Guilt-fuelled supper - kale and chickpea side dish recipe

I have a confession. I'm not proud. It was unavoidable but it made a certain six year old very happy!

Here it is. I went to the big yellow arches for lunch today. #GASP

Before your mind starts running away with you imagining how my body is coping after eating such culinary delights, I had a salad. A grilled chicken salad, with leaves and cherry tomatoes...... Oh OK, and a SMALL packet of fries. It's practically illegal to leave without having fries. 

In my defence, it's the Easter holidays. There's no one to look after babypuddleduck - mum is at work, dad is winning crown green bowling competitions and daddypuddleduck is chained to his stand at the Gadget  Show - so the only option was a day in the office with me. 

Bless her, I cannot complain at all. She was polite, quiet, occupied herself with puzzles, colouring and letter writing, reading 14 chapters of The Twits, crafting robots from postit notes and watched Paddington the movie (again!). 

So I could hardly refuse when she looked at me with her angelic face and doe-eyes and asked to go to Maccies for lunch! 

Kale & chickpea gently spiced side dish

In all honesty, it was better than expected. The food I mean, not the experience. The girl on the till threw the ingredients and nutritional information book at me rather than explain what the gluten and dairy free options were (luckily I'd already googled it and was just double checking but that's beside the point! Incidentally, as an aside, the grilled chicken salad is only gluten free outside of Yorkshire! Work that one out!).

The result was one happy babypuddleduck, who continued to shine and amuse herself for the afternoon knowing full well we were now even so she daren't risk upsetting the apple cart by being disruptive or demanding. 

But pretty much half an hour later I just craved something nutritious and healthy to cancel out the badness. By four I was mentally surveying the fridge for options for tea. By six I was desperate for nutrients and by 8, thankfully it was all over and I felt i had redeemed myself with a gorgeous thrown together but substantial tea.

creamy kale & chickpea side dish recipe - dairy and gluten free 

I am loving kale at the moment but I didn't know what to cook with kale. What flavours compliment kale? I think this worked out really well with the spice and flavour bringing the kale to life and the chickpeas adding another texture, filling out the dish and making it super satisfying.

Steak with seasoned sweet potato wedges and a kale and chickpea side 
Serves 2 (with leftovers for lunch)

Peel and chop three to four sweet potatoes  into wedges. Pour two tablespoons of oil in a roasting dish and add half a teaspoon of nutmeg and / or cinnamon. Roast in a 200C (fan 180C) oven for 40 minutes. Stir once during cooking to ensure the potatoes cook evenly and don't get burnt edges - it's very easy to burn sweet potato, just five minutes too long and they're crispy and charcoal-y rather than soft and caramelised.

Cook your steak using you preferred method for as long as you like your steak cooked. 

Dairy and gluten free creamy kale and chickpea recipe

Dairy and gluten free creamy kale and chickpea recipe

For the Kale & Chickpea side dish add a table spoon of oil to a large frying pan. Add either two cloves of freshly crushed garlic, a teaspoon of minced garlic from a jar or a teaspoon of lazy garlic. All will work equally well.

Fry for two minutes.

Add two large handfuls of chopped kale, a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas, a teaspoon of cumin and half a teaspoon of paprika - we used hot which certainly gave this dish a kick! Add a sprinkling of salt and pepper to season.

Fry for five minutes

Stir through half a tub of soya single cream (or Oat cream, or any other dairy alternative) and serve. 

What a scrummy tea. There was plenty of left overs to take to work the following day too. 

Dairy and gluten free creamy kale and chickpea recipe