Recipe: Curly Kale and Sweet Potato Hash (V)

So I had to change my diet completely due to getting gestational diabetes again. Luckily, this time round I am not on any medication but I’ve been given the blood sugar testing kit so no cheating! I have to abide by my new diet rules and portion control to prevent baby from becoming too big.

I had a group meeting with the diabetic nurse and dietician last Wednesday and we went over the foods we can and can’t eat. To top it off, I’ve only gained 0.5kg since the start of the pregnancy so it means somewhere along the way I lost a lot of my weight along the way. It’s quite sad because the dietician now says I need to start putting more weight on.

It’s almost like a catch-22 as I am scared to gain the weight as I don’t want my baby to be too big but because of the low weight gain, I have no choice but to do so. I’ve been told to up on the milk so I’ve added in drinking a glass of whole milk before bed and eating more yoghurts and cheese.

I’ve been checking out the GI index of foods and seeing what my best options are. I created this little recipe a while back when I was experimenting with curly kale. It’s so simple, super healthy and nutritious, suitable for vegetarians (can be modified for vegans) and has a low GI index so I can eat loads of it. BASICALLY, a winning recipe. 🙂

This dish can be enjoyed as a quick and delicious side or main!

It also pairs up nicely with some chicken wings!

Seriously, I can’t explain how DELICIOUS this dish is! Daddy P is not a fan of veggies but the colours were bright enough to attract him to try it out… he loved it! He said he didn’t expect it to be that nice but he really likes eating it. I serve his with pan-fried salmon as he’s not a meat-eater like me.

You can also eat this kale and sweet potato hash on its own or as a side accompaniment. It’s completely up to you. I sometimes like to just eat it by itself to help cut down on the carbs and it’s so filling, I don’t mind it without any protein options either but you can easily add it to any protein option you like.

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Recipe: Curly Kale and Sweet Potato Hash

Time: prep – 5mins, cooking – 25-30mins
Servings: 2 generous portions

This yummy recipe only needs a handle of ingredients

Ingredients:

• A bag of curly kale (rinsed)
• 2 large sweet potatoes (peeled and diced)
• 1/2 onion (sliced thinly)
• 1 clove of garlic (crushed)
• 1-2 tbsp dark soy sauce (light or low-salt soy are good alternatives)
• 1 tbsp of cooking oil
• 1 tbsp honey, preferably dark honey (maple or agave syrup to make it vegan-friendly)
• Pinch of black pepper to taste

Method:

1. Fill the saucepan with water and boil the sweet potatoes. If you prefer to leave the skin on you can do. Boil until soft but slightly firm inside (this took me about 15-20 mins on a medium/high heat).
2. Drain the water and place the sweet potatoes to one side and allow it to cool down.
3. Add the oil, garlic and onions to a wok or saucepan and turn the heat to medium/high. Fry until slightly golden then add in the curly kale and stir frequently.
4. Stir fry the curly kale for about 2-3 mins then add the soy sauce and black pepper. Adjust it to your taste but I like a generous drizzle. Use a light or low-salt soy sauce as the salt content in soy sauce is high. But as we’re not adding any extra salt, I like to use dark soy sauce.
5. When the curly kale has turned dark green and decreased in volume, add in the diced sweet potatoes and gently stir to mix together.
6. Add a splash of water to help create a little steam to get the flavours all blending together and cook for another minute then remove from the heat.

Et voila! Plate up as a main and eat it alone or serve it with some protein – I like it with chicken wings!

Recipe: curly kale & sweet potato hash

Did you give this recipe a try? If so, let me know what you think of it below!

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