If you’re trying to eat local as much as possible – and between the super E-coli scare in Europe, periodic food contaminants from China and food home security, who isn’t? – what you’re looking at in our local farm markets right now are the last of the early greens and the first veggies – kale, radishes, kohlrabi, maybe some early scallions and green-topped onions. Most of us didn’t grow up loving this little group. “What’s for dinner, Ma?”
“Kale!”
“Oooh goody!”
Unh uh. My father loved kale, lightly boiled and drizzled with vinegar, which is how we ate spinach too, but you never saw fresh kale in the market. In frozen blocks yes, a bitter to boot, but not fresh. You couldn’t even have tried to make ‘Massaged Kale Salad,’ a recipe that a friend loves whose link is below. I hated kale until I had it fresh and sautéed with onions alongside a lamb chop. That supper earned that leafy early brassica a place in my garden. And, I discovered, it’s the gift that keeps on giving. Like chard and lettuces, you can harvest kale several times before it gets bitter and woody.
Kale (aka borecole) has lately been called the Queen of Greens since it is such a nutritional powerhouse. According to WebMD: One cup of kale contains 36 calories, 5 grams of fiber, and 15% of the daily requirement of calcium and vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), 40% of magnesium, 180% of vitamin A, 200% of vitamin C, and 1,020% of vitamin K. It is also a good source of minerals copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus. (However, for those on blood thinners, the Vitamin K in kale and virtually all other cruciferous vegetables — broccoli, cauliflower, etc. — is off-limits.).
Kale is delicious sautéed with shallots in olive oil with salt and pepper (a virtuous lunch my meat-loving Visigoth actually enjoys), stir-fried with sweet peppers, garlic, hot pepper oil and tamari with chives and cilantro, or chopped fresh into chicken stock with shallots for a quick lunch or side. There are some wonderful soups with kale as one of the mail ingredients – Italian Ribollita, Zuppa Tosacana (creamy sausage and potato soup), Bean and kale soup – as well as main dishes like Sweet and Savory Kale, Kale and Butternut Lasagna, Kale timbale. All can be made ahead and reheated during the week.
For a super-charged really quick lunch, chop fresh, de-stemmed kale into boiling chicken stock along with a chopped shallot or onion. It’s about ten minutes from no food to delicious, nourishing and cheap lunch. And, it doesn’t take that much more time and effort to turn virtually any vegetable into a timbale – basically a vegetable and cheese casserole.
Kale Timbale
4 cups kale, de-stemmed and rough-chopped
½ cup onion, chopped or 2-3 shallots, chopped
2 tblsp sweet pepper, minced
1 tsp, (approx.) fresh thyme, lemon thyme
2 tblsp olive oil or canola oil
1 cup ricotta or 1 cup cottage cheese made smooth in the processor
1 cup grated cheddar or gruyere or feta
3 tblsp mixed fresh herbs – parsley, basil, lemon basil, one leaf sage, chives, oregano, cilantro
2 eggs, beaten
½ cup plain yogurt
1 tsp parika
1 tsp hot sauce (optional)
1 tsp Worcestershire
¼ cup Parmesan, grated
Sauté kale, onions/shallots, peppers , thyme in oil with a dash of salt and pepper for five minutes or until completely wilted and nearly ready to eat. In a large bowl, combine cheddar and ricotta or cottage cheese, kale mixture, fresh herbs. In smaller bowl, beat eggs with yogurt, hot sauce, Worcestershire, and a little salt and pepper. Combine with kale mixture. Pour into a buttered or greased casserole, top with grated Parmesan and bake for 45- 50 minutes in a 350F oven or until set and knife inserted in center comes out pretty clean (just as you would do for a custard). Let stand 10 minutes before serving. This is good either hot or cold with a glass or either red of white. (I love versatility!)
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/kale-gratin-with-pancetta-recipe/index.html
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/sauteed-kale-recipe/index.html
https://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Ribollita-Reboiled-Italian-Cabbage-Soup/Detail.aspx
https://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Restaurant-Style-Zuppa-Toscana/Detail.aspx
https://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Bean-Soup-With-Kale/Detail.aspx
https://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sweet-and-Savory-Kale/Detail.aspx
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/timbaleofbeefandkale_85383
https://www.food.com/recipe/corn-timbale-with-kale-268767
https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/the-truth-about-kale
https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/whole-wheat-lasagna-with-butternut-squash-kale-10000001704059/
https://www.marthastewart.com/313468/lasagna-with-sausage-and-kale
https://annies-eats.net/2011/03/01/spicy-kale-lasagna/
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