Fifty Shades of Kale Giveaway

Thanks to everyone who entered the Fifty Shades of Kale giveaway! The winner of the book is Amanda. Please email me with your contact info so I can have your book mailed.

Happy Friday! It is definitely my favorite day of the week, especially after a great week. I nailed all of my NYC Marathon workouts, ate well, and did my best at getting more sleep. Little by little I hope to get back into healthier living as the norm, rather than as an occasional afterthought.

Inspiring cook books are definitely going to be a part of my journey back to health. Earlier this summer, I received a copy of Fifty Shades of Kale by Drew Ramsey, M.D. and Jennifer Iserloh. You may remember how much I loved Jennifer Iserloh’s Secrets of a Skinny Chef ( Which reminds me, I NEED to make her Mac and Cheese with Shredded Chicken and Cauliflower), so I was excited to receive this new book. Add in the fact that I adore kale in just about anything; I dove into this book as soon as it arrived.

And then I barely cooked all summer long. However, I DID make the first recipe that stood out to me and looked super simple, Cream of Kale Soup. Obviously in the middle of summer, a creamy soup is the best choice, right? Well, this soup is incredible. I have made it a half dozen times, and I love it more and more each time.

Just a handful of ingredients make this soup simple, kale makes it healthy, and a little touch of cream makes it velvety and slightly indulgent. It may seem a little naughty, but as the book says, kale’s vitamin K and beta-carotene are fat-soluble; the cream helps your body absorb these important nutrients!

In addition to the soup, I made an un-pictured Kale Pesto with Toasted Walnuts. I love kale in pesto; it’s such a simple way to pack in nutrition and flavor. This goes well with pasta but would also be amazing on a bruschetta or as a topping for fish.

I love that the book, which is named with a nod to Fifty Shades of Gray, is a bit cheeky in it’s descriptions while also being clear about the health benefits of each recipe. It makes for fun and entertaining reading, and I have spent quite a bit of time just reading through. With recipes like Lox Me Up and Throw Away the Key and Thai’d Up Shrimp the book definitely gave me a little chuckle. . . and made me hungry. I’m looking forward to making Linguine with Sausage and Kale for a hearty, cool-weather dish, and I am pretty curious about the kale cocktails like the Green Bloody Mary and the Kalejito.

Interested? Luckily, I have a copy of Fifty Shades of Kale to give away! All you have to do is to leave a comment on why you want to win. Maybe you love kale, are looking to get healthy, are interested in the fun writing style. . . just let me know!

I will choose a winner on Wednesday, September 18. Good luck!