@kar_insurance on: Health and Fitness.

Sometimes you look in the fridge and all you have left is a bunch of greens, and a few other sundry items.  Last night was the night before my Boston Organics shipment came in so I was running low on pretty much everything save for kale, collards, two heads of romaine, and a bunch of kiwis.  While these would all be great ingredients if I wanted to make a green juice...it really doesn't work for dinner.

So what to do?

The kale was on its last legs, so that was the first thing up on the chopping block (er, cutting board.)  Plus, it's pretty easy to toss kale in with nearly everything.  From there I rummaged through my pantry, which I always keeps stocked with things like canned beans (there's always cannellini and garbanzo on hand), canned salmon and chicken, dried lentils, and a multitude of grains (whole wheat pasta, brown rice, couscous, and polenta).  I ended up combining my full bunch of kale with some red lentils and bulgur for a full, satisfying, and healthy meal.

The How-To: Lentils & Bulgur

Ingredients (serves ~3):

Lentils

• 1 cup red lentils
• 2.5 cups water
• .5 white onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 cube tomato bouillion
• 1 bunch chopped kale 
• salt and pepper to season

Bulgur

• 1 cup bulgur
• 2 cups water
• olive oil + salt to taste

Toppings: I topped this with a sunny-side-up egg and some sriracha.  If you're vegan, you might consider using some tahini dressing (just combine some ratio of tahini + oil + lemon) to drizzle over the top of your lentils

Start with your lentils.  Bulgur is basically glorified couscous and takes about 10 minutes to cook

1. Chop onion, mince garlic, toss in medium pot with hot olive oil.  Saute until onions become slightly transparent. Add boullion and stir well
2. add lentils and water, stir. Put on a pot of hot water for your bulgur
3. When lentils being to simmer, add in chopped kale, salt & pepper  Stir as necessary - when the lentils have absorbed most, if not all, of the water, they'll be done.
4. When your pot of water (for bulgur) begins to boil, add in bulgur grains.  Cook this for 10 minutes.
5. After 10 minutes, strain any remaining water from the bulgur, then add olive oil & salt to taste.
6. I like to top this with a fried eg, but you could also use the tahini dressing I mentioned above under "toppings"

Enjoy!