 tbsp Cholula hot sauce
1 tsp salt
pepper

Rinse the chickpeas and put them and everything else in a food processor. Run until it looks good to you. If it’s too thick, add more olive oil and/or lemon juice (depending on your preferences).

Serve with cut veggies, I especially like it with carrots, celery, and broccoli. And it’s really good as a spread on sandwiches too. I’ve been putting it on my lunch sandwiches lately – a nice layer of the chickpea spread (on Ezekiel sprouted bread) topped with homemade coleslaw mix (red and green cabbage and carrots). Sounds strange perhaps, but it’s really good, and incredibly good for you.

Hövding – Bike Helmets Like You’ve Never Seen Them Before

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 14:18:34 +0000

Would you wear this?

How about if it looked like this?

When I first saw the top picture, my reaction was – who would rather wear that than a regular bike helmet?! But then I learned more, and I think this is one of the best inventions I’ve seen lately (it’s from Sweden, of course)

I’ll be the first to admit that though I rarely ride a bike (I love biking, but Boston traffic is horrible and I sold my bike after I ended up on the hood of a car on the way to work one day), when I do, I do not wear a helmet. I have terrible Scandinavian hair (baby fine, turns to frizz in a second) and the only time I even consider wearing anything on my head is if I’m heading straight home to wash my hair.

And I’m not the only one who feels this way – many helm-less bicyclists are seriously injured and killed in accidents ever year. In Sweden, a law was passed in 2005, making bike helmets mandatory for children (up to the age of 15) and there have been discussions to extend that law to include adults as well. Bike culture in Sweden is very different from here in the US (at least where I live); in Sweden, biking is not so much a sport as a means of daily transportation. “Everybody” rides their bikes “everywhere” (grocery shopping, to and from work, picking up the kids, going out at night), especially in the larger cities where parking is a pain and you actually can live without a car. So imposing a law forcing people to wear helmets has not been a popular idea and could potentially make people drive instead of riding their bike.

The inventors of Hövding, Anna Haupt and Terese Alstin, were working on their industrial design master’s thesis at the University of Lund in Sweden when the law was first passed, and they felt the same way I do about wearing a bike helmet. But they thought: instead of passing a law, why not make helmets that people would actually wear? After much research they came up with Hövding (Swedish for chieftain). Today, their company employs 14 people, and they just won the Index award at Copenhagen Design Week.

How Does It Work?
You wear it around your neck as a collar. The collar has sensors which detect abnormal movement, and if you’re in an accident, the air bag is inflated around your head. It runs on a rechargeable battery which lasts around 15 hours, and I guess that’s the one downside to Hövding – you have to remember to charge it.

They come in black only, but they have optional outer shells in black and a pretty paisley (I’m sure they’ll be more shells in different colors eventually). I love the idea and will most certainly get one (and a new bike).

Press photos: Hövding

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A New Favorite Online Shop

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 12:28:40 +0000

Just this past weekend, a friend told me about this fabulous on line shop “Terrain” and said I had to check it out, it would be “just my kind of thing”. She was right – I love it! They sell everything from jewelry to furniture, and even vintage stuff. They also have recipes, gardening tips, and interviews with some of the artists whose works they sell.

And they’re not only on the Internet, they have a physical store, cafe and nursery, and I really wish I lived closer (they’re in Glen Mills, PA), because not only is the place adorable and filled with gorgeous stuff, they have lots of fun events I would love to attend, like a container planting workshop, a cheese, honey, and beer festival, a salsa seminar and a release party for Grace Bonney’s book Design*Sponge at Home.

Since I have no plans to move to PA, I guess I’ll stick to shopping online (and visit if I’m ever in the area). Here are some of my current favorites from their website:

Photos: Terrain

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Dala Horse Decor

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 09:54:54 +0000

Is it just me, or are Dala horses everywhere lately? I keep seeing them on everything (and I never even made it to Sweden this summer!), both in their classic painted style, and with fun twists. There was no shortage of them in our home when I was growing up (my Mom was from Dalarna, the part of Sweden where they originated), but I never thought of them as particularly hip or stylish, or something I wanted anywhere near my room as a teenager.

Guess times have changed… I like them a whole lot more than I used to, and am thankful for the collection I have inherited (though I have to find a good space for them – they’re still sitting in a box in the basement).

The tiny horses originated in Dalarna (a province sort of in the middle of Sweden, with one part bordering Norway) hundreds of years ago; nobody knows exactly when, but the first one mentioned in writing is from 1624. They were made from scrap pieces of wood and used as toys. The Dala horse (Dalahäst in Swedish) as we know it – red with kurbits painting (for more on kurbits, see my clogs for women post) – first appeared sometime in the 1800s and became internationally known (famous even) when a 9.8’ high dala horse was placed outside Sweden’s pavilion at the 1939 New York World’s Fair in order to entice visitors to come in.

Photo: Anders Norrsell, Jönsson Bilder AB, Kristianstad

These days, the horses are well-known symbols of Sweden and have become collector’s items (I really like the old versions with the muted colors and sometimes cave-paintingesque shapes).

Here are some of my recent modern favorite finds (must buy the Mia Blanche mugs the next time I’m in Sweden!):

1. Traditional Dala horse in black and silver by Grannas (via Designonline.se)
2. Dala horse rug from Mats Mattor
3. Swedish dish cloth (love those!) by Erika Tubbin
4. Cotton blanket by Bengt Lindberg (via Frapp)
5. Plates by Mia Blanche (photo by Lena Granefelt)
6. Bookmark by Grannas A. Olsson Hemslöjd (via Swedish Design House)
7. Art by Melvin & Jag (via Signerat.se)
8. Vinyl wall art from My First Room
9. Shot glasses “Svennis” by Mia Blanche (photo by Lena Granefelt)
10. Mug “Sven” by Mia Blance (photo by Lena Granefelt)
11. Golden horse on skis (looks like an old Egyptian God figure, don’t you think?) by Leif Hjälte
12. Felt magnet by Grannas A. Olsson Hemslöjd (via Swedish Design House)

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Funny News From Sweden – Lookout Tower Without A View

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:43:26 +0000

I often come across news from home that strike me as so very Swedish (and makes me laugh), and I decided to start a little series here with funny, odd and bizarre news from Sweden. I think this first installment will amuse you as well:

Lookout tower without a view

The local government in Pitea (a town in northern Sweden) decided to build a lookout tower for everybody to enjoy. There is just one problem: the tower is too low, you can’t see anything but the forest from it.

A local government official explained that the reason is that they had a limited budget and couldn’t afford to build it any higher. They are now considering cutting down some trees and “cleaning up” the forest in order to improve the views.

Photo: Gunnar Westergren

I wonder how much it costs to clear the forest… perhaps the money could be spent on adding a level to the tower rather than attacking the trees?

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Chickpea Salad With Halloumi

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:51:18 +0000

I love chickpeas and eat them several times a week. They are not only tasty, they are so good for you: full of fiber, protein, folate, calcium, etc. I’m always trying to come up with new ideas for how to use them, and in this version, they are starring alongside halloumi, that fabulous cheese from Cyprus that you can fry or grill.

If you want to keep it vegan, just omit the halloumi. I’ve actually forgotten to add it a couple of times, and it’s delicious without it too.

This is a really easy but very tasty chickpea salad recipe, perfect for hot summer evenings. For 4 people, you need:

2 cans of chickpeas (I use Eden Organics – no BPA)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large chopped, grated or pressed garlic clove
2 tbsp dried cilantro
juice of ½ lemon
Cholula (as much as you want, I probably use 2 tbsp)
salt
pepper

lettuce (I use one package of prepared baby romaine)
1 pint cherry tomatoes

halloumi

Rinse the chickpeas and put in a bowl. Add olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, cilantro, Cholula, salt and pepper and stir everything together. If you’re not eating right away, put a lid on it and put it in the fridge (you can do this a day or two ahead of time if you want – the chickpeas just get tastier and tastier when they sit in the dressing).

In another bowl, mix the lettuce with cherry tomatoes cut in half.

Heat a cast iron pan and slice the halloumi in thin slices, roughly ¼” wide. When the pan is hot, add the cheese (no fat needed) and fry until the side facing down is nice and brown. Turn the cheese slices and fry the other side. They get nice and crispy on the outside and have a wonderful salty flavor.

Put a mound of lettuce and tomatoes on each plate, add a generous spoonful of the chickpea mix, and top with a few pieces of cheese.

Also see my spicy chickpea dip recipe, based on this one.

Awesome Inspiration To Craft With Paper

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 19:48:58 +0000

I love paper – stationery, wrapping paper, product wraps, boxes, shopping bags, wallpaper – it doesn’t matter what it is as long as it is pretty. I have boxes full of scrap pieces, old cards, inspirational patterns, etc. that I save for “future projects” (I am not a hoarder, I swear!) and a folder full of ideas of what to do with them (which I also keep adding to whenever I find something I just have to try). Hopefully I’ll find the time for them all at some point…

Just the other day, I happened to come across a fabulous new (to me anyway, this was their second issue) magazine from Australia called Paper Runway. It is soooo pretty, and full unbelievably talented paper art, artists and tons of inspiration. I’ve read through it several times already and love everything about it. Take a look:

All photos: Paper Runway

How amazing is that dress? And the paper porcelain? And the dog portrait?

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Vegan Ice Cream Maker Treat

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 12:18:26 +0000

I have certain favorite ice cream flavors which you can easily find in Sweden but that I have not been able to find here, so last summer, I thought I’d take matters into my own hands and make my own ice cream instead. I bought a Cuisinart ice cream maker and started experimenting, and I love it! I did go through my share of mishaps and not so great final results, but once you get the basics down, it is so easy to use.

And, after my recent decision to seriously cut back on dairy (see the Drink Milk post), it comes in even handier. I’ve started making “ice cream” using coconut milk instead of cream, and it is delicious (if I may say so myself). Last night, we had company over, and I made this:

Raspberry Rum Coconut Ice Cream

You get 2 pints out of this recipe, and I store it in “real” containers I bought at a local ice cream shop.

1 12 oz bag frozen raspberries
1 can (14 oz) unsweetened full fat coconut milk
¾ cup sugar (I used organic turbinado)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons rum (I used Meyers spiced)

Puree the raspberries in a blender and strain out as many of the seeds as possible (I still had some left, but people liked it that way, so it worked out). Put the strained raspberries and all the other ingredients in the blender and puree until it’s well blended together (or if you’re lazy like I was here, just stir it together in the bowl). Pour into a bowl (I like to use stainless steel) and put the (covered) bowl in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (do NOT skip this step. I did once and ended up with runny ice cream all over the kitchen floor).

Once it’s chilled, start your ice cream maker machine, pour in the mixture and run for 25 minutes (in my case at least. The time may depend on which ice cream maker you have, I’m not sure).

When the time is up (and it looks creamy and delicious), stop the machine and put the ice cream into containers and freeze for a couple of hours. If you don’t put alcohol in it, you can eat it right away, but with alochol, I find it too runny at this point and like it to firm up a bit. And when you take it out to serve, there is no need to let it thaw, because the alcohol prevents it from freezing up really hard.

I’m happy to say this got rave rewiews last night. Some comments were:

“this tastes like something you would get in a really fancy restaurant”

“you made this?!?”

“it’s nice with the seeds, you can tell it is made with the real thing”

“it’s so fresh, not too sweet”

More ice cream (vegan and not) to follow…

O, IKEA IKEA, Where Art Thou?

Sun, 31 Jul 2011 15:16:03 +0000

The arrival of the new IKEA catalog (love it as usual – I want a kitchen just like this, look at those gorgeous wood countertops, none of that horrific granite) has opened up an old wound for those of us in the Boston area, who have been anxiously awaiting the long promised store in Somerville for what is it, like 15 years now? I hope nobody held their breath, because you won’t be breathing anymore if you did.

As I recently mentioned in a post on HubPages, when I came to Boston in the early 1990s, the closest IKEA store was in Newark, NJ. As a Swede, you tend to rely on having an IKEA handy when living abroad, if for nothing else, a trusted meatball or candy fix, so you can imagine my dismay when I realized I would have to manage without them for a year (I only meant to stay for a year… it turned into 20 and counting…). I was a poor photography student without a car, so driving to NJ was out. The local Swedish women’s group used to organize a yearly bus trip to the NJ store, but they were always mid-week, so I couldn’t go.

Then, when I had been here for a few years, rumors about a store as close to Boston as Somerville started going around. The rumors were confirmed, and they planned to open this fall. Even though that was far in the future when the news first came out, we were all very excited, and since I had moved here permanently and needed furniture, I couldn’t wait. Well, I’m still waiting.

Where is IKEA? What’s going on? A bit of research revealed that after having battled the local environmental groups over one thing after another and finally winning out, IKEA has now decided to put the store on hold for an undetermined period of time (in spite of already having invested a reported $30 million in the project). The current economy is apparently the reason, and who knows when that’s going to change. They were just granted a one-year building permit extension by the city of Somerville, and hopefully that means that they’ll at least get started next year… sigh.

I guess I better put a long shopping list together and make that drive to Stoughton…

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