Inspired Edibles

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Lemony Kale Bites with Ricotta and Almond

By 52 Comments

Many years ago, when I first discovered that I was pregnant, I found myself in a Sunday afternoon yoga class.  It was one of those overly warm and muggy Toronto days with the sun filtering orange through the windows of a peaceful second floor studio.  It happened to be mother’s day.  The instructor had us come to a seated position with our eyes closed and our bodies quiet.  Once everything was still, she spoke one sentence: 

We are all born of mothers. 
She didn’t instruct us absorb the grandeur of her words nor counsel us to spend five blessed moments in non-judgement of our mothers and every other mother on earth – past, present and future.  She didn’t need to.  Instead, she simply offered silence. We got it. And it was pretty wonderful.

So, with mother’s day upon us, I thought it might be nice to feature a celebratory brunch bite or dinner appetizer.

These nutritious lemony bites are also a delicious and elegant way of working in some of those underutilized power greens into the diet.

They are rolled in a mixture of ricotta and sunflower seeds and finished with a dusting of ground almond.  You can serve them simply on a singular tray with toothpicks or, for a slightly fancier look, on individual serving spoons with a dollop of plain yogurt and lemon zest as shown in the picture. 

(By the way, I bought the serving spoons at a dollar store – an inexpensive and fun way to dress things up a bit for guests and special occasions).
Lemony Kale Bites with Ricotta and Almond
    • 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
    • 3 garlic cloves, minced
    • 6 cups kale, chopped (you could also use spinach, swissh chard or bok choy)
    • Joice of one lemon
    • Zest of one lemon
    • 1 cup ricotta cheese
    • 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
    • 1 egg
    • sea salt & coarse black pepper to taste
    • 3/4 cup ground almond
    • 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt and some extra lemon zest for serving
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Notes:
Make Ahead: You can make the kale bites in advance and simply store them in the fridge prior to baking.  You can also freeze the bites once baked.  Transfer them to an airtight container and freeze for up to two months.  Reheat at 375 F for 15 minutes or until hot.

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Heat oven to 400 F.

Sauté onion and garlic over low heat in a large skillet with olive oil until translucent (about 5 minutes).   Add kale and cook, stirring, for another 5 minutes or until wilted and soft.  Remove skillet from heat and set aside to cool slightly.

Place kale mixture into a blender or food processor along with lemon juice, lemon zest, ricotta, sunflower seeds, egg and a touch of seal salt and black pepper.  Blend until the kale has broken down into small bits and the mixture appears relatively well combined.
Remove kale mixture from blender and place in a plastic container to be stored in the fridge.
While the kale mixture is chilling in the fridge, grind the almonds (I use a coffee grinder for nuts/seeds).
Place ground almonds on a flat plate or bowl.  Scoop 1 tablespoon or so of the chilled kale mixture and place it on top of the ground almond.  Cover kale mixture with almond and gently form into a ball with your fingers – the mixture will be soft and somewhat mushy but you should be able to form a ball with it that is mostly coated with almond.
Gently transfer the coated balls to a foil lined and gently greased cookie sheet.
Bake for 15-20 until the bites are achieving a golden colour and beginning to crisp.
Remove from oven and allow them to cool fully before serving with some yogurt and lemon zest.
Makes approximately 20 lemon kale bites.

 

 

We are all born of mothers ~

Comments

  2. Thanks Nami! It’s a different and yummy way of integrating kale into the diet… plus, I bet your kids would never know they were in these mini ‘meat’ balls ;-). Thanks for stopping by. I hope you had a beautiful mother’s day weekend ~

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  4. Hi Jeanette – thank you very much… it’s a fun way to present them for an occasion.

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  5. Thanks so much Stephanie – they’re definitely fun and quite delicious too.

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  8. Thanks Kristy. I had a great weekend and wondeful mother’s day puttering in the yard and just hanging with the boys. Your post made me smile for two days straight – truly. Just loved it.

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  9. Aww, thank you so much Anne! I had a wonderful weekend full of sunshine and laughter and the company of all my boys – couldn’t ask for more! :)

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  10. Thanks foodjaunts – kale balls indeed! ;0) I find the lemon adds for sure…

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  12. Oh dear… time to update the calendar :0) – You can use any greens really in these little bites… cheers Charles!

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  13. Haha, thanks so much for your kind words Lisa! I hope you enjoy if you give it a try :)

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  14. Thanks MJ – I had a wonderful day and very much enjoyed reading your Mother’s day dedication post… it was beautiful.

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  18. Spadina, love it! Thanks so much Eva; mother’s day was lots of fun in the company of my boys! :)

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  19. Ah! Thanks Sissi, I think you do have a little Japanese in you… this plate comes from one of my favourite Japanese stores… I often just browse (even when not buying) because their items are just so pretty…

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  20. mmm… the chili/parm combo sounds pretty wonderful too! Thanks KoKo!

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  21. They’re cute; aren’t they? And if you can find a bunch at an economical price, it’s worthwhile.

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  25. I like it too… I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s day Alyssa ~

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  26. This is a super healthy bites! I’ve never seen kale in a shape of ball. Such a cute presentation too!

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  27. They look gorgeous and perfect for eating with your hands. I love finger food because it means less dishes. LOL

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  29. I brought our my spoons yesterday for my Caesar Shrimp for d’œuvres, thanks for the inspiration, Kelly!

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  30. This is a beautiful appetizer, Kelly! Lemon and kale are a perfect combo!

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  33. We are all born of mothers. Indeed. Love it Kelly!!!! And how amazing that you learned of your soon-to-be motherhood on Mother’s Day! So awesome! I love your serving spoons. I’ve seen these around and just think they are so darn cute. I’m going to have to check the dollar store for sure. I hope you’re having a great weekend Kelly and have an amazing Mother’s Day. I’m loving this appetizer. Lemon – it doesn’t get any better. :)

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  35. Oh they’re like kale “meat”balls! What a fantastic use of kale, and I love that they’re got the contrast of the nuts. The lemon must act as a person accent to the dish.

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  37. Hi Kelly – great quote! I just wish the world would become standardised for Mothers’ day. I called up my mom one day on the “French” mothers’ day to say hi, only to be told that the “English” mothers’ day was a couple of months back… oops :s

    Lovely little bites – still haven’t seen kale here alas, but I can appreciate them from afar!

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  38. Kelly, you really have out done yourself. What a great recipe! I can’t wait to try it!

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  39. What delicious little healthy bites! Kale is so versatile and is just good no matter how it’s fixed. I love the mix of goodness you have here! Great spoons! Hope you have a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend!

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  41. Hi Rebecca, thanks for dropping in.

    If you wanted to treat yourselves to a special outing, I would recommend Treadwell Farm to Table Cuisine just outside the Niagara region (about an hour + 1/2 drive from Toronto) – the resto and region are well worth the trip – Treadwell is situated in the heart of Ontario wine country, it boasts an exquisite wine list, farm to table cuisine and is around the corner from Niagara Falls. Here is the website of the restaurant if you’d like to investigate and make resos: http://www.treadwellcuisine.com/

    Reply

  43. Lovely spoons, I got mine at Tap Phong on Spadina! So much fun.
    It is a lovely brunch hors d’œuvres idea, I really love the flavours in this little bite, with the ricotta. Hope you have a wonderful Mother’s day, Kelly.

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  44. Kelly, these healthy bites sound fantastic! The recipe is as always surprising and very creative. I still have to start cooking kale… The spoons are cute, but I have fallen in love with the rectangular plate! It has such beautiful, joyful colours!

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  45. Ohhh lovely!!! Lemon and kale- perfect!! I do a kale dish with chili and parmesan and it’s great, but I love how you use ricotta in this. So many kale recipes are vegan, but I’ve found cheese is a great pairing with it!

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  48. Beautiful post, beautiful recipe, beautiful message

    A very happy Mother’s Day for you!

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  49. What a unique and intriguing recipe – sounds fabulous and I LOVE the way you present the dish.
    :-) Mandy

    Reply

  52. My husband and I will be in Toronto for Memorial Day weekend (we live in VA). We have never visited the city before and would love some restaurant recommendations. I’m all about supporting local farms and the farm to table concept… any ideas?

    Reply

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