Kale Fritters

On a recent trip to Montreal, Canada, I was invited to a dinner party of home cooked goodness by the mother of my dear Friend Namiko Shibata.

Her mother Lori Shibata, is Italian and like most Italians she is absolutely passionate about food and about life in general. I fell in love with Lori's big heart, welcoming hugs and of course her food. The meal was incredible, grilled wild salmon in herbs and lemon, roasted tomatoes and mushrooms lasagna made from scratch (including the pasta), green salads, home baked focaccia (whole wheat ) were just some of the highlights.

But what caught my eye and palate was this incredible “Kale fritters” she started making for Namiko few years ago, when Namiko stopped eating meat (you know I love kale)

I had about 5 of those…lol and I asked Lori for the Recipe to share with you all. So here it is, thank you Lori, I love and miss you!

Ingredients

• total 2 cups of chopped kale leaves (i use a food processor)
• 1/2-3/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1tsp of ginger root about
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder (or 1 clove of minced garlic)
• Ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 large eggs (separate yolks from whites)
• 2 tbsp corn starch or corn meal or all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• a small dab of oil for frying
• Instead of corn flour or flour I used whole wheat flour yesterday and added 1 tsp of baking powder instead of 1/2 and mixed in spinach -they came out fluffy and moist.
• Next on the list is adding pumpkin seeds and maybe coconut flakes or anise just for a hint of different flavor.

Steps

1. Mix the kale leaves, ginger, ground cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper and ground pepper in the food processor.
2. Transfer to a medium bowl.
3. (If all the kale won’t fit in the processor at once, process in batches do not over process the kale should have the consistency of chopped leaves
4. Add the water, flour, baking powder and egg yolks and mix thoroughly
5. In your mixer beat the egg whites until light and fluffy (but not to stiff)
6. Fold egg whites into the kale mixture.
7. In a pan, heat up the oil on medium-high. ( Just a thin layer of oil  is enough, you can add more as you go.)
8. Using a spoon. drop the kale batter into a lightly oiled frying pan -turn down the heat to medium, cook until lightly browned on one side and flip over once only
9. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to absorb excess oil. 

For an extra adventure try adding cooked rice or corn or cooked quinoa or your favorite spices,  etc....to your batter mixture just before frying -be careful not to add any ingredient that can become too wet when being cooked i.e. mushrooms -they not work out too well

With Love, Lori.