Beans, Bacon, Beagles.

Quick dinner post from last night:



Pasta with Kale, Bacon & Great Northern Beans!

Serves two. You will need:

• 4 oz pasta (I used Ronzoni Smart Taste thin spaghetti)
• 4 slices of bacon, diced
• 1/2 medium onion, sliced or diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 cups kale, rinsed and chopped (could also use spinach)
• 1 can Great Northern Beans, drained and rinsed (could use any preferred white bean)
• salt & pepper to taste
• crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1-2 tbsp lemon juice (optional)

Get some water boiling for your pasta. While you wait, prep the bacon, onions, garlic and kale.

In a large pan, cook the bacon. Toss it onto a plate with paper towels and set aside. Drain *some* of the grease from the pan, not all of it. If your pasta water is ready, go ahead and drop the pasta at this point.

Add the onions to the bacon pan and if necessary, deglaze with a bit of water. Once the onions are sweating, quickly add the garlic, kale and a bit of salt & pepper. Stir continuously until the kale starts to cook down. You may need to add a more water to move this process along. Once the kale reduces significantly in size, add the beans. Feel free to add more salt, crushed red pepper and lemon juice at this point. Add the bacon bits back into the pan, stir, remove from heat and cover with a lid until the pasta is done.

Drain the pasta, divide into serving dishes and top with the kale/bacon/bean mix. Sprinkle on grated parmesan if you'd like and enjoy!

Lastly, a random Randal pic for the dog lovers:



Sleeping, as usual. I always said I would never own a cat because of the hair, but Randal sheds so much, it doesn't even matter. Ah, well. He's cuter than most babies and a total goofball when he's awake, so I can't complain too much.

Cooking With the Stars.

Yesterday, I came home early to complete Day 1 of the Yoga Journal 21 Day Challenge. I decided it would be good to twist, stretch and relax before taking on dinner, most of which was inspired by Jamie Oliver and Bobby Flay:



Diced pork with Famous Dave's Rich & Sassy BBQ sauce, Jamie Oliver's Perfect Roast Potatoes (I did the olive oil/rosemary option) and Bobby Flay's Sauteéd Kale.

As usual, I used less oil than the recipes called for, but I wouldn't skimp too much on the potatoes because it really boosts the flavor and increases the crunchy edges. I didn't peel the potatoes or cut them into same-size pieces like Jamie instructed, but will be sure to do so next time. Well, I'll cut them into equal sizes anyway; it's really hard for me to take the skin off of potatoes because I love the texture so much. Despite my lack of peeling and uniform chopping, these were still pretty much the best-tasting roasted potatoes I've ever made. Rich flavor, excellent crunch factor, soft interior. Love, love, love. And although they take a while to prepare, I think I prefer them over my usual baked fries now.

Since I already went a bit overboard with garlic cloves in the potatoes, I used only 1 clove for the kale and used the last bit of red onion we had. Still a really great flavor. And adding the splash of red wine vinegar at the end really seemed to cut through any remaining bitterness of the kale, while also adding some brightness.

I haven't bothered to buy kale since my failed attempt at kale chips, but I'm glad I decided to give it another shot. I definitely dig it sauteéd and look forward to adding it to soups as well.

Doug approved, which made me happy. He's kind of my at-home version of an Iron Chef America judge, heh.