Meatless Monday: Guac-Kale-Mole

Last Updated on April 15, 2022 by Karen

Happy Monday!  Hope you had a fantastic weekend.  My cousin Fiona and her friend Chloe were in town, so we took them around the city for some sightseeing.  We started off in Brooklyn Heights (my old neighborhood!) where we took a stroll down the promenade to Brooklyn Bridge Park and DUMBO.

As a native New Yorker, there are many “the-best-(fill in a food)-in-New-York” places I still haven’t been, and Grimaldi’s was one of them, well, until we tried it this weekend.  And it was delicious — not the best but still pretty high up on the list!  By the way, if you want to avoid the long lines, go to Grimaldi’s at noon when they just open.  After our pizza lunch, we stopped by the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory for an ice cream break, naturally ;)

Up next was the mandatory walk across Brooklyn Bridge (to walk off the pizzas and ice cream)!  Once we got to the Manhattan side, we walked around City Hall for a bit and then over to South Street Seaport.  Pier 17 was closed because of some major renovation this summer, but there were many pop-up shops, food trucks, and beer garden to keep things interesting. We chose to relax on the lounge chairs with our cold drinks :)

On Sunday, we went to Alstede Farm for their annual Strawberry Harvest Festival. We made a brief stop to visit the farm animals, and then it was time to hit the strawberry fields in search for the plumpest, juiciest berries.

The rewards of our hard work: red, juicy strawberries (and ice cream)! Some are odd-looking, too.

Anyway, the recipe I have for you today is inspired by a recent discovery of mine.  There are few things I love about Whole Foods.

First: the fresh seafood.  They sell fresh oysters which they will gladly shuck at the store and pack in ice, which means I can bring them home and greedily eat a dozen by myself in hiding, or make fried oysters, without having to risk cutting my fingers off.

Second: the fact that the On Tap bar (do you have one of those in your nearest WF?) near me serves doughnuts from Doughnut Plant.  Yum!

Third: the Guac-Kale-Mole!  I tried that for the first time last week when I picked up a container out of curiosity, and I loved every bite.

I can never get enough of guacamole or avocado for that matter (who’s with me?) and will eat anything tossed into the mix.  The addition of kale is not just trendy, but actually a great idea.  It adds extra oomph to the guacamole – giving you something to chew on – without taking away from the simple goodness and creaminess of the plain old guacamole.

I went home and decided to come up with my own version.  Like I mentioned before in my kale salad post, kale can be tough and chewy, but if you take the time to massage the leaves until they soften, and then chop them up finely, you won’t have that problem.  By the way, this is a great way to sneak some kale into your reluctant family member/child/significant other’s diet.

Guac-kale-mole is packed with ingredients that can’t possibly be bad for you.  In fact, avocados and kale are considered superfoods.  Go make a batch and enjoy it as a guilt-free midday snack!