All Hail the Kale (butter)! An Engine-2 Recipe

I recently read “The Engine 2 Diet” by Rip Esselstyn. I even got to meet him at a Whole Foods Engine 2 Diet kickoff! He was really great and what he’s doing for Americans is wonderful! For those of you not familiar, he is the son of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn Jr. Dr. Esselstyn Jr. is a heart doctor who, for the last 30 years, has been reversing and curing heart disease in some of the absolute worst patients in America simply through a plant-based diet. Along with reversing their heart disease, most people find great relief, if not cure, all their other diseases as well. If you watch the documentary “Forks Over Knives” you can learn more about this amazing diet and what it has done/is doing for people. Former President Clinton has been on this diet for the last 2 years or so and it has changed his health tremendously. Anywho, Rip is his firefighter, tri-athlete son who helped his Austin, TX firefighting troop reverse their heart disease and other issues they were having by starting a firehouse “Plant Strong” diet. The firefighters would come together for breakfast, lunch and dinner on their shift and create yummy meals together and supported each other in their endeavor. His movement spread through the community and more and more people became “Plant Strong” and majorly improved their health! Well, this post is about one of his “spreads” in his cookbook-Kale Butter. When you go vegan there are a few things that will change when it comes to dips and finding something to wet/dress your sandwich etc. One thing that has replaced mayo for me is hummus. Another is this kale butter. I use it as a vegetable dip, on my veggie wraps, and on my Sloppy Jasons (haha) too! It’s delicious and is very healthy and, something I like, VERY quick and easy to make! So here we go, let’s make it!!

(recipe copied from his cookbook)

You will need:

• 1bunch of kale, rinsed and chopped
• 1/2 cup of walnuts
• 1/2 cup of water
• Salt to taste

Steam the kale for 5 minutes, until tender. Blend the cooked kale with the walnuts and 1/2 cup of the green water from steaming. Add salt to taste if desired (I, personally, did not and didn’t feel it needed it). Process in blender until smooth.

-Kelli