Sister Anne's Kale Salad
This summer is being buried under a cloud. My plans for vacation were stymied by persistent pockets of virus. The "new normal" of masks and "social distancing" is not compatible with our annual road trip.
My sister the Sister cancelled her flight fearing that she might bring contagion back to the vulnerable, aging sisters in her convent.
A couple of years ago, our sibling group met in Boston and spent an extended weekend with our sister, and the nuns graciously put us up....and put up with us! One would assume a convent would be a quiet, contemplative retreat. Well, you haven't met the #MediaNuns!
The Boston convent is the United States "Motherhouse" for the Daughters of St. Paul, and is home to 70+ Catholic nuns, a publishing house, radio, TV, and art studios, and center for electronic media. They have an online presence including Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and promote media literacy. "If you want to reach people with Christ's message of love and hope, you have to go where the people are...and a lot of them are online!"
The convent has an industrial kitchen, and some of the sisters with the talent and inclination help out, but they have a professional chef on staff. They do have a budget for ingredients, of course, but they also rely on donations of food.
The chef told me that during her interview she was asked if she ever watched the FoodTV show, "Chopped!" Every day in the convent kitchen is like that show, where chefs are presented a "mystery basket of ingredients" and are asked to create a meal. Like Forrest Gump's box of chocolate, "You never know what you're gonna get!"
On our last visit, we played "Convent Chopped!" The nuns had received a donation of several pounds of some kind of really assertive cheese. They had tried to melt it like grilled cheese (nope), or stir it into potatoes (nope). "See what you can come up with...*shrug* "
So we looked through the pantry and walk-in fridge. Lea and I found almonds, pitted dates, and bacon. We toasted the almonds, and stuffed some stinky cheese and an almond inside each date, wrapped the date with a half strip of bacon, and broiled until the bacon was crispy. Our stuffed dates were well received!
Another donated item that had them at a loss was six cases of passionfruit syrup. It was a fruity liquid, too heavy to drink but too thin to be used for pancakes or waffles. We combined some with sparkling mineral water for "spritzers," very much like a non-alcoholic mimosa. I used my lemon curd recipe and made "passionfruit curd," and also stirred some of the syrup with unflavored gelatin and made passionfruit jello. We left recipies and a list of ideas.
Sister Anne is particularly famous in the convent kitchen for her kale salad. A bumper crop had been donated and, well, Anne loves a big salad! Now when kale shows up at the door, nuns exclaim, "Hurray! Kale salad!"
Not something ordinarily associated with cheering, kale is cabbage's leafy cousin that has been redefined as a "superfood." Kale is nutrient dense, loaded with vitamins A, C, and K, as well as beta carotene, antioxidants, and trace minerals. It is low carb, and a 1 cup serving has 3 grams of protein.
Sr. Anne's Kale Salad
1 bunch kale, washed well
Toasted pecans (recipe posted 10/2019)
Cherry tomatoes, quartered
Dried cranberries
Crispy cooked bacon, chopped
Chop kale very finely, like grass clippings. Mince even the stem (she de- stems the kale first and minces the stems like celery. Nothing is wasted!).
Toss with cherry tomatoes, toasted pecans, bacon, dried cranberries, what-have-you, and toss with olive oil/ balsamic vinegarette.
Balsamic vinegarette:
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Shallot, minced
Salt and pepper
For each serving, whisk to combine 2-3 tbsp olive oil to 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar and 1/2 tsp shallot, salt and pepper to taste. To ramp up flavor even more, soak chopped garlic in your olive oil while you assemble your salad.
A couple of years ago, our sibling group met in Boston and spent an extended weekend with our sister, and the nuns graciously put us up....and put up with us! One would assume a convent would be a quiet, contemplative retreat. Well, you haven't met the #MediaNuns!
The Boston convent is the United States "Motherhouse" for the Daughters of St. Paul, and is home to 70+ Catholic nuns, a publishing house, radio, TV, and art studios, and center for electronic media. They have an online presence including Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and promote media literacy. "If you want to reach people with Christ's message of love and hope, you have to go where the people are...and a lot of them are online!"
The convent has an industrial kitchen, and some of the sisters with the talent and inclination help out, but they have a professional chef on staff. They do have a budget for ingredients, of course, but they also rely on donations of food.
The chef told me that during her interview she was asked if she ever watched the FoodTV show, "Chopped!" Every day in the convent kitchen is like that show, where chefs are presented a "mystery basket of ingredients" and are asked to create a meal. Like Forrest Gump's box of chocolate, "You never know what you're gonna get!"
On our last visit, we played "Convent Chopped!" The nuns had received a donation of several pounds of some kind of really assertive cheese. They had tried to melt it like grilled cheese (nope), or stir it into potatoes (nope). "See what you can come up with...*shrug* "
So we looked through the pantry and walk-in fridge. Lea and I found almonds, pitted dates, and bacon. We toasted the almonds, and stuffed some stinky cheese and an almond inside each date, wrapped the date with a half strip of bacon, and broiled until the bacon was crispy. Our stuffed dates were well received!
Another donated item that had them at a loss was six cases of passionfruit syrup. It was a fruity liquid, too heavy to drink but too thin to be used for pancakes or waffles. We combined some with sparkling mineral water for "spritzers," very much like a non-alcoholic mimosa. I used my lemon curd recipe and made "passionfruit curd," and also stirred some of the syrup with unflavored gelatin and made passionfruit jello. We left recipies and a list of ideas.
Sister Anne is particularly famous in the convent kitchen for her kale salad. A bumper crop had been donated and, well, Anne loves a big salad! Now when kale shows up at the door, nuns exclaim, "Hurray! Kale salad!"
Not something ordinarily associated with cheering, kale is cabbage's leafy cousin that has been redefined as a "superfood." Kale is nutrient dense, loaded with vitamins A, C, and K, as well as beta carotene, antioxidants, and trace minerals. It is low carb, and a 1 cup serving has 3 grams of protein.
Sr. Anne's Kale Salad
1 bunch kale, washed well
Toasted pecans (recipe posted 10/2019)
Cherry tomatoes, quartered
Dried cranberries
Crispy cooked bacon, chopped
Chop kale very finely, like grass clippings. Mince even the stem (she de- stems the kale first and minces the stems like celery. Nothing is wasted!).
Toss with cherry tomatoes, toasted pecans, bacon, dried cranberries, what-have-you, and toss with olive oil/ balsamic vinegarette.
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Shallot, minced
Salt and pepper
For each serving, whisk to combine 2-3 tbsp olive oil to 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar and 1/2 tsp shallot, salt and pepper to taste. To ramp up flavor even more, soak chopped garlic in your olive oil while you assemble your salad.
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