So yesterday, after buying my first kale at Ann Arbor's brand-spanking new evening farmers' market, I came right home to fix it up for supper, having everything I needed to use within easy reach.
The kale came from Hand-Sown Farm, a brand new farm in Sharon Township, south-west of Ann Arbor. The land is beautiful out there. The lettuce in the photo came from Sunseed Farm, just outside of Ann Arbor. The beet greens in the strata came from Green Diva Farm in Belleville, MI and the eggs from Bridgewater Barns Farm in Bridgewater Township, MI. The asparagus is Michigan-grown and from our local grocery store.
This is kale in its simplest use, just torn up and tossed in a salad. It was delicious and tender, not tough or slightly bitter like what is often sold in the grocery stores. I did take a few of the larger stems and cut them up to cook with the asparagus, but they were tender enough to eat without doing that.
The salad dressing again was simple, just a toss with a little olive oil and also some of our 2010 chive blossom vinegar.
Run down to your local market to pick up your kale and other greens. Remember that radishes are also Brassicas and their greens can also be eaten!
 |
| (Photo: Kale home from the market; purchased from Hand-Sown Farm in Sharon Township, MI. Yes, you are looking at a green counter-top and a green wall. What is gone is the green plaid wall-paper!) |
 |
| (Photo: Dinner - stir-fried Michigan asparagus with roasted garlic from the Dyer Family Farm, kale and lettuce salad with dried tomatoes, strata made with beet greens - yes the beet greens are in there, even if I just realized they cannot seen, yum, yum, yum!) |
 |
| (Photo: supper close-up!) |
Where kale continues to be more than decoration on my plate!
Diana Dyer, MS, RD
Posts
7 comments:
They should have had you as a consultant on the new USDA My Plate!
I haven't tried this yet, but my daughter loves it and sent me the link:
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/11/north-african-chickpea-and-kale-soup.html
Sounds yummy!
I have this recipe somewhere because one of my sons sent it to me too! We must have raised our children on parallel paths. :-)
I'm eager to give it a try, too.
Diana
Love Kale! just harvested 7 pounds of it yesterday. Younger leaves will be put in salad and the others I will saute in olive oil, garlic, onion... enjoy some and then freeze much of it in quart sized containers for when we have an immediate urge.
Kohlrabi -- never my favorite, though I like it grated raw into salads. But last night I cut one into thinnish French fry sized pieces and roasted it with some green beans and red onion. Excellent! The kohlrabi eaten alone was a little bitter (was it just that one, or is that usually the case?), but was just fine when eaten with the beans and onions. I'm glad to have another way to eat kohlrabi, and it upgrades the green beans, too.
I just got two kohlrabi from a local organic farmer this week and neither of them were bitter at all. They were about the size of a smallish tennis ball and freshly. I asked him about bitterness, and he was most surprised at the question. His best guess was the age of the kohlrabi, either how long it had been picked or how big it had been allowed to get on the plant. I'll do some more poking around to ask other farmers, too. In any case, cooking would likely caramelize some of the flavor molecules and make them a bit sweeter, so your idea of roasting them is a great one! Thanks for sharing your experience. :-)
Diana
Those dishes look deliious....I love the way your Kale looks..I'm going to plant some this fall.
Post a Comment