Nom nom nom nom nom nom.

For once in my life, I’m supposed to consume more calories: I’m pregnant! This insatiable incubator needs fuel! I have to eat every two hours or my body starts to freak out.  I feel like T-Rex in the kitchen, stalking my prey. (Minus the vestigial arms.)

As I clean a fistful worth of salt-n-vinegar chip residue from my keyboard, I realize that even though I’d like to use pregnancy as an excuse to get fat on ice cream, I have to balance my indulgences with good nutrition.  I must pack my newly re-purposed body with mostly fruit and veg.

Enter this cool curried yogurt sauce — it makes an outstanding veggie dip.

The warmth of toasted curry powder, the brightness of fresh basil, the heat of a serrano chile, and the citrus kick of lime zest are all stirred into your favorite plain yogurt.  The flavors might seem a little odd (Indian curry and basil?), but the combination works.  This dip’s got enough going on to keep yet another bag of baby carrots interesting.

Try it with carrots, sliced red bell peppers, cauliflower florets, broccoli florets, or sugar snaps.

If you’re not into spicy food, substitute a milder jalapeno for the serrano, seed it, and use just a little. You’ll need the fresh flavor from the chile but you’ll be omitting much of the heat.  You can also use a mild curry powder.  (I use a hot variety.)

This dip also makes a great sauce for fish.  I haven’t tried it yet, but I imagine it would be awesome with grilled chicken kebabs piled atop basmati rice.  If you find another good use for it, leave a comment and let me know!

Curried Yogurt Dip with Basil, Serrano, and Lime
Thick Greek yogurt warmed with curry and chilies and brightened with fresh basil and lime zest. Serve cold as a veggie dip or as a sauce for seared fish or grilled chicken.

Serves 2

Adapted from Sally Schneider’s The Improvisational Cook

1 cup thick Greek-style yogurt, see *note
1 tsp. yellow curry powder
1 Tbs. fresh basil, minced
1 tsp. lime zest
1 tsp. serrano pepper, seeded and minced
1/4 tsp. sugar
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste

Toast curry: In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the curry powder until fragrant, about 1 minute, swirling pan occasionally to prevent burning.

Seed the serrano: Wear gloves when handling chilies. Remove stem end. Cut serrano lengthwise into fourths.  Use a paring knife to scrape out all seeds and attached membranes.  Mince.

Mix yogurt, toasted curry powder, basil, lime zest, serrano, sugar, salt, and pepper.  Refrigerate for 15 minutes to let flavors meld, then adjust seasonings if needed. (Sauce will get slightly spicier as it sits.)

Serve cold.

Keeps up to one week in the refrigerator.

*Note: If you cannot easily find Greek yogurt, you can thicken American yogurt for a similar result.  Drain yogurt in a sieve lined with cheesecloth, set over a large bowl.  Refrigerate for 2-3 hours, until most of the liquid has drained away. Start with twice the volume of yogurt you’ll need once it’s thickened.

Even if you only try this recipe for the novelty of shatteringly crisp kale that falls apart into a thousand pieces in your mouth, it’ll be worth it. This kale is such a far cry from the traditional soul-food pots of kale or other greens simmered until tender (a.k.a mushy). These crunchy, salty leaves feel more like very thin potato chips in the mouth. They are a fun healthy snack (and a way to get some leafy greens into your diet) but would also be a nice accompaniment to any especially soft dish, like a long-simmered stew of meat or beans.

I’ve had crispy fried kale, a single leaf presented as a crunchy garnish atop silky fish, but I never made it in my own kitchen. I hate deep-frying at home; the oil always winds up spattering just enough to give the floor a sticky coat and my ridiculously designed ventilation system (microwave with vents over the stove) means that the interior of my microwave winds up dripping with oil droplets. Besides, why negate the fact that kale is so freaking good for you by dousing it in oil?

This roasting method calls for an entire bunch of kale and only a tablespoon of olive oil. As for the salt, If you’ve got flaky sea salt, use it. If you have kosher salt, that will work well too. If you only have regular table salt, well, fix that! Regular table salt, with its super-fine crystals and slightly off taste, just won’t do here. (Do a salt taste-test and you’ll see what I mean.)

I haven’t tried any other greens yet but I’d be thrilled if any of you can report back on the success of chard, mustard greens, turnip greens, or any other of the “tough” greens that can likely stand up to this treatment. When my local farm stand returns from winter hiatus with bunches of “spicy Asian greens”, whose varied and esoteric names always escape me, this is going to be my first recipe to try.

I chose to heat my kale with a sprinkling of red chile flakes, but the possibilities are numerous–you might try sesame seeds, a post-cooking shaving of parmesan, or perhaps even Indian spices like cracked mustard seed, curry powder, or garam masala. Or just stick with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Let me know if you try any seasonings that work well!

Crispy Kale with Sea Salt and Red Chile
Shatteringly crisp slow-roasted kale warmed with a touch of chile heat. The texture alone makes this recipe worth trying. Adapted from Jacques Pepin’s TV Show “More Fast Food My Way”.

Serves 3-4 as a snack or side dish.

1 bunch kale
1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
sea salt, to taste (or substitute kosher salt)
dried red chile flakes

Heat oven to 250F.

Pull kale leaves from the tough main stems. Discard stems. Wash leaves and spin dry. Turn leaves out onto a kitchen towel and blot dry–any moisture will keep kale from getting crispy.

Toss leaves with olive oil, salt, and chile flakes. The kale will shrink when it cooks; go a little easy on the salt.

Spread in an even layer on a baking rack set over a baking sheet. (See picture.)

Bake for 20 minutes or until crispy. Some pieces on the edges may get crispy before those in the middle–just pull them off the sheets and put the pan back in the oven for a few minutes to finish.

Serve immediately. Stored kale will lose its crispy texture.

It’s February and not exactly berry season, but I need my fix. Costco is the dealer with my drug of choice — delectably deep pink raspberries, big and sweet.

They’re from Mexico and surely ate up a ton of fossil fuel to get here, but I just don’t care today. No one can care about everything every day. They are plump, cheap, and I’ve officially declared Tart Week in my house.

It started with a lemon tart, with a filling that was a dud, but a crust that was exceptional. Unsatisfied and faced with these berries in the store, the solution became vividly clear, especially in the face of Valentine’s Day. What better way to have some vivid red color and a feeling of being spoiled than to make a tart with a luscious stack of raspberries?

Indeed, this tart stars raspberries, kept fresh, gorgeous, and glistening with only a light glaze. It’s a simple creation, very basic, but each part — the butter crust, the fluffy cream cheese filling scented with vanilla and almond, the sweet red berries — shines through with such clean, lovely flavors.  It’s sweet, but not cloyingly so, and not too rich or heavy feeling, despite the cream cheese.

Making a tart crust can seem intimidating but it’s actually very simple. Once you get one successful crust under your belt, you’ll never worry about it again. The key is to use very cold butter and pay close attention to how you pulse the dough mix in your food processor.

Follow the recipe carefully, err on the side of under-processing, and you’ll have an enviable crust. Luckily, Deb over at Smitten Kitchen, who adapted this crust from the famous baker Dorie Greenspan’s recipe, has written clear, detailed instructions.  The dough requires some time to rest before baking; you will probably want to make it a day ahead.  (And remember to soften your cream cheese too.)

For serving, all this tart needs is a little dollop of fresh whipped cream. And maybe a glass of champagne!

Raspberry-Almond Tart
A butter crust, fluffy, almond-scented cream cheese, and spectacular red raspberries make a standout tart. Top with a little freshly whipped cream.  Don’t buy that stuff in a can — it would be an insult to the fruit and your effort. If you can’t find sweet raspberries, substitute any good berry you can find (try Costco) and use a matching jam for the glaze. 

Makes one 9-inch tart

For the Tart Crust:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
9 Tbs. unsalted butter, very cold, cut into 1/2″ dice
1 egg
one 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom

Follow the crust instructions by Deb at Smitten Kitchen here.  Pay close attention when pulsing the mix in the food processor. Your final, granular dough mixture should look like my picture above.

Partially bake the crust — bake only 5 minutes after removing the foil.  Let cool slightly while you prepare the filling. 

For the cream cheese filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 egg
1 Tbs. all-purpose flour

Oven at 350F.

In the bowl of an electric mixture fitted with the paddle attachment: Beat together cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, almond extract, and egg until smooth and fluffy.  Add the flour and mix well.

Spread filling onto the par-baked tart crust. It’s OK if it’s still warm. Bake 20 minutes or until set, not wobbly, and starting to brown just a little. Cool the tart in its pan, on a rack.

For the Raspberries and Glaze:
3 cups (12 oz.) fresh raspberries, rinsed and patted dry
1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam

Arrange the berries on top of the cooled tart filling, tips up.

Heat the jam in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until it just melts and becomes smooth. Cool slightly. Use a pastry brush to lightly brush the berries with glaze. If your glaze is too thick to brush easily, add a little water to thin it out. You may not need all the glaze – you just want to give a light coating on the berries, not have a pool of glaze on top of the filling.

Remove the tart from the pan.  Store in the refrigerator.  Serve slices with a dollop of whipped cream.

For the Whipped Cream:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract, or to taste
1 Tbs. confectioner’s sugar, or to taste

In the bowl of an electric mixture fitted with the whisk attachment: Whip the cream on high speed until soft-peak stage.  Add the vanilla and sugar; continue to beat until stiff-peaks form.

(To determine peak stage: Lift the beater from the bowl, lifting some cream with it. If the lifting motion leaves a peak in the cream in the bowl but the peak tip bends over, you’re at soft-peak stage.  If the peak tip stands up straight and stiff, you’re at stiff-peak stage.)