Can Kale get me to Vegas?

I'm a Pillsbury Bake-Off Semi-Finalist! Vote for Feta and Kale Stuffed Breakfast Waffles

VOTE NOW! Voting is open until Noon CST on September 26th
I need you
Update: I did not make it to Vegas. But I did remember that I sorta like doing this.

Feta and Kale Stuffed Breakfast Waffles 

I love my leafy greens, it runs in the family: sometimes at my brother's house there is a squabble over who gets the last of the swiss chard- really! It's happened more than once.

I love my leafy greens so much that I'll still buy them/grow them throughout the spring and summer even though they are about the only thing that you can get fresh and local throughout the winter here in Portland.

I also really love waffles. It is our Sunday tradition, and the only meal out of the week that I don't make. The Mr. is in charge of waffles. His waffles are delicious but there is nothing quick or rise and shine about them.

So back in August when I realized I had ONE DAY to come up with a recipe for the final open category in the Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest I had to go with what I love and what I had on hand. And it had to be a breakfast item, and it had to be quick, and it had to have less than seven ingredients. Whew.

Flash forward an hour and I had it. I had the recipe and I had a delicious breakfast AND I remembered how awesome it is to every once in awhile let someone else (like the Mr. or Pillsbury) make the dough.

Here is the demo waffle, the second one was better- perhaps someday this waffle iron will be as famous as the one that started Nike.

You can link to the official recipe here.

Cappellini Tossed w/ Garlic Shrimp and Kale

I had elaborate rainy day plans to bake two tarts-- one sweet and one savory. But just as I threw the tart dough in the refrigerator to chill the sun came out and I remembered that I was cooking for one. The energy for elaborate is hard to muster up for just me so I decided to delay the tarts a day. Fortunately, I also remembered the shrimp I bought on sale at the store the day before and the bundle of purple kale from the farmer's market on Saturday.

Of course even though I was cooking for one I made enough for two hungry people so now I have lunch.

4 cloves of garlic, minced (I love garlic and probably could've even had more)
2 Tbsp Olive OIl
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 pound shrimp (in my case ten 16-20 count, I always ask for an amount not a weight so I can divide appropriately)
1 bundle of kale
1/2 pound cappellini (angel hair pasta)
salt, pepper, and pepper flakes to taste

After bringing a large pot of water to boil for the pasta, I minced the garlic and heated the cast iron skillet with the olive oil. Meanwhile I blanched the kale in the pasta water, squeezed it dry and cut it into bite size pieces. When the skillet was hot I briefly sauteed the garlic and then added the shrimp, cooking for about a minute on each side. After removing the shrimp I added the white wine, pepper flakes, salt and pepper to the pan and cooked for another minute or so. By this time the water was boiling again so I threw in the pasta which only takes three minutes (one of the reasons I love cappellini), turned the heat off the sauce and then added the shrimp and kale to the white wine sauce. After draining the pasta and reserving a cup or so of pasta water to add, if needed, to the sauce I tossed it all together. Took pictures, which was torture because I was starving, and voila- dinner.


An incredibly easy and delicious weeknight meal.