Kale Recipes and Photos from the first Harvest

First, Kale recipes.

From Julia:


I found a wonderful recipe for kale and potatoes that we had with dinner tonight. Here is the link:
Kale and Potato Recipe

I made a couple of changes. I used whole milk instead of cream, added a small pinch of nutmeg, and I drizzled a few tablespoons of really good olive oil in before serving. Jen said she could eat it every day.

From The Jacoby's:
Here are three recipes from the South Mountain Veggies web site. We always do really well with the bean/Kale soup recipes. The kids love them. I also have a recipe for "Kale Chips" --also listed below.



Cannellini Bean Soup with Kale and Garlic-Olive Oil Crostini (courtesy of foodtv.com)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the bruschetta
6 to 8 cloves garlic, thinly sliced, plus 1 or 2 more whole cloves
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 quarts chicken stock, water, or a combination
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large bunch kale, large ribs removed, chopped
1 baguette

Directions
Heat oil in a large pot. Add garlic and oregano and cook no more than a minute. Add tomato paste and vinegar, and cook another minute. Add beans and stock and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper. Add kale and simmer, partially covered, for 1 hour. Season, to taste, again with salt and pepper before serving.

Slice baguette on a heavy angle to create long slices. Toast in a toaster or in the conventional oven. Rub once or twice with half a garlic clove. Season a shallow plate of extra-virgin olive oil with salt and dip each side of bread into the oil. Serve as accompaniment to the soup.

I thought this recipe sounded perfect because of the fact we are introducing our new line of breads this week! There is a par baked french bread loaf you can order and heat briefly in the oven and it would be delicious in this soul warming soup...ENJOY!

Raw Tuscan Kale Salad

1 bunch Tuscan kale (for ex: black or lacinato)
2 thin slices country bread, or two handfuls good, homemade coarse breadcrumbs
1/2 garlic clove
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus a pinch
1/4 cup (or small handful) grated pecorino cheese, plus adiitional for garnish
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional for garnish
Freshly squeezed juice of one lemon (scant 1/4 cup or ~50ml)
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Trim the bottom few inches off the kale stems and discard. Slice the kale into 3/4-inch ribbons. You should have 4 to 5 cups. Place the kale in a large bowl.
If using the bread, toast it until golden brown on both sides and dry throughout. Tear into small pieces and pulse in a food processor until the mixture forms coarse crumbs, or crumbs to your liking.
Using a mortar and pestle or a knife, pound or mince the garlic and 1/4 teaspoon of salt into a paste. Transfer the garlic to a small bowl. Add 1/4 cup cheese, 3 tablespoons oil, lemon juice, pinch of salt, pepper flakes, and black pepper and whisk to combine. Pour the dressing over the kale and toss very well (the dressing will be thick and need lots of tossing to coat the leaves).. Let the salad sit for 5 minutes, then serve topped with the bread crumbs, additional cheese, and a drizzle of oil.


Kale and Potato Gratin

1 1/2 pounds thin-skinned boiling potatoes such as red potatoes
1 bunch kale
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoon Coarse salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup Bread crumbs
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Get a pot of water boiling large enough to accommodate the potatoes. Also prepare an ice bath.

Meanwhile, slice the potatoes 1/4"-thick. Set aside. Remove and discard the spines from the kale then chop the remaining leaves in 1/2"-thick ribbons by stacking the leaves and slicing in the direction of the veins. This doesn’t need to be exact, as long as you end up with a pile of roughly 1/2"-thick shreds of kale.

When the water is boiling, add a dash of salt and gently drop in the potatoes, cooking for about 2-3 minutes, until tender, but not cooked through. Drain and plunge into the ice bath. Drain again and dump onto a dish towel and blot.

In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Add the kale and rub the olive oil mixture aggressively into the leaves. Layer the kale and potatoes alternately with a sprinkling of bread crumbs and Parmesan in a 9″×12″ rectangular casserole or glass or ceramic baking dish.

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes, until top is crispy.

Crispy Kale Chips

• Using a bunch of curly leaf kale (it reduces quite a bit, so consider how many people you are serving), wash and dry very well. Strip the leaves from the stems and rip into medium size pieces, not too small, not whole big sections. Spread out on parchment paper on a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan. Make sure they are really dry!!! Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes. I've given them a little stir if they are crisping up.

  They are best served immediately, but I've also had success with turning off the oven and letting them sit for a little bit as long as they don't burn.

And from Susan:

http://www.joyfulbelly.com/Ayurveda/recipe/Kale-with-Coconut-Fennel/307

This is a link to an Ayurvedic web site which has GREAT veggie recipes! If you would like to learn about Ayurveda you can go to my website, www.breathebooks.com and click on the Ayurveda page.

I also teach cooking classes! Next class is on Sunday June 12 at my house. Space is limited. This month we are cooking Ayurvedic Vegetarian foods for the Summer (Pitta) season...will probably use some goodies from the garden!



And here is a salad recipe from Shane:


Had a tasty Butter Crunch salad yesterday - wow!

As follows are a few photos of our glorious first harvest for your dissemination (I can't seem to attach files within the google group for some reason), as well as Meaghan and I's go to salad dressing adopting from Baltimore Food Makers:

¼ cup balsamic vinegar or fresh- squeezed lemon juice
¼ tsp salt
1⁄8 tsp fresh ground pepper ½ tsp coarse-grain prepared mustard (like Grey Poupon)
¾ cup of the best extra-virgin olive oil you can lay hands on

Place above ingredients except olive oil in a screw-top jar and shake until salt dissolves. Add oil to jar in small increments (no more than ¼ cup at a time), shaking to emulsify. Store at room temperature.

Try adding some fun things in the first step—although not all at once! If you try these you need to either use all the dressing at one time or keep it refrigerated.

1 clove garlic, pushed through a garlic press
finely chopped shallot
drizzle of honey
finely chopped fresh herbs
mashed anchovies