Cooking to Create

I really did start this post for Tasty Tuesday. It said and I quote "It's Tuesday again; the second day of August. It feels like the days of summer are slipping by faster and faster! (Insert panicked feelings here at the return to school.)Anyway, last week I told you about our meal plan for the week and one of the recipes I planned to try was Kale and Bean soup. At first glance it didn't sound too tempting but it was a good way to use up kale (you know, one of those dangerous vegetables that I never buy because I don't know what to cook with it.)" blah blah blah. But I didn't finish it and I didn't publish it because it felt...well, blah. It felt gimmicky and "look I made a great recipe" and a little boring so I stopped.

What I should have wrote about instead was how fun it is for me to create. I love to cook and sew and paint and dance and write and read and make things and be a part of the things that other people have made. Where I work on a university campus there is a museum, but the building across from me is the art building and as much as I enjoy the museum I find myself walking through that place even more. They change the exhibits more often and I can talk at a normal level and not feel disrespectful. The art varies. Some is professional-quality and other seems very amateur, but they are all interesting and beautiful in ways. I am amazed when I look at the art to think that the people I walk by and work with could be the creators.

I read this on this blog today:

"The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time."
— Mary Oliver

I don't want to ever want to feel that way. How crushing would that be? And so even though I am busy, I am going to keep dancing and painting and thinking and writing, sewing and yes, cooking. 

The recipe really was great. Not, let me eat this everyday great, but, rather, I didn't know Kale could taste this good great. So, if you want to eat healthy and are adventurous enough to try new recipes, check this one out. 

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil or canola oil
• 8 large garlic cloves, crushed or minced
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 4 cups chopped raw kale
• 4 cups low-fat, low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
• 2 (15 ounce) cans white beans, such as cannellini or navy, undrained
• 4 plum tomatoes, chopped
• 2 teaspoons dried Italian herb seasoning
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup chopped parsley

Directions

1. In a large pot, heat olive oil. Add garlic and onion; saute until soft. Add kale and saute, stirring, until wilted. Add 3 cups of broth, 2 cups of beans, and all of the tomato, herbs, salt and pepper. Simmer 5 minutes. In a blender or food processor, mix the remaining beans and broth until smooth. Stir into soup to thicken. Simmer 15 minutes. Ladle into bowls; sprinkle with chopped parsley. 

Simple, but delicious.

dessert is my one weakness