FoodShare GFB Diaries - Kale
Kale is pretty common in the GFB. So this post will cover 3 ways to make kale. Tuscan kale is my favourite!
First, here’s how you store kale
When I get kale and sweet potatoes (or squash) in my box, I will always make a Harvest Salad. I always keep dried cranberries and pepitas in my pantry for this reason. I usually make mine with quinoa, but I imagine faro would also work well.
Harvest Salad with kale and sweet potatoes
Peel the 2 sweet potatoes, chop them into cubes, toss with olive oil and salt, and roast them in a pre-heated oven at 400 F for 30 minutes or until golden. (Shortcut - before you toss them with oil, cook them on high for 8 minutes in the microwave in a microwave safe dish, cool, then toss with olive oil and place on parchment lined pan, in the preheated oven. Cuts the oven time significantly).
Cook 1 cup of quinoa or faro (I use my rice cooker - love a short cut!).
Prepare vinaigrette, with 1/3 cup olive oil, 1 tsp Dijon, 1/4 cup white wine vinegar (or lemon juice or apple cider vinegar), 1 tsp honey, salt and pepper.
Wash and tear half the bunch of kale received (keep the rest for the uses below). And this week, since we got frisee in the box too, I’ll add a few leaves of frisee as well.
When sweet potatoes and quinoa are cooled, mix everything together with dried cranberries and pepitas. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Crispy kale and eggs
I used to make soggy kale and eggs and my partner hated them. One day I made the mistake of nearly burning my kale, and thus was born the crispy kale and eggs dish. Which is now a beloved staple for our household.
The secret is really to sauté the shredded or cut kale (stems removed) in a tablespoon or two of oil and salt over medium heat, until brown crispy spots appear. The salt works to remove the moisture of the kale so you can get the crispy consistency.
Then add eggs on top, either whole or mixed (as if you were creating scrambled eggs). Cover with lid and continue cooking on medium heat to your desired egg doneness. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Optional but recommended: Add cheese on top (love this with Brie or Cheddar but I think it would work well with most melty cheese) and cover with lid again. Turn off heat and let it rest until cheese is melted.
Creamy pasta with kale
Tuscan kale especially adds a nice texture to cream based pastas. Which are super simple to make if you have whipping cream and parmesan (and bonus points if you can steep a parmesan rind in the cream - save all your rinds folks!).
Mushrooms are an excellent addition if you have them. I usually keep dried mushrooms in my pantry so I’ll reconstitute these in water for a few hours, then julienne. Sometimes the GFB includes beautiful local mushrooms that work so well in this dish!
Cook any kind of pasta the usual way, reserving a half cup of pasta water.
In another pan, sautee onions or shallots in olive oil until softened, add chopped garlic. If you have mushrooms, add these now and sautee for a couple of minutes with some salt added (to remove the moisture from the mushrooms, per above). Add chopped destemmed Tuscan kale, sautee to your desired consistency (as per above, we like our kale on the crispy charred end, and make sure to use the salt tip above to get you there). Add pasta water, a cup of cream and Parmesan rind, some dried thyme and or oregano, black pepper.