Seamus Mullen posted a tip for making this 7-minute egg perfection on instagram a few days ago, and after listening to him on the Rich Roll podcast yesterday I was inspired to make ’em. I put ’em on top of a kale salad with shallots and leeks that had been cooked in ghee and hot sauce.

Perfection, indeed.

But let’s back up to the podcast for a second. If you or anyone you know/love is dealing with a medical condition, struggling in a bad cycle of pain > medication > helplessness, etc… have a listen. Seamus and Rich both know a lot about health and wellness and overcoming disease, and it’s not only inspiring to hear their stories, but you’ll probably learn a thing or two as well. I know I did.

http://www.richroll.com/podcast/seamus-mullen/

Now, to make the eggs!

Boil a pot of water, drop your eggs in, set a timer for 7 minutes, then plunge into a bowl of ice.

Done. Perfect gooey yolks.

What happens when a kale and a brussels sprout make a baby? KALE SPROUTS.

What happens when you roast said kale sprouts in the oven for 10 minutes with a touch of olive oil, salt and pepper? CRUNCHY SPROUT GOODNESS.

Also: the easiest TV Dinner side dish ever.

I bought a bag of these cuties at Trader Joe’s the other day but I heard they’ve also been popping up at area farmer’s markets. So be on the lookout.

B gobbled them right up, too. So ya know they pass the smell test.

Arielle is a nutritionist who has a fun, clean-eating cooking show on Glamour Magazine so she has some great tips for healthy living. My favorite one, which I plan to start doing this week, is for quick smoothies/shakes. She says to prep all of your ingredients — fruits, vegetables, powders, extras — then take all of that (everything you would have in a shake/smoothie except any liquid you might add: almond milk, coconut water, etc…) and put it in single serving ziploc baggies. Then freeze them.

That way the next time you want a quick shake or smoothie but don’t have time to prepare one, you can just grab a baggie out of the freezer and toss it in the blender with your liquid. No chopping, cutting, or measuring… just blending and enjoying.

Genius, right?!

I already keep some fruit in my freezer, but this is a whole other level. One that I can’t wait to be on.

While I do, there’s something else new and exciting… quasi-related to this meal: since having dinner at their apartment, Noah and Marissa had a beautiful baby daughter Eden Allie Coslov. She is the sweetest little lovebug who, while a bit young for this kale salad now, will one day be so lucky to eat all of their delicious cooking.

When Brian woke up and told me he thought he felt an itch, a scratch, a something funny in his throat, I immediately ran downstairs to the kitchen where I keep my cookbooks. I knew exactly what my husband needed: Alicia Silverstone’s Magical Healing Soup. (The Kind Diet was my original bible when I first went vegan, years ago. It’s now a whole delightful community: The Kind Life.)

I riff on her original masterpiece a bit by not using daikon radish, ginger juice or shoyu… but instead adding kale. Lots of it. You can throw in whatever vegetables you like (bok choy is always good here, too) and of course feel free to use soy sauce instead of Tamari. I choose Tamari because the soy sauce has gluten and soy, both of which I avoid. But the two taste almost exactly identical.

If you don’t have a cold or sore throat yet, or think it’s just too soon for soup, then bookmark this recipe for later in the season; you’re definitely going to need it. Otherwise live a little! Make it now, on one of the first chilly nights of fall. A bowl of warm, fresh vegetables always does a body good.

Get this: B hasn’t complained about his throat since he had the soup Tuesday night.

Magical.

We ate it with a piece of fish on the side, but you could easily toss shrimp, chicken or tofu in the pan and mix/cook it altogether. Don’t forget to drizzle it with sesame oil — just a touch — and you’ll feel like you’re having dinner in your local Chinese restaurant.

I adapted this recipe from the always dependable Love & Lemons… and the best part? It tastes even better the next day as leftovers. Throw it in tupperware, bring it to work, and get ready to make some colleagues very jealous.

Fast forward 24 months and I finally made my own here at home. Not as dreamy on a rainy, grey evening in the West Village, but the dish was just as delicious. Almost.

I won’t sugarcoat this: paella takes forever to make. For-e-ver. It’s worth it, yes, but you have to be prepared for this undertaking. You must have the time, the patience, and a few different pots and pans ready. I made my own mushroom broth a la Bobby Flay’s recipe for Bon Appetit, but you can save yourself a ton of the hassle by using a box of vegetable broth instead. I know the homemade broth added a lot of flavor — I’m glad I made it — but you can easily make up for it by adding more spices or veggies.

I also chose to forgo the egg and instead use shrimp and mussels, mainly because B’s not the biggest egg fan and I thought the seafood would make it a heartier meal, but feel free to add any meat, fish or other vegetables. Paella can be whatever you want it to be… but this way, with mushrooms, kale, mussels and shrimp… PERFECTO.

Anyway, the one-pan farro! This was Claire’s original endorsement: “Making double batches of Smitten Kitchen’s absurdly easy one-pan farro with tomatoes to last me for the whole week—it somehow manages to taste better reheated.”

I can now firmly second this notion. I made it last Sunday and had it for lunch the next two days. My only riff was to add kale and lots of sriracha to the pot when I added everything else… and I nixed the cheese on top. So go ahead and follow Smitten Kitchen’s recipe and you’ll be golden. Then, sign up for Of a Kind’s newsletter. Thank me later.

All you need is kale, avocado, lemon, and sea salt. I added a little extra virgin olive oil cause I only had one lonely lime laying around and it needed a bit more liquid. (The lime by the way, was great — but I bet lemon would be even better a la Rina.) She also sprinkles it with parmesan cheese but since I don’t eat dairy I decided to add some pumpkin seeds. The crunch (and added antioxidants) were a perfect addition.

I’d love to hear what you put in your kale salad, or how you prepare yours — so let me know. Either way I can’t think of a better, healthier meal that takes less than 10 minutes to make.

So I fell into the BuzzFeed trap — happily, I might add — and clicked, scrolled, emailed to B, grocery shopped and cooked it. Oh wait, I missed a step — arguably the most important in BuzzFeedLand — I tweeted about wanting to make it. [And now I’m blogging about tweeting about it, natch.] But I can’t help myself when something looks this delicious, healthy and fun to make; I’m gonna tell the world about it. Or at least the 8-odd-thousand that follow me on the 140.

So John, Mister Winter Stew Correspondent, humbly suggested poaching an egg on top of the stew, something I do not know how to do. Originally I thought I’d give it a try — but luckily my friend Leslie (hot blonde on the left) is an old pro at it — so she jumped into Sous Chef-mode and nimbly handled that finishing touch. If you don’t know how, learn along with me via this tutorial. [Disclaimer: I’ve already ruined three eggs trying; it looks a lot easier than it is.]

Meantime the stew was everything I (and John) had hyped it up to be. (I left out their cinnamon and sherry vinegar and it was still perfection.) In fact Leslie’s husband Isaac gushed about how delightful it was for a guy who usually eats meat to have such a satisfying, filling vegetarian meal. B loved it too; he said the kale was cooked to the perfect consistency. My very own Winter Kale Correspondent.