It’s a Gluten-Free Kale Dinner for Food Day 2015!

Also, I lost a bet. Or rather, my husband won a bet. And I will dissect that little bit of crazy later. Because first, it’s Food Day 2015!

Yes it’s true, every day is food day at my house, but October 24th is the day bloggers, activists, and people who love food (umm, all of us, yes?) join together to raise awareness about food policies as well as eating happy, healthy, sustainable and all those good things. Fighting obesity, adding healthier options, and reducing our footprint are all goals on Food Day, and we hope to learn a few things we can use throughout the entire year of food. Food Year, if you will.

The #FoodDay2015 theme is “Toward a Greener Diet” so I’m jumping in and showing you how you too can eat an entire meal using kale as the main ingredient! I mean, what’s greener than kale, amirite? Also, it works out because we had a family Emmy pool and my husband won. Yep, he asked me to make an entire meal from kale. You know what I would have won? A long weekend by myself in Paris. This pretty much explains our entire marriage.

So, kale! WE ATE IT. And everything was 100% amazing, from the perfect go-anywhere kale salad down to the black bean and kale brownies. My littlest picky eater loves the brownies so much I’m putting this recipe on heavy rotation. There’s so much kale up in here, you guys!

World’s Best/Easiest Kale Salad

My friend Laurel introduced me to this salad a few years ago, and it’s a keeper. It’s also so flipping easy, and is made easier if you buy the Trader Joe’s kale, brussels sprouts and red cabbage mix. It goes like this: chopped kale, chopped brussels sprouts, chopped red cabbage (you know, if it’s already in your mix, otherwise feel free to keep it to two greens). Add 1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and toss the heck out of that salad. Then add any extra fun treat of your choice. I went with marcona almonds with rosemary (also from TJ’s). Get your zester out and zest up some Parmesan and you’re in business. YUM.

Kale, White Bean & Sausage Soup

I adapted this recipe from Giada’s super duper winter soup recipe and made it gluten-free, (omit the farro) as well as a wee bit healthier (chicken sausage with spinach). This was my husband’s fave, and since it was his kale dinner, well, I’m glad he was happy. BTW, you could easily leave out the Parmesan if you want to keep it dairy-free. It does not make or break the meal.

Kale & Black Bean Brownies

My cousin sent me a black bean brownie recipe that was gluten-free awhile ago, and that was really tasty. Adding kale to that combo made me skeptical, but I found this winner and substituted gluten-free all-purpose flour and it was a go. You guys, I cannot believe how good these brownies are. Yes, chock full of sugar but also CHOCK FULL OF KALE.

So, yeah, you don’t have to eat an entire meal made from kale, (ahem, Aaron) but these are three super easy ways to spice up your kale and increase your green consumption. DO IT.

I’m not the only one here celebrating food day with food. Check out these rad blogs too!

The Multitasking Missus

Official Food Day Blog