Creamy Kale Dip

Do you like spinach dip? I'm a total sucker for it. I have had spinach dip as the main course for some of my eat-alone meals (with sides of tortilla chips, crackers, and carrots).

But as good for us as spinach is, it has been trumped. Move over Spinach; Kale is the new Super Food in town.

I don't know about you, but I've had a harder time with kale.  Spinach is delicious with virtually no work. It can hold it's own in fresh salads. Kale tends to be bitter and tough. It kind of HAS to be cooked or steamed. I've tried making kale "chips"--where you drizzle fresh kale leaves in olive oil and roast them in the oven. They were edible, but hardly competition for any other "chips" I've eaten. 

So I am SUPER excited to share a version of kale consumption that is not just tolerable, but down-right enjoyable. And it is super easy to make. You don't even need to tell anyone it is kale until they've raved about how yummy it is. 

My idea began with this. Look for it in your grocer's freezer section. It is inexpensive and cuts so much work out of preparation.  All you need to do is cook the kale according to package directions. Drain and cool.

Add one package of Knorr Vegetable Recipe Mix, 1 cup of mayo, and one cup of sour cream. Mix well and store in the fridge for about an hour before serving.

We ate ours with chopped veggies (red bell peppers, cucumbers, jicama, and carrots), and tortilla chips.

 It doesn't taste exactly like spinach dip. But it doesn't taste like any kale recipe I've ever had either. It is better. It is perfect to serve at football game parties, book clubs, baby showers, or just to snack on for the heck of it!

Creamy Kale Dip

Makes about 4 cups

Ingredients:

1 12oz package chopped frozen Kale

1 1.4 oz package Knorr vegetable recipe mix

1 cup mayonnaise 

1 cup sour cream

Directions:

1. Cook kale on stove according to package directions. (Note that it cooks longer than most veggies--about 20-25 minutes of simmering). Drain well, and cool.

2. Mixed drained kale with remaining ingredients. Cover and put in fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving. 

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Easy Meat and Spinach Lasagna

I think I've made homemade lasagna more in the last 2 months than I have in the rest of my married life. Why? Because I have come up with a truly easy way to make it! Much of the credit has to go to Barilla for making an oven ready noodle I truly trust. 

This is NOT a sponsored post. I'm just sharing my love of this product. I have used other "oven ready" lasagna before, and it always required me to really water-down my recipe for it to come out right. These noodles come out perfectly tender and delicious every time.

The other revelation I will share is my new method for the cheese layers. Typically, the cheese layers of a lasagna have ricotta or cottage cheese, an egg or two, grated parmesan, and spices.  I was in a hurry a few weeks ago and decided to try just mixing prepared pesto with cottage cheese--no eggs, other cheese, etc.  It was the best lasagna I had ever made! 

Here's a quick tutorial. Recipe follows.

Prepare your meat sauce. I brown half sausage and half hamburger, then add 8oz of frozen chopped spinach to the hot meat. ( I've used chopped fresh kale once, and it turned out great!). Stir in 1-2 jars of prepared pasta sauce. Then mix your cottage cheese or ricotta with the pesto. Layer meat, noodles, cheese, meat, noodles, cheese, (3 total noodle ending with meat. Here I wanted to show how the noodles don't touch the sides or each other. They expand beautifully while cooking.

Cover the top with Mozzarella or Italian blend shredded cheese.  Cover with foil and bake 50 minutes at 350°. Uncover and bake 10 more minutes.

Mmmm. My house smelled like a fine Italian restaurant. Or a really good pizza joint.

Here's the full recipe:

Easy Meat and Spinach Lasagna

Serves 9

Ingredients

9 sheets of Barilla Oven-Ready Lasagne

1/2-3/4 lb lean ground beef

1/2-3/4 lb ground pork sausage

8 oz frozen chopped spinach (or chopped fresh kale)

48 oz of your favorite prepared pasta sauce (I like using one Classico Spicy Tomato and Basil one of any other red pasta sauce.)

3 cups cottage cheese or ricotta cheese

1/2 cup prepared basil pesto

2 cups Mozzarella or Italian blend cheese, shredded

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. In a large pot, brown beef and sausage. Add in spinach to thaw in hot meat. Mix well.

3. Pour pasta sauce in with the meat and spinach. Bring to a simmer, then turn off.

4. In a separate bowl, mix cottage/ricotta cheese with prepared pesto. 

5. Spread a layer of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13" pan. Top with 3 sheets of lasagne. The sheets should be 1/2 inch or so apart from each other, and not touching the edges.

6. Spead a layer of the cheese/pesto mix over the noodles, then spread more meat mix over that. Continue making layers in that order (meat, noodles, cheese mix), ending with meat. 

7. Spread the shredded cheese over the final meat layer.

8. Cover with foil and bake 40 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 more minutes. Remove and let cool 10 minutes before serving.

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