We’re out of fruit, which meant vegetables for lunch!
It’s rare that I spend more than 20 minutes preparing a meal. I love cooking, but I don’t like spending a lot of time in the kitchen, so my style is more 20 minute meals. But today it was fun to have a couple of projects going at once.
First I got some sweet potato fries going –
Wedged + fried and covered in olive oil, cinnamon, cayenne and salt
Baked on a wire rack for 40 minute at 400*
While they were baking, I decided to cook some kale. And by cook I mean massage it to tenderness.
In my big bowl of kale went a lime, 2 tbsp lemon juice, a quarter cup of lemon hummus, 1 tbsp olive oil and salt sprinkled all around.
As Alton Brown says, clean hands are a cook’s best friend! Massage until tender and the volume has decreased a bit.
As an after thought, I decided to hard boil some eggs for protein!
Yum! Maybe my favorite way to eat eggs? No wait, deviled is #1. This is #2!
A drizzle of maple on the fries
And a kiss for dessert! Karen brought a few of these over : )
I have an afternoon out on this pretty day!
{ 78 comments… read them below or add one }
That lunch looks perfect- simple yet delicious! Can’t get enough of eggs lately !
I love how you snuck that kiss in there! OH and love the Guy knife!
Looks delicious – I only discovered the idea of massaging kale in the past few weeks. It really is the trick to making kale tasty!
Hey Kath, random question: any reason why you guys bake your sweet potatoes on a rack? I usually do mine on a baking sheet lined with foil. Just wondering if they came out crispier or something? Thanks!
More air circulation! We just find they have that perfect crispy outside, soft inside
nice tip! will do next time. when i use a pan they stick to the bottom. argh!
hey kath. do you ever cook with coconut oil? I am so confused by all of the different kinds of oil.
This is a great link explaining them all!
http://www.eatingrules.com/2012/02/cooking-oil-comparison-chart/
Wonderful chart!
What a great, simple, nutritious lunch. I need to remember this for when the staples get low!
I’m totally trying this! I make sweet potato fries at least twice a week! Thanks, Kath.
I must try sweet potato fries with maple syrup soon. Seems like the perfect combo, yet I’ve never had it. Your kale massaging technique is really interesting. I wish my local grocery store would sell kale cause I really want to try this out! Have a lovely afternoon!
This looks so good right now! I need to try a rack for my sweet potatoes next time, and I think I need to get used to eating Kale like so.
I must say that the kiss in all of your photos is so adorable. I LOVE that element in the photos, from both a photo perspective and from a person loving chocolate! CUTE and simple!
I bet those fries tasted awesome since you fried them first! Whenever I cook fries I also do the twice-fry to get them extra crisp the way I like them…but I’ve never tried frying first and then baking at the second stage. I wonder if they would taste less greasy that way since the oil would drain to the bottom.
I don’t make fries often but when I do (once or twice a year) I go all out. Those eggs look great too.
By fried I just mean cut into fries!
I wondered about that too, but realized they didn’t look pre-fried (and it sounded out of character, too!).
love the drizzle of maple on the fries — never thought of that (i’m more of a ketchup girl
) but it certainly looks delicious!
That’s my favourite way to eat eggs too- yum!
I’ve been on a sweet potato kick lately. I must try the rack method for the potats (intentional spelling there, no autocorrect!)
The fries look delicious, I have never had mine with maple syrup I have to try this combo asap!
I am sure wishing I had some sweet potatoes right about now!
I am going to have to try making fries the way you do on a wire rack.
http://faithfulsolutions.blogspot.com/
Your eggs look perfectly cooked – I hate dry, over-cooked yolks!
Maple and those fries…I am craving sweet potatoes now! They look delish and I love how you cooked that egg. My hubs would go ga-ga if I could perfect that perfectly drippy middle!
your lunch looks so simple but so delicous. Sometimes less is more!
this makes me want to prepare kale to go with liver for dinner tonight. that’s right, haters can give me all the junk about liver but it’s awesome
this looks awesome. must make this meal!
beautiful and delicious looking lunch!
love eggs!
I have a question – I have been trying incorporate a bigger variety of greens into my diet, instead of the usual spinach, romaine, etc. I bought kale the other day and put it in my salad yesterday and literally had to choke it down – not appetizing at all!! Does massaging the kale with the dressing make it more palatable? Thanks!
It does make it better, yes
Try the whole foods garlicky kale on the salad bar to get an idea of kale’s saucy taste
It might just be an acquired taste, Molly! I love kale in salad — but I can’t stand Swiss chard.
I think it is…. a bit stinky at times. It is better cooked
Your lunch looks delicious, I love making sweet potato fries! I’m also a big fan of carrot fries and rutabaga fries!
Ok I’m totally trying the wire rack next time I make SP fries. I always struggle with the crispiness on the baking sheet.
This is the second recipe today I have seen for Kale that isn’t cooked. I am intrigued but a little bit scared to try it raw! I will have to try SP on the rack!
I never think to “cook” for lunch– but those fries look so good!!
that’s such a me meal! Ate it almost exactly for dinner last night yummm.
bought smoked spanish paprika! sprinkled on top of eggs! twas good! thank you!
Love the kiss for dessert
And those baked sweet potato wedges look INcredible.
Enjoy your time outside – I’m off to do the same!
Sounds like an excellent lunch!
So healthy! Looks yummy
The picture of the Kiss chocolate alone, looks like behind was some ice cream!! I then realised was the eggs
Those eggs are cooked PERFECTLY!!! yummy!
What a pretty lunch! I love massaged kale salads
I find kale rough so usually steam it or micro it in a little water…does massaging help though? Sounds so strange to say!
Your lunch looks fabulous! Love the semi-hard boiled eggs. YUM! I haven’t had massaged kale in awhile, I must do that soon. Your lunch is Paleo-friendly, ha!
This has been my lunch for the past couple days!: Sweet potato, kale + eggs, YUM!
Gotta try massaging the kale!
When I make roasted sweet potatoes I sometimes add cumin or chipotle chile powder to the cinnamon and cayenne. I love it, and I think smoked paprika would also give it the same kind of taste.
Question…do you eat the sweet potato skins? If you do, are they chewy?
They are soft! I don’t know why anyone would peel a potato… I love the skin.
My great-grandmother (who I was raised by) baked sweet potatoes, but the skins on them were always crisp and chewy and not pleasant at all. I think that may have been because they pulled away from the flesh while they were baking.
If you’re pregnant, to be safe I would not call those hard boiled; more like soft boiled; cook till hard next time!!!
The yolks were totally cooked
How did you cook your eggs?
See Lori’s comment at the bottom for my recipe!
This is probably a dumb question, but how do you make good hard boiled eggs. And, I am not a fan of salt or pepper, so would they taste good plain? THANKS
See Lori’s comment at the bottom for my recipe! Yes, plain would still be good
I love a beautiful, colorful meal like that!
How much cinnamon and cayenne do you use per 1 sweet potato? Making these tonight! I have been in a rosemary/pepper rut lately
A sprinkling around – maybe 1/4 a tsp of cinnamon and 1/8 of cayenne?
I am known to eat this exact meal (well, boiled eggs, sweet potato, and kale. Seasoning and preparations vary) a LOT!
I love your lunch. I had 2 hardboiled eggs too…love them with a bit of salt and pepper on top. And you can never, ever go wrong with sweet potatoes.YUM. I love putting a bit of almond butter on top too.
could you tell me how exactly you cook eggs like that? they look so good!
Julia Child’s method!
Eggs covered in cold water.
Bring to a boil.
Just at a boil, remove from heat, cover and let sit for 13 minutes.
Dunk in ice water to cool.
YUM! I just bought eggs because I want to hard boil them and kale because I want to make kale chips (a love since reading your blog).
I am so glad to see that your boiled eggs aren’t perfectly peeled! I struggle with getting “the perfect peel” as I remember my mom being able to do. Mine are typically torn to shards by the time it’s time to eat them. Glad that you’re not a “perfect peeler” either. (Although, I kind of think that my issue has to do with using brown vs. white eggs — were these brown shelled?)
It’s because I didn’t let them cool long enough! Let them cool in the ice water completely and the egg will shrink and be peelable
I heart eggs. I am so happy that they don’t have a bad rep anymore! Since nuts bother me, eggs are my favorite protein source. I wish I could just master the poached egg!
I love it when the inside of a boiled egg is not cooked fully.
Eggs are one of my favorite food!!
I live in Holland at the moment and we have the simplest yet tastiest meals like this! For Easter brunch my boyfriend’s mum cooked up white asparagus, drizzled with hollandaise sauce, hard boiled eggs, smoked salmon and crusty baguette on the side… perfect!
Your sweet pototoes looks great. I have to try the maple on the fries!
Arent these SOFT boiled eggs? whats the difference?
Soft are runny inside… These were fully cooked. Bright yellow for being local!
oh that makes perfect sense! i was really eyeing the fries anyway
I love sweet potato fries but they always turn out a little soft when i bake them – but you have solved the problem for me… **grabs coat and goes on a shopping mission for a wire rack**
This looks like a very rounded meal; I wish I liked the ingredients! I have been trying to eat more healthily but it has been relatively difficult with my allergies of some foods and dislike of others. I am looking forward to trying more things with kale though, including making kale chips. Do you not feel that the sweet potato fries are too sweet with the maple on them? I feel like it would be a little overwhelming. I love the wire rack cooker you used to make them though- it looks amazingly handy! Are they expensive?
There are few things on the earth that I think are too sweet
The wire racks are probably a little less expensive than a sheet pan
http://www.amazon.com/Bakers-Secret-1061483–16-Inch-Nonstick/dp/B00091PNTI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1336331479&sr=8-2