Crispy Coconut Roasted Kale, Sweet Potatoes and Coconut Rice with Fried Rice.
Our meal co-op has gone through a bunch of changes in the last year. Jenny’s family moved to Oregon so Jenny could go to nursing school. Adana also went back to school, and to support her as she has been juggling so much, we offered to cook her lunches - just small versions of our larger meal - so she wouldn’t have to worry about feeding herself. As an aside - I’ve recently been reading about the new popularity of lunch clubs… taking turns cooking for colleagues at work - so smart! Our meal co-op now has a core group of 3 families and others can join in as it works for them.
With change comes opportunity and also grief. Recently I’ve found myself missing Jenny and her meals a lot. So this week I’m making the first meal that Jenny ever made for us - more than three years ago. It still makes my mouth water whenever I think about it - Crispy Coconut Roasted Kale, Sweet Potatoes and Coconut Rice with Fried Rice. It’s an adaptation from this recipe from Food52 but Jenny swapped out the roasted salmon with fried eggs, and I prefer it.
It’s amazing how food binds us together, the memories it stirs. When I interviewed Jenny about what it’s been like being part of our meal co-op and to pick her brain about this experiment, she mentioned how unusual it was to get to know people through their food. And for Jenny, who in her words “ cooking meals is not my love language” - it seems important to talk about how meaningful her food has been for each us even when it felt like a bigger effort.
I’ll write more about this soon - meal prep hacks that help us stay sane! - but in order to have this meal ready for drop-offs this morning I did some prep over two days. I made the rice just before bed, prepped the sweet potatoes and kale, made the dressing, and actually roasted the sweet potatoes before bed. Then early this morning I roasted the kale, put coconut rice, sweet potatoes and kale into jars. And then cut up an egg carton to divide up the eggs. Done!
Crispy Coconut Roasted Kale, Sweet Potatoes and Coconut Rice with Fried Rice.
Serves 4 (I tripled this for our group this week)
1 cup jasmine rice, uncooked
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons coconut aminos (or tamari)
1 tablespoon Sriracha
3 sweet potatoes, cubed
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
1 bunch lacinato kale, ribs removed and sliced into strips
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
4 eggs
Instructions:
Rinse rice in cold water and drain. Place in a saucepan with coconut milk, water, and salt. Bring to a boil and stir. Reduce to the lowest heat, cover, and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes, or until ready to serve (it will stay warm for up to an hour).
While the rice is cooking, heat oven to 400° F. In a lidded jar, combine the melted coconut oil, sesame oil, coconut aminos, and Sriracha. Seal the jar and shake vigorously until emulsified.
Place the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet. Drizzle with a tablespoon of melted coconut oil and sprinkle with paprika. Toss to coat. Bake for 30 minutes or until tender.
Place kale and coconut flakes on a baking sheet. Drizzle with about 2/3 of the dressing. Toss until well coated.
Remove sweet potatoes and kale from oven.
Heat olive oil in a pan, fry the eggs until crispy around the edges and yet still runny yolks.
Serve everything over fluffed rice with an extra drizzle of dressing. Devour!