Breakfast and Dinner

I have two very different recipes to post about today. First, I had been thinking about caramelization for the past few days after drooling over the recipe for Peanut Butter-Banana Chocolate Cupcakes with Caramel Glaze and A Caramelized Banana Disk by Cupcake Bakeshop. I MUST make them someday.

But the idea of caramelized bananas became a reality when I brought home an overripe banana from the conference this past weekend and it continued to brown away atop my kitchen cart. Yesterday morning, I caramelized it and served it over honeyed Greek yogurt with a sprinkling of granola for our breakfast.

 Caramelized Banana
1 banana
1 tbsp butter
Melt butter in a small frying pan. Slice the banana into it and let it cook on medium-low. When a nice brown casing forms on the bottom, flip them over until done. Don't let them cook too long or they will get mushy.

As for the second recipe, last night I was trying to find a good kale recipe to serve along with our Trader Joe Chicken Apple Chardonnay Sausages! I ended up basing it off of this recipe. I think Ryan liked it more than me, actually!

Braised Kale and Kidney Beans
1 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves (I was, horror of horrors, out of garlic and had forgotten about my refrigerated stuff. So I used ginger, since there were no onions in the house, of course.)
1 tomato, chopped
1 bunch kale, chopped
salt and pepper
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup chicken broth
balsamic vinegar

Heat oil in large pot (The recipe called for a Dutch Oven. But, alas, I am not in possession of one.) over medium high heat. Add minced garlic and tomato and saute until fragrant. Stir in kale and broth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to boil and then turn heat down to low. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add beans. Drizzle over some balsamic vinegar. Stir gently. Cook uncovered until beans are heated and liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. (The recipe also served them with poached eggs...which sounds delightful!)

Makes 6 servings
Nutritional Info:
Calories: 122
Fat: 3.1 g (Sat Fat 0.5 g)
Potassium: 573 mg
Carbs: 19.3 g (Fiber 7.2 g)
Protein: 6.4 g