Week 6 Kale!

1 head of red cabbage

1 head of broccoli

a bag of peaches

a bag of green beans

1 bunch of kale

1 bunch of onions

1 zucchini

This week’s box holds some interesting treats.  I like getting things that can have extended growing seasons and may come in either the early Summer or Fall.  Multiple plantings make for a very long green bean season. Kale is a great spring green that also will survive fall frosts.  I believe its even better when it has survived a frost.  Broccoli is another great early and late vegetable.

Broccoli is fun to pick.  The part we eat is actually a flower.  It grows in the center of the plant.  Mature, Broccoli is about two feet tall, and is fairly easy to pick.  Several years ago, Great Country Farms had quite a bit of Broccoli available very late in the season, and invited CSA members to pick an unlimited amount.  I came out and picked about ten pounds thinking I would freeze what didn’t get eaten immediately.  After all, frozen (when you’ve picked it yourself) beats store bought every time.

I did the very best job I could cleaning what I had picked.  Everything got washed and processed, and put into freezer bags.  What didn’t get frozen went into the fridge to be eaten later in the week.  When I went to cook the Broccoli a couple of days later, I must have been a little nonchalant in the washing process.  Sure enough, caterpillars showed up on my middle daughter’s serving of Broccoli….not one, not two…three.  My bad joke about finding half a caterpillar being worse than finding a whole caterpillar didn’t help things.

But today’s recipe isn’t about Broccoli.  Its about Kale.  Kale is a wonderful super green.  It is delicious in smoothies, dried as chips, raw in salads or cooked like spinach.  I love kale in almost every way it can be cooked.  Today's recipe is a cooked salad.  This would also be very good raw.  If you go raw, dress the salad just before serving.  You could also add red peppers, carrots and other veggies to give the dish some color.

Week 6 Kale Salad

1 large bunch of Kale

1 small onion sliced thin

2T low salt soy sauce

1T Sesame oil

1T toasted sesame seeds

1 garlic clove finely minced, or 1T garlic scrape finely chopped 

2 T honey

1 T Rice Vinegar

Be sure to wash your Kale.  Sand and dirt love to get into the nooks and crannies of the leaves.  Kale has also been known to be the home of the occasional clingy bug.  If they’re damaged or not nice looking, feel free to cut the very ends of the leaves off and discard them.  The rest of the leaf is completely edible.

Cut the leaves off of the thickest part of the stem.  Chop the leaves into one inch lengths.  Cut the stems into one inch slices.  Place the stems into ½ cup of boiling water to steam (you will want a large sauté pan for this step, the Kale will cook down quickly, but a large pan to start is best).  Steam the stems for just a couple of minutes, until they just start to soften, then add the leaves, you will have a big pile of Kale, but it really will cook quickly.

Once the Kale has cooled to a point where you can easily handle it, place it in a strainer, and squeeze out as much liquid as you can.  Discard the liquid, but keep the Kale.

In a separate bowl, mix the soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, honey and vinegar.  Pour the dressing over the Kale, add the onion and chill for at least 30 minutes.  Just before serving, top with the sesame seeds.

Enjoy!