When I was little and learning to play the piano, there was one song that I loved more than any other, and I played it constantly. So much so, that just playing it became kind of pedestrian, and I had to do something to jazz it up…. So I timed myself, to see how fast I could play the piece from beginning to end. It came out sounding just as you would expect a song to sound that a 6 year-old was speed-racing her way through, but I had to do something to make it challenging, and speed was my handicap of choice.

Skip ahead a couple of decades, and I’m not exactly the little pianist hellion banging away on the keys with no thought other than speed…. But, I’m not that far away from her, either. Nice 10 mile commute to work? I’ll ride my bike. Beach read? I’ll take Sophie’s Choice over Sophie Kinsella. Friends over for a work-night dinner? I’ll flake out and make this pan-seared salmon with luscious green sauce, which takes 30 minutes if I’m slow and 15 minutes if I’m in crazy speed-demon mode.

This post is dedicated to my friend, CS. Ever since I added kale to the Oven-Poached Halibut recipe, she has constantly reminded me of how healthful it is, and that we all must eat more kale. And, the thing is, she’s right. Kale is a health super food. According to the World’s Healthiest Foods website, kale has “more nutritional value for fewer calories than almost any other food around.”

It is off the charts for Vitamins K, A & C, and provides a substantial amount of a number of other nutrients, including fiber, calcium, iron, omega 3 fatty acids, and potassium. In short, I’m fully banking on the inclusion of kale in my diet to mitigate, if not negate, the presence of less-virtuous elements in my diet and lifestyle.

It’s not the prettiest dish, but it smells and tastes fantastic.

I am not a fan of ‘cooking-lite.’ If I’m going to do something, I want to do it right, even if it means carrying around a little extra junk in my admittedly full trunk.

Now, this doesn’t mean that I have a total disregard for health or that I’m cramming slices of bacon and hunks of cheese into my mouth all day long. Quite the opposite, it’s just that I would prefer a smaller portion of something that tastes fantastic than a heaping plate of something that tastes so-so.

That being said, scrolling through Besotted, I did notice that there were an awful lot of bacon-y, cream-laden, cheesy, and chocolate-y recipes. At the same time, the seasonal winter-weight-gain has had my pants fitting a bit snugly, and I thought it was time to include a completely healthy, but still rock-your-world delicious Weeknight Dinner recipe.