Kale-Basil Pesto: Surprisingly Delicious

I have a love/hate relationship with kale. I love how good it is for me, but I hate the way it tastes. Thus, I only eat it in forms that completely mask its natural flavor. My newest discovery is kale-basil pesto. All the deliciousness of pesto packed with the nutritional punch of kale. I tweaked a recipe I found on Whole Foods' website for spinach-basil pesto which substituted kale for spinach and walnuts for pine nuts (a cheaper alternative), but assumedly the original recipe would be delicious as well.

Ingredients

2 cups fresh basil leaves
2 cups fresh kale leaves
1 cup toasted walnuts
2 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon lemon juice

S&P to taste

Directions

Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until combined. Transfer to a bowl, cover and chill until ready to serve.

After I mixed the pesto with parpadella, I squeezed some extra lemon on top. I just love pasta with lemon.

Remembrance of Foods Eaten

Some people recall the places they've been by the sites they've seen. With me it's by dishes eaten. 

The other day I asked James, "Remember that huevos rancheros I had in Utah?" 

It took him a moment, but then he replied "You mean at the place we stayed in Zion?" 

Yes, that would be Zion National Park, one of the most awe inspiringly beautiful places I've ever been--like, beautiful beyond words beautiful, which is a lot coming from me. 

See what I mean?

And yet, my whole experience can be boiled down to a plate of eggs, rice, beans, and salsa.

But man, it was a good plate.

Since I won't be going back to Zion anytime soon, I decided to make my own huevos rancheros:

This is not a particularly hard dish by any means, but there are a few things one must do:

1.) Pan fry your tortillas.

I'll admit, I had never fried corn tortillas in oil, preferring instead to follow the stupid instructions to 'warm' them on the back of the package. Don't do this. Fry them in a little oil until crisp. Then, while the pan is still hot, fry your eggs. Which brings us to thing you must do #2:

2.) Don't overcook your eggs. 

Seriously. Part of the deliciousness of this dish lies in the egg yolk running together with the beans and salsa and tortillas.

3.) Keep your tortillas warm while you cook your eggs.

A pretty basic tip, but one that can make all the difference. No one wants cold, soggy tortillas with their huevos. I kept mine warm in an oven set on 150. 

Now, aside from these tips, you can pretty much do whatever else you want; use store bought salsa, beans, no beans, rice, no rice--I don't care. For this dish I used salsa verde because I love it and refried black beans. Add a little cheese, sprinkle a little hot sauce and voila! Or, rather, ole!