my 8 year old eats kale

i have been told, “it sounds like hostage negotiations”.  it being my 8 year old trying to haggle the amount of vegetables she will consume at dinner.  how much more? a big spoonful? or a little spoonful? is this enough? how about if i eat more sausage? may i have more bread? please? pleeaaase? then its my turn, in which i stipulate the price, “if you eat the rest of your kale you may then have more bread”. how does she do this? gets me every time. ah well… the kids eating her veggies, and learning the fine art of doing business…

imagine my surprise when not only did she not ask for bread but she said, without prompting or bribery of any kind, “this is a realllly good dinner”  did she not see the kale? full of its vitamin A and C, folic acid, calcium and iron? or brown rice? or maybe she did not realize i replaced the pork with turkey sausage? 

she was right though, it was ‘realllly’  good. so good in fact you would never know it came from the south beach cookbook. shhhh… lets not let the 8 year old hear… she may ask for dessert

 turkey sausages with kale and chickpeas south beach diet cookbook - tweaked

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 pound turkey sausage
• 1 small onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 C low sodium chicken broth
• 1 (1 pound) bunch of kale stemmed and roughly chopped
• 1 15 ounce can of chickpeas
• 1 15 ounce can of red kidney beans
• salt and pepper or our kitchen favorite- green tabasco

heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. add sausages and cook until browned on all sides, turning occasionally, about 6 minutes. remove from pan and cut each sausage in half on the diagonal.

add onion and garlic to same saucepan and cook over medium heat until softened and translucent, about 3 minutes. add broth and bring to a simmer. add kale, cover, and cook until wilted and softened, about 8 minutes.

add sausage and cook, covered, until no longer pink in the center, about 8 minutes. add chickpeas and kidney beans, and continue cooking, covered, until heated through, 2 minutes. season to taste. serve with brown rice. watch with amazement as your child eats it.  

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