Easy Balsamic Kale Side

This was super easy and a great side dish!  Our dinner was chicken piccatta (Dinner Done - I made it at the shop, but I cannot take credit for the recipe), so I did a google search for something that would compliment it.  This was my modification, using some on hand jarred ingredients and of course, my Pampered Chef microwave steamer!

Ingredients:

Bag of Kale (TJs, of course)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil 

Balsamic Vinegar

Salt

Pepper

Put all that Kale in the steamer and drizzle with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Then toss in some minced garlic (I use the Safeway variety that comes in a big plastic jar.) Stick it in the steamer and nuke it for 4 minutes.  Add another 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinigar, season with salt and pepper, and it's ready to serve!  

Our other side was sweet potato, prepared the way our neighbor Andy has gotten us hooked on.  Stick on a pan in the oven at 350 for 45 minutes, then fire it up to 425 for another 25 minutes or so.  Perfect every time.   

I'd love to say I ate this healthfully all day long.  I did pretty well before I left home -- an egg scrambled with some Laughing Cow cheese and a piece of whole wheat toast -- but sadly the end of year school stress got to me and my 8 hours at school diet consisted of a red velvet cupcake, two burritos from Taco Bell (I had forgotten my lunch in the fridge), a diet Pepsi,  and four cups of coffee to stay awake.  With cream.  

Asian Kale Salad

Yup, I'm on a Kale Role.  It supposedly is one of the healthiest things you can eat for bone density issues.  Tonight we were having a Thai dish (one I made at Dinner Done) and I used what I had on hand.

1 bag of Kale from TJs
A handful of shredded carrots (again, TJs... precut)
A couple of slices of red onion, chopped up.
1 heaping tablespoon of smooth peanut butter.
1 tablespoon of jarred chopped ginger
1 lime, juiced
Balsamic Vinegar (I just dumped in a little swish -- do this to taste, I guess.)
Soy sauce (same as above -- to taste)

I used my handy dandy Pampered Chef microwave steamer, dumped in the bag of Kale, and steamed for 3 minutes.  Then I put in the peanut butter, ginger, lime juice, vinegar, and soy sauce and microwaved for one more minute.  Then I stirred it up, and threw in the ginger and onion.  Pretty good!  Here's a photo:

On another note, I ate entirely unhealthy last week, also didn't drink much water at all, and am feeling the effects now.  Bloating, weight gain, low energy, low mood... .bad, bad me.  Time to get back on track.