Return from Hiatus and Kale and Turkey Stew

Well, I’ve returned.  I’m back from my unintended hiatus.  I never intended on being so inactive here at LSL this month but two trips taking up two weeks away from the house have made things crazy.

We’ve had so much fun and I plan on telling you all about it in upcoming posts.  In good time my friends.  In good time.

Now that we are back we are in need of a little regroup home life wise, work wise, and health and diet wise.  The house is a bit due for a birthday so I’ve been finding all the nooks and crannies and have been giving them a good scrub, organizing the office, and closets and trying to purge things we no longer need.

Work wise it is diving back in, picking up where I left off with projects and assignments.  This is perhaps the easiest because of the two weeks of R&R and rejuvenation mentally.  I’m finding my head is clearer, more motivated and more organized.

Healthy wise we need a bit of a clean up as well.  Don’t get me wrong; we eat plenty of healthy food, but we also eat a fair bit of rich food accompanied by wonderful cocktails and wines.  We just find we’ve been a bit inactive lately and, perhaps, a little over glutinous.  So we are going to regroup, lay off the heavy stuff for a bit and up our activity levels, but you’ll hear more about this soon as well.

This leads into today’s recipe!  Today I have Kale and Turkey stew.  It is my “go to” stew when I want something satisfying and healthy as well as a meal that makes a pot big enough to feed us for lunches for a few days.  Not to mention it freezes well.

The stew contains kale, tomatoes and lean protein.  Kale is a super food and is readily available around the world.  High in fiber, kale also provides high vitamin K, A and C.  It is also low in calories and also a low glycemic index.  Tomatoes are full of carotene, lycopene and are considered a great antioxidant.  Not to mention they are tasty and super satisfying.

The lean protein used today is ground turkey but can easily be swapped with chicken, pork, sausage or even tofu for all those who want a vegan/vegetarian option.  Using sausage will add tons of flavor but be careful as it also adds plenty of fats not to mention sodium and nitrates depending on the type you choose.

I like to keep frozen preportioned tubs of it in the freezer for easy grab and reheat meals.  Add some extra chili flakes or hot peppers for an extra kick without adding unnecessary calories.  Eat up the goodness folks!  And please let me know how you like it.  So without further ado ~ here is the recipe.

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Kale and Turkey Stew

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 yellow onion diced
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 lb 400g ground turkey
• 1 tsp red pepper flake
• 1 bunch of kale cleaned and chopped remove woody spines and reserve leafy greens only
• 1 can diced tomatoes fire roasted tomatoes if available
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Heat a large soup pot over medium high heat.
2. Add olive oil and saute onion and garlic until translucent and softened.
3. Add turkey and brown using a wooden spoon to break it up into smaller pieces.
4. Mix red pepper flakes into turkey mixture.
5. Add kale to the pot and mix.
6. Cover and allow to wilt.
7. Once the kale has started to wilt add the tomatoes and a half a can of water.
8. Add salt and pepper to taste.