Kitchen Game: Kale, Clams and Linguine

Posted on 21 April 2009  

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Tuesday is here!  Somewhat of a crazy Monday to start the week where survival was the key.  For last night’s dinner we played another zesty game.  The game is called “Creative Cooking” where basically you take an ingredient from the pantry and an ingredient from the fridge.  You then pair those ingredients together and make an edible concoction (or at least try).  My choices last night were Kale and Clams… as the title somewhat gives it away.

kale_clams

The meal was actually quite tasty when combined with tomatoes and topped with fresh Parmesan.  I rarely buy canned clams but I noticed they were on sale at the local grocery store, so I picked one up. The dish was decent and I would prepare it again but I will admit that it was not my favorite dish.

The prep time and instructions are very quick and simple.

Ingredients

  • Handful of Linguine (whole wheat)
  • 2 cups of Kale
  • 1 Clove garlic
  • 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
  • 15 Grape Tomatoes
  • 1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
  • 1 Can of Clams
  • 2 Tbsp.  water
  • 1 Cup button mushrooms
  • Fresh Parmesan cheese

Method

  1. Cook Pasta according to instructions.

    2. kale_clams6

  2. Warm sauce pan to medium heat; add oil, mushrooms and garlic – cook for 3 minutes.

    3. kale_clams4

    kale_clams7

  3. Open can of clams (reserve liquid) and add clams to pan.

    4. kale_clams1

    kale_clams8

  4. Add tomatoes, soy sauce and water and let sauce thicken and cook for 3 more minutes.

    5. kale_clams9

  5. Add Kale and let cook through for 2 minutes stirring constantly.  If you notice their is not enough liquid add some clam juice for flavor.

    6. kale_clams10

  6. Once pasta is cooked; drain and add to pan.

    7. kale_clams11

  7. Toss together.

    8. kale_clams12

  8. Plate and top with fresh Parmesan cheese.
  9. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: When creating recipes from scratch, try to pair flavors and textures that you will think go well together. Then tinker with the amounts until you find a great balance.  Cooking without a recipe is really fun and allows you to sneak in some food pairings that you may not normally try.  A nice addition to this dish would be spinach if you don’t have, or like, Kale.

Well there you have it.  I hope you have a great Tuesday.  One reminder, once you get your zesty clothing gear – try it on, take a picture and send it to me.  I will start a zesty page will all the proud owners and supporters of zesty.

Take care

zesty

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21 Responses to “Kitchen Game: Kale, Clams and Linguine”

  1. 1
  2. 2
    Lauren says:
    April 21, 2009 at 9:30 am

    I love experimenting in the kitchen. I’ll admit my results aren’t always what I envisioned, but I always have fun. Your creative juices sure were flowing with this recipe! It looks great.

    Reply
  3. 3
    meg says:
    April 21, 2009 at 9:44 am

    Sounds like a great combination of flavors! I still need to try kale. I have never had it, and I bet I would like it.

    Reply
  4. 4
  5. 5
    RecipeGirl says:
    April 21, 2009 at 10:01 am

    I don’t mind canned clams. I’d douse it with loads of Parm & then I’m sure I’d like it just fine :)

    Reply
  6. 6
    brandi says:
    April 21, 2009 at 10:33 am

    i love that the clams are “no name” clams :)

    Great dish!

    Reply
  7. 7
    Shannon (The Daily Balance) says:
    April 21, 2009 at 11:50 am

    Looks so delish! I’ve never cooked clams myself — you’ve given me inspiration! ;)

    Reply
  8. 8
    Anna says:
    April 21, 2009 at 1:12 pm

    kale is one of my favorite veggies ever! looks good.

    Reply
  9. 9
    rhodeygirl says:
    April 21, 2009 at 2:28 pm

    zest my tee is in the laundry again already haha. it is just so comfy that ive been wearing it all afternoon after work.

    Reply
  10. 10
    Mara @ What's For Dinner? says:
    April 21, 2009 at 4:10 pm

    YUM!!! I’m still new to the kale thing, but I’m liking it so far!

    Reply
  11. 11
    Shelby says:
    April 21, 2009 at 5:17 pm

    Mmm I love kale!

    Reply
  12. 12
    Pearl says:
    April 21, 2009 at 7:29 pm

    i should try kale! and then i should probably bookmark this as a dish to make for a date. ha :)

    Reply
  13. 13
    Caroline says:
    April 21, 2009 at 7:33 pm

    What a fun game! I agree that spontaneous dishes are sometimes the best ones. Love the idea of kale pasta.

    Reply
  14. 14
    Mike says:
    April 21, 2009 at 8:29 pm

    I think eveything looks good but it might taste a lot better with the addition of something acidic like zest of lemon with 2-3 tablespoons of lemon juice to brighten up the flavors.

    Reply
  15. 15
    Erin says:
    April 21, 2009 at 10:23 pm

    Do you think deglazing with white wine woulda helped? I love flavor, so I prob woulda thrown some red pepper flakes in there too. But yay for a new idea on how to use my canned clams. Mostly I just stare at them in the pantry and wonder what the heck…

    Reply
    • 15.1
      ZestyCook says:
      April 21, 2009 at 10:31 pm

      @Erin – Deglazing would have worked amazing! Great suggestion. We are not huge wine drinkers so I didn’t have any on hand but that would have been great. I was also thinking of going to a cream sauce but opted for something lighter.

      Reply
  16. 16
    Bunny says:
    April 21, 2009 at 10:45 pm

    This is just beautiful, look at the colors, my hubby would love this!

    Reply
  17. 17
    Cynthia says:
    April 21, 2009 at 10:47 pm

    Oh this this is light but bursting with flavour.

    Reply
  18. 18
    Steph says:
    April 21, 2009 at 11:26 pm

    That looks delicious! What an amazing dinner. We definitely need some creativity in our dinners.

    Reply
  19. 19
    coco says:
    April 22, 2009 at 7:23 am

    easy and delicious!!! Zesty’s print! :)

    Reply
  20. 20
    Emily says:
    April 22, 2009 at 8:30 am

    Oooh, this looks really great, Zesty!
    I love the variety of colors and inclusion of both kale and mushrooms!

    Reply

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