Kale meatless balls

So at the end of last week I made a big batch of braised kale as a vegetable one night. I was a big fan but my spouse was decidedly not. Which left me with lots of leftovers that I’ve been making my way through. The problem is that I’ve sick and tired and reheated kale. So tonight I was looking at my overly stuffed fridge, thinking “darn it I still have some of that kale left”.

Being a waste not want not kind of girl, I was possessed with a burning need to use the stuff in some new more appealing. I happened to be making some Asian pork meatballs for dinner which got me thinking about Arancini, which are tasty fried balls of rice. I wondered could I put the leftover kale, breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese and egg white in the food processor and get an appropriate consistency to make nice little balls. The answer was yes, I could get the right consistency if I used my eyes and hands to see what was the appropriate ratio. I then rolled each ball in an outer layer of breadcrumbs, placed them on parchment, sprayed with olive oil, and baked for 25 minutes.

The final result was pretty tasty. If I were to do it again I’d make a few of adjustments. First, I’d bake them at a higher temperature for a longer time to get a crisper outer layer. Probably at least 400 for 30 minutes. Second, I’d take them out and flip them mid-baking so that different sides got a chance to crisp up. I’d also serve them with a marinara sauce. For people who eat meat, one might consider adding a small amount of cooked crumbled Italian sausage. This would replicate some of the flavors of the sausage, potato, kale soup which is popular.