Hail Kale

Growing up, I used to be that kid who ate the decorations on the salad bar. Oddly, it was probably the best thing I could have eaten off of that icy buffet.

This leads me to an unusual bumper sticker which landed on my desk this morning, stating, “Eat More Kale.” The sticker came from Chris-Anna, who was also T-shirt clad with the same message. The site Eat More Kale is a pretty cool little shop which first catered its designs at local farmer’s markets. The premise is to basically spread the word that this green is here to stay!

Chris and Wendy, being kale lovers and basically lovers of all things green (verde), enthusiastically support the green movement both eating and doing. If you ever need a recipe or advice about changing up your diet from Hot Pockets to green soup, they are the two to ask. As for recipes, I secretly like this one, mainly because it tastes like potato chips. Enjoy!

Baked Kale Chips

Ingredients:
1 bunch of kale
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon seasoned salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Remove the leaves from the thick stems of the kale and tear into bite sized pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry the kale with a salad spinner (remember when you registered for one?) or else a bunch of paper towels or clean kitchen towel. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoned salt. Bake until edges are brown, but not burnt, 10-15 minutes.

Stay green,

Megan @ L.V.

Luscious Foodie: Chop Squad

Happy hour is one of our favorite after-work activities, bringing coworkers together with tasty food and cheap beer. I was recently coerced into going downtown (during an Indians game) to one of my favorite eateries. Fans with bags of peanuts rushed in front of my little Civic, causing me to cringe as I thought there was going to be a massacre of peanut-strewn, foam-finger-laden bodies on East 9th.

The light at the end of my traffic-jammed tunnel was the Chop House, one of our favorite breweries. Operations Manager Liz and I hopped up on a tall bar table and proceeded to order two light lagers. There was a generous amount of eye candy strewn about the floor of the Chop House to keep us busy.

Liz and I ordered “The Tower,” as we call it, which consists of chicken strips, calamari, shrimp cocktail, portabella mushroom caps, and the crowning glory of hand-dipped onion rings. We dug in and saw a table of crazy-looking girls next to us eyeballing our tower. I was prepared to fight over my chicken strips, but I hardly doubt that the grape and grasshopper martini drinkers could put up a fight.

A nifty recipe for your next shindig:

Beer and Brown Sugar Steak Marinade

This marinade is really quick and tasty, bringing out the natural taste of any steak. Created for any two steaks. This marinade may attract good-looking men into your home.

¼ c dark beer (go ahead and drink the rest…you deserve it)
2 tbl teriyaki sauce
2 tbl brown sugar
2 tbl instant coffee (coffee and steak are really great combinations. You can add more or less to your taste)
½ tsp seasoned salt
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp garlic powder or fresh (mmm)

Directions:
Take out your aggressions and poke holes all over the surface of your meat, mix together all ingredients and pour daintily over the steaks. Marinate between 30 min and 2 hours. Next, throw the steaks on the grill, pour the remaining marinade into a small saucepan, bring to a boil and let it simmer. Baste the man-attracting meat to enhance the flavors. Cook to the desired temp as you like and enjoy! Please use a knife and fork; it is tempting to eat with your fingers.

What I am currently eating: peanut butter and Nutella on toast. I wonder if I could actually shampoo myself with Nutella….

-- Megan @ L.V.

Luscious Foodie: Melt Mania

[Today is the first installment of Luscious Foodie, a new regular feature by L.V. estimator/all-around stylish gal Megan. She'll be giving us the lowdown on area hotspots where all the hip kids are going nowadays. And when I say "local," I mean Cleveland. If you don't live here, well, would it hurt you to visit us for your summer vacation? We totally have couches you can sleep on.]

Hey all you fashion forward foodies! I recently visited a favorite restaurant of mine, Melt Bar and Grilled, and happily ate a wonderful grilled cheese sandwich. Now, this place is not your Wonder-bread-and-American-cheese kind of eatery. They offer amazing choices of sandwiches served by the hippest of indie guys and gals around.

Being a "Big Cheese" member allows me into the secret Melt society. Yes, that means free refills of their amazing blue cheese and delicious draft beer choices. I chose a tasty Oberon draft by Bell's Brewery to compliment my half-combo dinner, which consisted of half of a smoked gouda grilled cheese, red pepper, cucumber and mixed green salad, and a mug of steamy white bean tomato soup, and, of course, a small side of fresh cut seasoned French fries with a spicy chipotle dipping sauce. (My stomach is extremely happy merely writing about my dinner last night.)

My eating partner moseyed on up to the sandwich of the month which is a tuna steak melt. Rare tuna, with a spicy aioli sauce, and your cheese of choice went into this treat. If you’re still hungry after visiting the Melt Bar and Grilled, then you can easily enjoy a sampling of fried Twinkies in a berry compote or their locally homemade cheesecake. So, if you happen to be in the Cleveland area check out Melt – you’ll be extremely excited and full.


RANDOM FOOD NOTES

Interesting food fact: Lindsay, our assistant operations manager, gave up chocolate for New Year’s, but I just caught her in the back licking our chocolate envelopes with chocolate return “icing” address.

What I am currently eating right now: a large Tupperware container filled with watermelon and blueberries. If I could fit my tiny body in a whole watermelon my life would be happier and moister…