10 years ago, if you asked me my favorite nut butter, I probably would have looked at you like you were crazy. Was there anything other than peanut butter? I certainly wasn’t aware of any other kinds.*
I went through obscene amounts of peanut butter in college. I was poor and it was cheap easy to steal from the sorority kitchen. 😉
However, since discovering almond butter, cashew butter, and sunflower seed butter, peanuts have been sidelined. Poor little bench warmers.
Anyway. I felt like they earned the starting role in last night’s dinner, so I used both peanut flour AND salty, roasted peanuts in my meal.
As far as quick and easy meals go, this was ready to go in under 30 minutes. Granted, I already had a sweet potato that was baked and a tub of cooked quinoa on hand, but even those steps wouldn’t take that long. And I made it up on the spot, so if you’re fridge isn’t in dire straights (aka between grocery trips), you may be lucky enough to have everything already stocked.
Kale and sweet potato quinoa with peanutty peanut sauce (for 1)
Ingredients:
- 5-7 kale leaves, de-stemmed
- 1 small sweet potato (or half a large one), baked
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 1/4 cup peanut flour + 1/4 cup water + 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/2 cup salted, roasted peanuts
De-stem kale leaves, rip them into bite size pieces, and sauté in a dollop of oil (or cooking spray and water). Once they are wilty (which happens in minutes) add in the peanut flour, maple syrup, & water mix (if you don’t have peanut flour, just thin out some natural peanut butter using less water). Stir until everything is well mixed and the peanutty mixture coats all the leaves.
Eventually it will reduce to a thicker paste.
Turn down the heat and add in quinoa and sweet potatoes (pre-baked and cut into large chunks).
After a few more minutes everything should be warm and ready (warning: the smell may bring your neighbors out of the woodwork).
Serve into a bowl and then add crushed peanuts on top.
I don’t have much else to say. The photos do the talking…it was super delicious.
I could eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner for every day this week and still not tire of it.
Enjoy!
*I used to detest all nuts (since starting HHH, I’m pretty proud of how much progress I’ve made in this area). Back in the day, if I had detected even a hint of “crunch” in my PB I would’ve been super repulsed. In other words, creamy peanuts were pretty much my buttah of choice. You’ll still be hard-pressed to find me noshing on most kinds of nuts. Walnuts, hazelnuts, macadamias, brazil nuts…not my scene. If they’re hidden well in raw foods, I can do it. Otherwise, almonds and cashews are about as much as I can handle, but it’s not with regularity that I opt for them. They are’t my first choice in snacks. That said, I do go through random food phases, so I wouldn’t rule out nuts forever.
What’s your favorite nut?
Pistachios are my favorite, with almonds running a close second. I don’t tend to crave them by the handful, though. I would much prefer them in nut mylk or in the form of nut butter, probably because I can devour them much more quickly with a spoon 😉
O my goodness I am obsessed with peanut flour. I seriously think I had a cup of the stuff today. You have to try 1/2 cup peanut flour + 1 can great northern beans + ~1/2 cup water + a little stevia. Mash everything together – best dip ever. I was able to spread it into 2 servings but it was tempting to eat it all at once. I ate it on sugar snap peas… so so so good.
i was the same way–peanut butter was all i knew! i think it still is my favorite to this day.
I’ve been a nut addict since I was very little. I remember sitting down with those Christmas Tin’s of mixed nuts when I was like five and just going to town with it haha. I’m not sure if I can name my favorite nut, I’m a big pistachio fan. When it comes to butter? PB all the way.
Hey yeah, I remember you always used to talk about hating nuts – well done for embracing the nut, girl! They are sooooo good. That meal looks awesome – totally my styles – I don’t think you can get peanut flour over here though, have never seen it. Maybe I’ll check iherb cos I would like to try it. I know it’s not a nut, but I think tahini is my favourite spreadable nutty buttery thing, and for actual nuts I don’t think I could pick just one – walnuts, pistachios, peanuts, cashews, and pecans would be up there though.
ick. pecans are the worst. you can have my share. 😛
this may sound pathetic but shelling pistachios really bugs me. its lame that i have to work for my food, haha.
that sounds AWESOME! like a dessert hummus. mmm…
hehe, my relatives have a pecan orchard, so we ALWAYS have ridiculous amounts of them – your worst nightmare 🙂
oh almond butter…its always a dangerous meal when i go straight up spoon to jar. mmm…
have you ever had pistachio butter?? does it exist? (slash is it good?)
Pshh… I totally understand. I’ll let ya in on a secret. Sam’s Club/Costco sell giant bags of pre-shelled pistachios!
ooooohhh…thanks for the tip!! 🙂
I’m an omnivore who is always looking for plant-heavy dishes to work into my diet. My problem is that I frequently just don’t find myself satisfied. I realize this is entirely a mental problem and not physical, but the fact remains… most high-veggie non-meat dishes just don’t fill me up.
That being said, this dish looks like it might be an exception, and I can’t wait to try it. It seems to me that the heavy nut content might fool my brain into thinking it had eaten meat.
wow, that actually IS my nightmare.
having to shell pistachios is an excellent deterrent to overindulgence.
i definitely think that something worth trying jeremy. cut yourself a little slack and keep trying though…more nut based items are what my husband turns to. beans and lentils are also good at bringing feelings of satiety because they have fat, protein and fiber…things that slow digestion and things that stretch your stomach to help signal that it’s full. once the physiological part is there, the psyche will follow suit.
ps theres also a tofu ricotta lasagna recipe that ill be posting soon and its both hearty and delish.
true!
I loveee toasted walnuts. They pretty much taste like popcorn when you toast them. I also could eat pecans by the handful all day long!
YAY! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I can’t wait to make this recipe. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I saw it in your last post. (Pathetic? Maybe.)
My favorite nuts are almonds, cashews, and walnuts. I really don’t discriminate, though. I’ve yet to meet a nut I didn’t like. 🙂
Y’know, I’m constantly faithful to cashews in their whole form, and peanuts in their butter form. However, every now and again I feel the need to step away from peanut butter and try something new… This time is approaching 🙂
Love the sound of the recipe,,, really need to source out peanut flour! xxx
This looks fantastic. Anything with peanut flour is a win in my book though! I think i’d switch it up and use Kabocha instead of sweet potatoe and maybe broccoli instead of kale? Either way looks like a win!
My favorite nut butter right now is almond butter, however I go through phases with peanut butter where I will eat it by the spoonful one week and hate it the next week. My last run-in with cashew better was not good and still have yet to try it again, we will see what the future holds;)
I’ve been trying to come up with new creative things to do with sweet potatoes! Yum!
Yes. Pistachio butter rocks! I don’t know if there are many companies out there that sell it, but it doesn’t matter too much since it is soooo easy to make. Just throw a bag of raw shelled pistachios in the food processor and blend (well, you know the drill). Add a pinch of sea salt if you like. Easy peasy! 🙂
I could eat any kind of nut by the handful. And I do. The only kind I don’t like are those huge banana-shaped nuts – I think they’re Brazil nuts? And I go through phases on which are my favorite. Right now I’m digging on walnuts.
so weird, up until this year i thought crunchy PB was the nastiness and reminded me of gravel. then i accidentally bought a jar and loved it. funny how tastes change!
yuck. brazil nuts are my least fave. no, actually pecans are. but brazil nuts are a close second to last. i swear pecans taste like wood.
awesome.
Peanut butter is still definitely my favorite and crunchy makes it even better I think! 🙂 As for snacking, I like almonds and cashews.
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