Bella Cucina

This week’s box features fresh, local kale.  Wandering around the store today, I noticed that there were lots of Vidalia onions as well as beautiful white mushrooms.  Vidalia onions have a mild, sweet flavor that just screams, “Caramelize me!”  While you can use these in any recipe that calls for onions, you might want to save these for something where you can cook them loooooow and sloooooow.  A little butter, a small pinch of salt, and a good bit of time over a medium-low flame turns them into magic.

Don’t crinkle your nose over plain ol’ white mushrooms, either.  Chefs around the world prize these mushrooms, due to their versatility and flavor.  Remember to never wash mushrooms.  All they need is a soft brush to remove any debris on them (a clean paper towel works well too), and they’re ready to go.  Quarter the big ones and halve the small ones, toss them in with your caramelizing onions, and you’ll have a great side for steaks or topping for brats.

Kale has become quite the nutritional star lately.  It’s a great source of fiber and vitamins.  If you’d like to show off your skills in the kitchen a bit more, make a frittata.  Sounds impressive, right? 

Just between you and me, that translates to, “Fancy Italian omelet.”  It sure sounds more impressive to say frittata, though.  Making them is about as simple as an omelet, too.  So, your mushrooms and onions are done caramelizing, right?  The kale goes quicker.  First, tear off the leafy part from the firm stems.  You can save the stems for stock, or even prepare them like a root vegetable.  In a hot skillet, add a little olive oil and put in the leaves.  Toss them with tongs, and in a minute or two they’ll wilt.  You still want them to be bright green, so take them out as soon as they do wilt, and mix with your mushrooms and onions.  Now, the omelet part.  It’s meant to be shared, so figure 2 eggs per person and beat them all together.  A splash of milk in the eggs makes it fluffy.  With a frittata, you beat the eggs until they’re a little foamy so that it’s lighter.  The “fixins,” meaning your kale, mushrooms and onions, are mixed in with the eggs, too.  Don’t forget salt and pepper.  Pour into an oven safe skillet (a cast iron pan is even better) over medium to medium-high heat and just let it sit.  Yes, the bottom and sides will set up before the top does.  When all but the top has set, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and place under a low broiler until the top sets.  See, now you’re impressing everyone!

When I told one of my foodie friends what would be in the box this week, she said, “Oooh, you have to tell them to make Sexy-Time Pasta!”  Pardon me…?  Well, here’s the details: 

Sexy-Time Pasta

 ingredients: 

1-2 tbsp olive oil 

3-6 slices of thick cut bacon, cut into bite size pieces

(the more bacon you use, the less olive oil you'll need)

10 oz sliced mushrooms

1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

1 med onion, diced small

1 bunch of kale or baby spinach

1 lb short pasta (e.g., rotini)

3/4 c. grated Parmesan (Or more. I love cheese.)

Salt & pepper to taste

directions:

1) Heat olive oil and bacon in skillet over medium heat until bacon is golden. 

2) Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add pasta and spinach, cook about 3 min until spinach is vibrant green. Scoop out spinach and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. Drain well and set aside. Continue cooking pasta for another 7 min until almost al dente. When draining, reserve 1 cup of pasta water.

3) Move bacon to edges of pan and add mushrooms, onions and a pinch of salt to middle of pan, in as close to a single layer as possible. Turn heat up to medium-high and cook until mushrooms and onions start sizzling and turning brown (about 5 min). Reduce heat to medium, add cherry tomatoes and stir bacon and mushrooms together, cooking until mushrooms are tender. (5-7 min)

4) Reduce heat to low. Add drained pasta to skillet. Gradually stir in 1 cup of pasta water. Toss over low heat until sauce is silky and pasta is well coated.

5) Turn off heat. Add spinach and cheese and season with pepper. Toss well. When serving, sprinkle more cheese on top. (And then maybe some more. Because really, I love cheese.) Serve immediately for best results, but can also be served cool as pasta salad.

(Adapted from this recipe.)

It’s a variation on pasta carbonara, with tomatoes instead of the rich egg, and you could easily merge the two recipes.  Yes, I asked her why it’s called “Sexy-Time” pasta.  And no, she wouldn’t tell me.

Oh, did you see the cool trick for slicing cherry tomatoes?  What a time saver!

The Battle of the Leafy Greens

The Battle of Leafy Greens

Spring and fall crop share boxes are a steady stream of leafy green stuff.  It comes in a variety of sizes, and often times with yummy things attached to the bottom of it.  Beets, for example.  Or the kohlrabi you made a couple of days ago.  This week, we saw Swiss or rainbow chard in our boxes.  Lettuce is another staple seen often this time of year.  Southern traditional cooking has myriad tasty ways to prepare leafy green stuff.  Many involve bacon, which in my book isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  Okay, having it every day, or even alternating days between bacon and salt pork, probably isn’t what the local cardiologist wants to hear about. But geez, bacon makes lots of things tasty.

My wife is vegetable-phobic.  Don’t get me wrong, she loves broccoli.  Adores it.  Pretty much anything other than broccoli, however, I’d need a pile driver to get down her throat.  (Alright, alright, since she’s probably reading this, I’ll be nice from here on out.  Or do my best to anyway.)  She’ll enjoy a salad with most types of lettuce, and eat her broccoli, but anything else I have to get really creative to get her to eat it.  When I first started getting a crop share, one of the first boxes had beets, greens attached, and collards.  I started simple, and there on the table they sat.  Determined, I would make greens she’d eat.  Grrrr…  So I put on my war paint and my toque.

Yes, I actually have a toque.  My godson gave it to me for Christmas one year.  No, I don’t ever wear it.  Ever.  But the white jacket is awesome and since I’m messy, it covers more than an apron.

I dug around looking for dishes using greens and having strong flavors.  Is there anything out there that uses half the spice drawer?  I stumbled across this.  I loved it.  My wife?  Not so much.  She has an aversion to anything with a strong vinegary taste.  So I dissected the recipe a bit.

It involves wilting the greens (chard, beet, almost anything will work), using a particular spice palette, and finishing with a dressing.  In the case of the above recipe, the spices are North African in origin:  cumin, paprika, harissa.  Let’s see how we can modify that.  She likes Greek cuisine.  A Greek palette would have some combination of oregano and dill, garlic, and lemon juice.  Modifying our basic recipe, a dash of dried oregano and dill, a little garlic sautéed in the oil before wilting the greens (briefly, garlic cooks quickly and remember light brown = good, black = bad).  Sprinkle some cardamom in too, and maybe nutmeg.  We’ll skip the hot sauce.  For the dressing, a Greek dish would commonly use lemon juice.  Sprinkle a touch of crumbled feta cheese on top and…

Holy cow, she ate it!

And that was fun!  Sprinkling something extra on top can definitely kick it up a notch.  The feta would give a wonderfully salty flavor to greens.  If you like the North African spices, try some raisins and toasted pine nuts.  (That’s essentially this recipe, which she also ate.)

Hmm… shall we try another?  Something a little farther afield?  French, perhaps?  Awesome!  First off, what are the three main secrets to French cooking?  Butter, butter, and… butter.  Seriously.  Instead of olive oil, we’ll wilt the greens in a bit of butter.  Herbs de Provençe usually contains marjoram, oregano, thyme, and rosemary.  We’ll use that.  Season with salt and pepper too.  Instead of strong white vinegar, try a bit of Balsamic.  Very nice!

What I’m trying to condense here is several years of my life spent screwing things up in the kitchen, and countless hours reading cookbooks of all sorts.  This is the approach I use to “branch out” recipes.  First, figure out what palette the seasonings come from.  Switch to a different palette, and use the same techniques in the recipe.  Give this a try with any recipe you’ve prepared often enough to be very familiar.  Pick a different region’s flavors, and you’ve just invented something new and fresh.  Trust me, there will be plenty of, “Uh, yeah, that particular combination doesn’t work and let’s not do that again.”  By and large, experience will be your teacher but only if you give her a chance.

If you modify one of your recipes, post a link to the original in the comments and tell me what you changed.  I can’t wait to see how creative you can be.  Happy cooking!

Sesame Vegetable Noodle Bowls

Despite my recent plague, I still took myself to the grocery store and for reasons I'm still not quite clear on, I apparently developed an all-Asian menu for dinners this week.  Hey, I can't eat most of it out at restaurants (curse you gluten-hating immune system!), so why not make it at home.  Lots of naps and pitiful coughs apparently lead to good things in the kitchen, because these noodle bowls I made last night may be one of my most favorite concoctions as of late.  Loaded with good green veggies, it's like ramen but healthy and it leaves you feeling somehow full yet light.  I used rice noodles, but you could easily use udon or any other of your favorite Asian-style noodles.  This would also be fantastic with shrimp, chicken or tofu, if you're looking to add an extra hit of protein.  Or throw all of it together into a pot with 2 cups of vegetable or chicken stock and 2 cups of water, and have yourself a noodly soup of goodness.

Sesame Vegetable Noodle Bowls

Ingredients:
1 package rice noodles, soaked in hot water until soft
1 tsp chili oil
1 leek, quartered lengthwise and sliced
4 oz Shitake mushrooms (or any mushrooms of your choice), sliced
1/2 bundle of kale, leaves removed from stem and rough chopped
1 cup cabbage, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and grated thin
2 green onions, greens chopped
1 Tbsp soy sauce (I use Kikkoman's wheat/gluten free version)
2 Tbsp sesame seeds

For sauce:
2 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp lime juice
4 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp Sriracha
1 knob ginger, peeled and grated

Prepare sauce first by whisking all ingredients together and set aside, and soak rice noodles in hot water or put in on the stove over medium heat (not enough to boil) until noodles are just soft.

In a large skillet, heat chili oil over high heat.  Add sliced leeks and cook for about 2 minutes.  Then add mushrooms and cook until they begin to brown.  Toss in kale, cabbage and carrot and cook for about 1-2 more minutes or until kale is wilted.  Add in green onions and soy sauce, and cook for an additional minute.  Remove from heat and toss with sesame seeds.

Drain noodles and toss with veggies in skillet.  Pour over sauce and toss until fully combined.  Serve each portion with additional Sriracha and sesame seeds, if desired...and in this house, we do desire!

Shredded Brussels Sprouts & Kale Salad with a Lemony Dijon Vinaigrette

I've been eyeing this Shredded Kale & Brussels Sprout Salad with Lemon Dressing recipe from Just A Taste for awhile now.  But every time we get Brussels sprouts in the Crop Share, I'm completely incapable of not roasting them or turning them into this Brussels Sprouts & Mushrooms in a Dijon Cream Sauce dish.  However, this week I vowed to finally make my own version of Just A Taste's salad, and I knew if I was going to get the Mister behind a giant bowl of green for dinner, I was going to have to put some meat in there somewhere, especially since there would also be no carb coming along with it either.  So while the original is completely vegetarian, I tossed in one shredded chicken breast from yet another rotisserie chicken I'm slowly dismembering as the week goes on.  I also didn't go based on her measurements, I just went based on quantities in our shares, so I doubled the dressing recipe as the original measurements were looking pretty slim for the amount of roughage I had going on.  She also had Parmesan or Pecorino cheese in her's, but we didn't miss it and with the almonds you already get that nutty flavor and by adding Kosher salt to the dressing, that checks the salty component box.  So feel free to add cheese if you'd like, just maybe back down on the amount of salt in the dressing or omit it all together.

Not going to lie, this is one of those annoyingly prep intensive dishes, so if you're looking for a quick weeknight dinner salad, this might not be a good option as thinly slicing your way through all that green becomes soul killing unless you've got some good tunes blaring in your kitchen.  However, thanks to this recipe, you will gain two, count them two, gold stars on your culinary skills charts:  Chiffonade & Emulsion.  Yep, we're getting fancy in Nalls' Kitchen tonight!

Shredded Brussels Sprouts & Kale Salad with a Lemony Dijon Vinaigrette

For salad:

1 quart Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed & shredded
1 bundle Kale, removed from stalk & shredded
1/2 cup sliced, unsalted almonds, toasted
1 chicken breast, cooked & shredded (I dismembered a rotisserie chicken)


For dressing:

1 large shallot, minced
4 Tbsp Dijon mustard
4 tsp local honey
2 lemons, zest & juice
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 cup olive oil


In a medium-sized skillet, toast almond slices over medium high heat.  No need to add any oil as the natural oils in the almonds will be enough.  Stir fairy continuously to prevent burning.  Once almond are golden brown, remove from heat and set aside.

To shred Brussels sprouts, trim ends, and remove outer few leaves.  Then halve sprouts and thinly slice each half.  For kale, remove from the stalk and roll leaves into bundles and prepare to chiffonade.  Say what?  Yes, get ready to perfect your fancy knife skills -- and no you don't have to be totally accurate with these, you just want to have thin slices of kale for the salad.  Have no idea what I'm on about, then learn how to get  your chiffonade on in this helpful video...

Now toss together your kale, Brussels sprouts, toasted almond and shredded chicken together in a large bowl.   I weeded out any bits of the core of the sprouts  that still remained as chunks.

Grab a medium sized bowel and whip up the dressing.  Combine all ingredients through the salt and lightly whisk to fully combine.  Then slowly pour in olive oil while you whisk vigorously because you're doing another fancy thing, you're making an...emulsion!  Ooo la la!  First you chiffonade then you, well, emulse?  Emulsionize?  No, I've got it, you emulsionate!  Once all your oil is incorporated you should have a dressing that looks very much like a big bowl of whisked egg yolks.  Pour as much or as little over the salad and toss to coat.

Let sit for about 5 minutes to allow flavors to meld and serve.

Green Warrior Smoothie

You knew it had to happen.  All of those greens in this week's Crop Share, it was inevitable.  Yes, that's right, ANOTHER green smoothie!  I can't be stopped, I won't be stopped!

So, this morning I rose early to get back into the practice of yoga to start the day, and as I was holding Warrior III, instead of concentrating on my breathing or finding a focal point on my mat...I was thinking about what to put into my blender.  I'm very zen like that.  Thus the name for this smoothie, the Green Warrior, as it was devised whilst in Warrior III.

With the inclusion of celery in this smoothie it has much more of a "green" taste and there's more "substance."  So if you're not a fan of much pulp in your smoothie, just leave the celery out.  And if you're wanting to have less of a "green" flavor, then add more tangelo juice or even throw in a banana or a handful of strawberries.  Or again, just omit the celery.  I threw it in for giggles and I wanted it to actually taste more like veggies rather than a dessert.  Because I'm very into health like that.  Please ignore that wrapper from a completely eaten bar of chocolate.  Our invisible, imaginary bulldog, clearly got into the pantry again.  Darn pooch.

Green Warrior Smoothie

Ingredients:
12 ice cubes, divided
3 gala apples, cored and cubed (no need to peel)
Juice of 2 tangelos
1 rib of celery, ends trimmed and chopped
8 kale leaves, removed from stalks
Juice of 1 lime
1 1/2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk (I use Almond Breeze)

Into your blender, add 6 ice cubes, apples and tangelo juice, and blend until the apples are fully incorporated.  Toss in your celery and again blend until all chunks are gone.  Add kale leaves and lime juice and blend down until only flecks of green remain.  Then finish with almond milk and remaining 6 ice cubes.  Blend until ice is fully crushed.  Serve immediately.

Makes just shy of 3 pints (I serve mine in mason jars).  I drank one and bottled up the other two, so I'll let you know if after a day in the fridge, they're still good tomorrow.

Shredded Kale & Brussels Sprouts Salad with Lemon Dressing via Just A Taste

Happy New Year everyone!!!  Here's to hoping we all have a bountiful and beautiful 2014!  Speaking of bountiful, we finalized the Crop Share list for the first week of the Deep Winter round, and we're pretty darn excited.  Because we source domestically for this round, we are able to get so much more variety, which means we can have a lot of fun with the boxes each week.  We know for sure we'll be doing a Super Bowl themed box again this year, and since Valentine's Day is on a Friday, there will definitely be a box o' romance in the works!

But for this week, two of the items we've got, Brussels sprouts and lemons, are two of the ingredients needed for this DELICIOUS looking Shredded Kale & Brussels Sprouts Salad from Just A Taste.  And we'll be getting in fresh kale for the store, so we'll have nearly all the base ingredients on hand for you to make this salad.  I know I'm going to be giving it a try!  Just remember, when using raw kale for a salad, you want to massage that kale first.  You know you feel happy after a massage, and so does kale, as massaging it takes the bitterness away.  Ooo la la!

Click the link below to view the recipe on Just A Taste...

Shredded Kale & Brussels Sprouts Salad with Lemon Dressing

Italian Greens & Beans

Spending a week back in Youngstown and being in the off-season at Nalls means I've gotten to spend a lot of time back in the kitchen, and what is cooking in my kitchen has been LOTS of Italian food.  As I've said before, neither of us have a lick of Italian in us, but growing up where we did, you essentially become Mediterranean by association.  So one of my hometown favorites I got to eat over the holidays was Italian Greens & Beans.  And while I was eating it, an epiphany, a delicious epiphany...there's no reason I can't make this on my own, AND this would make a perfect Crop Share recipe for all the greens we get.  BINGO!  So over this dreary weekend, I whipped up a batch of this loveliness, and this will definitely be going into heavy rotation any time we get greens in the Crop Share.  Traditionally this is made with escarole, but any greens will do.  So if you're burnt out on Kale Chips or flummoxed by collards, this is an easy, quick, versatile, and nutrient packed dish that's sure to please!

Italian Greens & Beans

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 sweet onion, diced
7 cups greens (I used a mix of spinach, baby chard and baby bok choy, but you can also use escarole, kale, collards, or Swiss chard, just remove larger leaves from the stems)
1/2 cup red wine (I used a pinot noir.  Avoid any sweet reds)
19 oz cannellini beans, rinsed well and drained
3/4 cup marinara sauce
Kosher salt & ground black pepper to taste
Dash or two of red pepper flakes, optional

In a large skillet, heat oil over high medium high heat.  Add in garlic and onion and saute until translucent.  Add in greens, and you may have to add them in batches to allow them to wilt down to make room for the rest.  Cook until greens are fully wilted.  Add in wine, and simmer for an additional minute or two.  Stir in beans and marinara, and then add your salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.  Stir to fully combine, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 3-4 minutes.  Taste sauce and adjust seasoning if necessary.

This is great as a side dish, or toss it with some pasta for a vegetarian main dish.  Or throw in some chicken or shrimp for added protein.  We ate ours as a side, and then the leftovers got re-heated in a skillet with some leftover shrimp from shrimp cocktail, and then we tossed it with some gluten-free pasta.

Penne With Spicy Greens & Sausage

Do you see a theme this week?  Sausage & greens!  Ha!  I don't know what it is, but hot Italian turkey sausage and some form of greens are a magical combination in my book.  So last night when I got home from a chilly day at work (and learned that yes, I have holes in both of my boots, ergh!) all I wanted was a big plate of carbs and heat.  So out came the rest of last week's kale, the McCauley's Pepper Relish (original, mild and hot available in store), and some turkey sausage and dinner was born.  Is this pretty much like the Spaghetti with Broccoli, Sausage & Hot Peppers?  Yes.  But why stop a good thing?  And, in fact, the Mister and I like this even better than the version with broccoli, so much so that he's requested it again once we get this week's collard greens.  So whether you're using up the kale from last week, plowing through the collards from this week, or you've got spinach or swiss chard on hand, this dish works fantastic with any leafy green.  And the more greens the better!  You want the dish to be mostly greens, with the crumbled turkey sausage in second, and then with the penne coming in third.  Or forget the pasta and stuff this filling into two halves of some acorn squash, for even more veggie madness!

Penne With Spicy Greens & Sausage

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
5 hot Italian turkey sausage links, casings removed and crumbled
Half a bundle of collards, kale or swiss chard, or a full bundle of spinach, rinsed and rough chopped
1/4 reduced sodium chicken stock or dry white wine
1 Tbsp (heaping - or less for not as much heat) McCauley's Roasted Pepper Relish (in store!)
12 oz penne pasta, cooked to package directions (I use Bio-Nature brand for gluten free and it's not gummy at all!  LOVE!)

Cook pasta per package directions and meanwhile...

In a medium sized skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add garlic and saute for 1 minute.  Add in turkey sausage, casing removed and crumble as much as possible.  You'll need to break the bits up with your saute spoon as it cooks.  Cook until meat is browned and cooked through.  Stir in pepper relish (can use less to reduce the heat), and cook to heat through, about 1 to 2 minutes.  Deglaze pan with chicken stock or white wine and stir to scrape any browned bit off of the bottom of the pan.  Stir in chopped greens -- you may have to add them in batches and let them simmer down before adding more so you have enough room for everyone.  Cook for an additional 3-5 minutes, or until greens are fully wilted.  Remove from heat, add in pasta and toss to evenly coat.  Finish with an extra glug of olive oil to keep the pasta from sticking, and toss again before serving.

Sweet Potato & Greens Soup with Turkey Sausage

That Sausage, Potato & Kale Soup is hands-down my go-to soup.  But a few weeks ago, I decided to mix it up a bit and try it with sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes.  The result was a delicious and comforting taste of Fall that I swear kept getting better as we ate our way through the leftovers.  So this is the perfect make ahead soup as it really does get better the longer everything has to marinate in its own loveliness.  And since kale and collards are pretty interchangeable, you'll be able to use up this week's sweet potatoes, collards and yellow onion in one dish!  Just what all of this cold weather calls for...HOT SOUP!

Sweet Potato & Greens Soup with Turkey Sausage

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp garlic, minced

1 medium-sized yellow onion, chopped

6 links turkey sausage (hot or sweet depending on your heat preference), casings removed and meat crumbled

2 - 32 oz containers of reduced sodium chicken stock

1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled & diced

1 bundle collard greens or kale, leaves stripped from stalks and roughly chopped

Salt & pepper to taste

In a large stock pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat.  Saute garlic and onions for 3-4 minutes or until translucent.  Add in turkey sausage and stir to continue to crumble.  Increase heat and cook until sausage is cooked through and browned.  Deglaze pan with a bit of the chicken stock and stir to get any browned bits off of the bottom of the pan.  Add in the rest of your stock and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat but still keep liquid at a vigorous simmer and add in your sweet potatoes.  Cook for an additional 5-7 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.  Reduce heat to a simmer and add in chopped greens.  Season with salt & pepper to taste.  Simmer for an additional 2-3 minutes and then remove pot from heat to allow soup to finish setting up and cool slightly.  Taste broth and season with additional salt & pepper, if needed.

Thanksgiving Favorites: Roasted Winter Vegetable Medley

Thanksgiving In Nalls’ Kitchen!

7310 Beulah Street, Franconia, VA 22315

(703) 971-4068 ~ info@nallsproduce.com

Roasted Winter Vegetable Medley

From the kitchen of our own “Tie-Dye” Ann!

Ingredients:
1 acorn squash, halved, seeds removed, and cubed
1 head of cauliflower, rough chopped (save the greens!!!)
Cauliflower greens, removed from stalk and rough chopped
1/2 bundle of kale, leaves removed from stalk and rough chopped
1 quart brussels sprouts, stalk trimmed and sprouts halved
4 baby potatoes, cubed
Olive oil
Dizzy Pig Cow Lick Seasoning

**You can also throw in sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, beets, garlic, parsnips or turnips

Preheat oven to 415 degrees.

Prep all of your veggies and if you're making as much as I did, you'll need 2 baking sheets, one for the greens and one for the rest of the veg.

On one sheet, evenly spread out vegetables, minus the kale & cauliflower greens.  Drizzle with a good bit of olive oil, enough to well coat everything.  You don't want them swimming in oil, but you need enough oil for them to caramelize rather than burn.  Then season generously with the Cow Lick Seasoning.  Toss the veggies to evenly coat each piece and place into the oven onto a lower rack to begin roasting.

Prep your kale & cauliflower greens the same way, and then let them sit tight, as you won't pop them into the oven until the other veggies have roasted for about 15-20 minutes.  Place the sheet of greens into the oven onto a top rack and roast for 5-10 minutes, checking to make sure nothing is starting to turn into kale chips (if so, you may need more oil).  Remove both sheets of veggies from the oven, and combine the greens onto the pan with the rest of the veggies, carefully tossing to mix everything up.  Then place them all back into the oven to roast for another 15-20 minutes.  Keep an eye on things, and turn veggies about every 5-10 minutes to allow browning on all sides.  If after a full 40 minutes of roasting things are still not browning up and the squash is still not soft, then put them back in the oven and make them suffer longer! 

Roasted Winter Vegetable Medley

As I mentioned in the Crop Share spoiler e-mail, Ann on our staff (many of you know her as Tie-Dye Ann!) has been bringing in delicious smelling leftovers of this veggie medley she's been roasting up on a regular basis.  Now the fact that it contains cauliflower and I even thought it smelled good and looked appealing, should tell you something right there!  So Friday night when I got home from a day of Crop Sharing and shivering, I decided to annihilate nearly everything in this week's share by roasting my veggies Ann style.  To say they were delicious is a vast understatement.  In fact, I even made vegan soyrizo mac & cheese (may sound gross, but trust me, it's taco dip on pasta...just minus the calories and cholesterol) which is our guilty pleasure comfort food at home, and both of us finished our veggies before we'd taken 3 bites of the mac & cheese.  The Mister even said, "What on earth did you do to turn this mix of disgusting vegetables into the best thing I've eaten in a long time?"  The secret...roast the heck out of it, a generous bit of olive oil, and Dizzy Pig's Cow Lick Seasoning (available in store).  That's the winning combo!  Plus, I even got super daring and decided to waste not, want not and roast up the cauliflower leaves too.  Amazingly delicious decision!  So whether you use the veggies I did or you come up with your own mix, this is an excellent way to use up your Crop Share veggies, especially any of that hard squash you still have hanging around.

Roasted Winter Vegetable Medley

Ingredients:
1 acorn squash, halved, seeds removed, and cubed
1 head of cauliflower, rough chopped (save the greens!!!)
Cauliflower greens, removed from stalk and rough chopped
1/2 bundle of kale, leaves removed from stalk and rough chopped
1 quart brussels sprouts, stalk trimmed and sprouts halved
4 baby potatoes, cubed
Olive oil
Dizzy Pig Cow Lick Seasoning


Preheat oven to 415 degrees.

Prep all of your veggies and if you're making as much as I did, you'll need 2 baking sheets, one for the greens and one for the rest of the veg.

On one sheet, evenly spread out vegetables, minus the kale & cauliflower greens.  Drizzle with a good bit of olive oil, enough to well coat everything.  You don't want them swimming in oil, but you need enough oil for them to caramelize rather than burn.  Then season generously with the Cow Lick Seasoning.  Toss the veggies to evenly coat each piece and place into the oven onto a lower rack to begin roasting.

Prep your kale & cauliflower greens the same way, and then let them sit tight, as you won't pop them into the oven until the other veggies have roasted for about 15-20 minutes.  Place the sheet of greens into the oven onto a top rack and roast for 5-10 minutes, checking to make sure nothing is starting to turn into kale chips (if so, you may need more oil).  Remove both sheets of veggies from the oven, and combine the greens onto the pan with the rest of the veggies, carefully tossing to mix everything up.  Then place them all back into the oven to roast for another 15-20 minutes.  Keep an eye on things, and turn veggies about every 5-10 minutes to allow browning on all sides.  If after a full 40 minutes of roasting things are still not browning up and the squash is still not soft, then put them back in the oven and make them suffer longer!  They'll be done when they look bronzed like the photo above.

This makes a ton, so it would be a great Thanksgiving side dish, or one to re-heat portions in the oven for a ready-to-go side dish for weeknight meals.

Juice It Up!

So this Monday I had the pleasure of partnering with Pat Backe of Senior Fall Prevention and Kingstowne Pilates to host a Juicing With Greens workshop at the Kingstowne Center for Active Adults.  It was a fantastic class with lots of hilarity (a juiced apple spurting across the room) and extreme randomness (ginger root pilfering), but the juices that Pat whipped up for all of us were fantastic.  So since much of the ingredients focused on seasonal items that we're all getting right now, I thought I'd share the two recipes from Monday with you.  If you don't have a juicer, you can still use a blender to make these items, though I'd recommend peeling the items first, and just know that they won't be as smooth and pulp free as if you were using a juicer.  But no matter what equipment you have, just be sure to wash all of your fruits and vegetables well beforehand.

ABC (Apple-Beet-Carrot) Juice

Serves 1

Ingredients:
1 apple (we used Suncrisp)
2 beets
3 large carrots
1" knob of ginger, peeled
Handful of kale, spinach or even toss in the beet greens

Kale-Aid Juice

Serves 1-2

Ingredients:
5 large kale leaves
1-2 cucumbers
1 lemon, peeled
1 apple (we used Suncrisp)
1" knob of ginger, peeled (for more kick add 2 or 3 pieces of ginger)
1-2 large celery ribs

For both recipes, wash your ingredients well, then cup them up as needed to fit through the chute of your juicer or to make blending easier.  Juice the ingredients in the order they're listed and serve immediately with or without ice.

Garlicky Chicken, Cherry Tomatoes & Kale Over Quinoa

After the Curried Cauliflower & Chickpea Bake, I knew I had to make something else for dinner to fill me up.  It was either that or spend an inordinate amount of time picking out every speck of cauliflower.  Thankfully, the Mister actually likes cauliflower and loved the dish (who is the person I share my life with?!!?), so the rest went with him to work for his lunch.  Thus out of my fridge I pulled two of my favorite things...kale & McCauley's Roasted Pepper Relish.  I'm unashamedly addicted to this stuff, and that says a lot because coming from Youngstown, OH, we are SERIOUS about our hot peppers in oil.  Good thing we have their full product line in store at Nalls, because I look for every excuse to work this stuff into a meal or snack (see my Spaghetti with Broccoli, Sausage & Hot Peppers for another example).

This is a super quick and healthy meal to throw together, and since we gave you A LOT of kale this week, this is a great way to use up about half of it.  Yes, I used 2 generous cups of kale in this and I still have half my bundle left over.  Guess I better make Sausage, Potato & Kale Soup this week!

Garlicky Chicken, Cherry Tomatoes & Kale over Quinoa

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp olive oil
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 pint cherry tomatoes
2 cups kale, removed from stem and shredded
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp McCauley's Roasted Pepper Relish (can be found in store!)
Kosher salt & ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup cooked quinoa

Cook quinoa to package directions while preparing the rest.

In a skillet, heat olive oil over high heat.  Add chicken and garlic, and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Once you can no longer see pink on the outside of the chicken, add in your cherry tomatoes.  I like to add them whole as I like when they burst, but if you'd prefer to avoid that, then you can halve them.  Stir occasionally for about 3 additional minutes and once tomatoes begin to burst, add in your kale and get ready for the super, snap, crackle and pop of kale in hot oil.  So satisfying!  Season with garlic powder and saute util kale is wilted.  Stir in Pepper Relish and season with salt & pepper.  Finish with a final quick drizzle of olive oil and toss to evenly coat.  Serve over quinoa or even toss with pasta.

Can't Wait To Try!

With tomorrow's opening of our Pumpkin Tunnel we had a late, after-hours staff meeting, which means I fell asleep while writing the previous post.  So if things cease to make sense, that's why.  To keep things short and sweet and get sleepy self to bed, here are two recipes I'm dying to give a try this coming week!  Yum and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Kale Salad with Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette via Damn Delicious

Kale, avocado, goat cheese, quinoa and pecans?!  It's like all my loves in one bowl!

Mushroom Stroganoff via Skinnytaste

Love stroganoff.  Love mushrooms.  This recipe cannot disappoint!  Prepare to be made dairy & gluten free you crazy Skinny Mushroom Stroganoff you!

Kale, Sweet Potato & Lamb Polenta Pizza

Polenta-crust pizza is kind of my jam these days.  I just buy pre-made polenta, smush it into submission onto a baking pan or pizza stone so it's thin enough and pizza-shaped, and then par-bake it for about 5 minutes before adding the toppings so I can get it to start crisping up.  Last year when I discovered the joy of polenta crust pizza, I used up some kale to make this kale, sweet potato and lamb pizza.  And yes, that is a Darth Vadar spatula in the photo, and yes it was an item purchased off of our wedding registry.  Along with a Storm Trooper spatula, the non-digitally remastered original trilogy (because Han shot first), and a Death Star cookie jar.  Now that I've flashed my nerd card, enjoy this delicious and wonderfully fragrant pizza!

Kale, Sweet Potato & Lamb Polenta Crust Pizza

Ingredients:
1/2 lb ground lamb
Olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
2 cups kale, chopped
Salt & Pepper
1 sweet potato, thinly sliced into chips
1 package of prepared polenta (or use any pre-made pizza crust, make your own or even try this recipe with Cauliflower Crust Pizza)
1/2 cup marinara sauce (I use Nature's Promise Organic Tomato Basil Sauce)


Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

If using polenta for your pizza crust, mash it, roll it and generally strong arm it onto a baking sheet in the shape of a pizza.  Partially bake at 400 for about 5 minutes.

Once oven is heated to 400, toss sweet potato chips in a bit of olive oil and evenly arrange on another baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes until chips start to crisp up.

In a skillet, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium high heat.  Add in lamb and season with garlic powder.  Break apart into ground bits and cook until lamb is browned and fully cooked, about 5-8 minutes.  Remove from skillet and transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel to help absorb any excess grease.

In the same skillet add in onion and kale, and add in additional olive oil if needed.  Season with salt & pepper and cook until kale is wilted and onion has begun to caramelize.

Spread a thin layer of marinara onto your pizza crust, then top with lamb, kale, onions and sweet potato.  Add a bit of mozzarella, Parmesan or even goat cheese, if you desire, and then place back into a 400 degree oven for about 5-10 minutes.

Sausage, Potato & Kale Soup

When the Mister and I first started dating I asked him if there was one food I could make for him, what would it be.  He replied simply with, "soup."  I'd never really made soup before, other than a slapdash attempt at a curried pumpkin soup the year prior, but I'm always up for any culinary challenge and...I was blissfully in love (still am for the record!).  So I unearthed a recipe for Sausage, Potato & Kale Soup that I'd been hankering to try and with a few minor tweaks it quickly became my signature soup and one of the Mister's favourite dishes of mine.  If there's one recipe folks ask me for, it's always this one, and just so you know how good it is, there was an incident where a dear friend -- who shall remain nameless to protect his pride -- was caught standing in my kitchen, with the ladle, and eating more of the soup right out of the giant stock part.  That's love right there!

So while this post is a week late coming as we had potatoes and kale last week, file this one away in your memory banks as this comforting and hearty soup will take you through the whole winter.

And just because people need to know this...all of tonight's blogging is being done whilst watching Sharknado.  So if things start to get a little campy with tonight's posts, now you know why.  And now...the SOUPNADO!

Sausage, Potato & Kale Soup

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp garlic, minced

1 medium-sized yellow onion, chopped

6 links turkey sausage (hot or sweet depending on your heat preference), casings removed and meat crumbled

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 - 32 oz containers of reduced sodium chicken stock

1 lb red or yellow potatoes, diced

1 bundle kale, leaves stripped from stalks and roughly chopped

Salt & pepper to taste

In a large stock pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat.  Saute garlic and onions for 3-4 minutes or until translucent.  Add in turkey sausage and stir to continue to crumble.  Increase heat and cook until sausage is cooked through and browned.  Deglaze pan with white wine and stir to get any browned bits off of the bottom of the pan.  Add in your stock and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat but still keep liquid at a vigorous simmer and add in your potatoes.  Cook for an additional 3-4 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.  Reduce heat to a simmer and add in chopped kale.  Season with salt & pepper to taste.  Simmer for an additional 2-3 minutes and then remove pot from heat to allow soup to finish setting up and cool slightly.  Taste broth and season with additional salt & pepper, if needed.

Baked Kale Chips

I've had several Crop Share members ask me about these mythical baked kale chips that folks promise will turn any kale hater into a kale believer, and every single time we have kale in the Crop Share...I forget to post my recipe.  *sigh*  BUT!  Today I finally remembered!  Hooray!  This week we're bringing you a different type of kale than we've given you before, but this one will be fantabulous for kale chips.  What is this variety of kale you ask?  Well, it's lacinto kale, but many also refer to it as...DINOSAUR KALE!  The little ginger girl inside me who's still in her Brontosaurus t-shirt longing to be a paleontologist is super psyched over kale called dinosaur.  While it won't be the size of a Brontosaurus, it's dark coloring and ripply texture will make you think of Godzilla.  So start pre-heating your oven now, because these kale chips are about to become your new go-to snack.

Baked Kale Chips

Ingredients:

1 bundle of kale, removed from stock and rough chopped into chip sized pieces
1 Tbsp olive oil
Kosher salt

Preheat oven to 300.

Toss kale in olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt.  Lay it out evenly on a baking sheet and bake at 300 for 20 minutes.  Be sure to start checking it at about 15 minutes because any smaller pieces may have begun to crisp up, and thus it is your sole duty to begin eating these pieces right off the hot pan.  I dare you not to eat half of the pan of kale chips before you remove them from the oven.

Dinosaurs love kale!

Guest Post: Peachy Kale & Barley from Nicole Wood & 6 Kale Fun Facts via HuffPo

I'm an avowed kale fanatic.  There was a good month-long period last fall where I'm fairly certain I ate my weight in kale chips.  But I understand that kale is not for everyone, and that last week many of you may have been thinking, "Ugh, kale, what am I going to do with ALL of this?!"  Well should you still have kale left over and it's still in good shape, I dare you not to drool over this recipe from Crop Share member, Nicole Wood.  So drool away and then check out 6 fun facts on kale from the HuffPo (I'm clearly too cool to use the publication's full name)...

Peachy Kale & Barley via Nicole Wood

1 bag Trader Joe’s 10 minute barley or other quick barley

2 cans of premade stock/broth or bouillon to make 2 ½ cups of stock

3 cloves garlic finely chopped

1 small or ½ medium onion chopped

1 lb kale bunch roughly chopped

1 T olive oil

1 T toasted sesame seed oil

½ cup diced peaches (room temperature)

Cook barley according to sauté instructions on bag with stock not water. I used half a bag.

While that is cooking (approx. 10 minutes) sauté your onions in the olive and sesame oil until they start to look clear on medium/high heat. Reduce heat to medium and add 1 cup of stock and garlic. Cook for 2 minutes but don’t let garlic brown. Add rinsed kale, toss to coat kale with mixture and cover. Cook on medium heat for 10 minutes or until kale is soft.

Mix kale and barley in large mixing bowl and add fruit to garnish. Salt and pepper to taste.

**If you have kids, pull some of the barley out before mixing with the kale and give to them as a pasta/grain.

While you let that kale saute for 10 minutes, get your education on with this article...

Click here to view a HuffPo article on 6 Things You Don't Know About Kale...

Baked Kale Chips

In cooler months, I tend to make an inordinate amount of Sausage, Potato & Kale Soup, and for whatever reason I have always been incapable of buying just the amount of kale that I need.  So there I usually was, trying to pawn off the excess kale onto friends' guinea pigs or bearded dragons.  And then one day, something magical happened...Pinterest.  And it brought with it a recipe for baked kale chips.  I figured I might as well experiment and see what all the fuss was about.  Let's just say I ended up buying more kale just to bake and I'm pretty sure there was an entire week in 2012 that I lived on kale chips.  Man may not live on bread alone, but I'm pretty sure I could survive just on these crunchy lovelies!

Baked Kale Chips

Ingredients:

1 bunch of kale

1-2 Tbsp olive oil

Kosher salt to taste

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Remove kale from stalks and cut into medium-sized pieces.  Spread evenly onto a baking sheet, toss with olive oil and salt, making sure to evenly coat all pieces.  Bake for 10-15 minutes or until they crisp up.  Proceed to burn your hands, tongue and the roof of your mouth as you feverishly eat them off the baking sheet while still in the oven.

Kale and Ricotta Stuffed Shells

There are two things that I like to keep a tub of in the fridge at all times, ricotta cheese and greek yogurt. They can both be used for savory dishes along with desserts. I've discovered that mixing greek yogurt with some garlic salt makes the best dip for potato chips! Ricotta cheese with a little agave, vanilla extract and sliced almonds makes an excellent dessert. Or you can use your ricotta for making these delicious stuffed shells.

Ingredients:
16 jumbo pasta shells
9 ounce bunch kale, center ribs trimmed out
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
15 ounces part skim Ricotta cheese
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese, plus extra for the top (divided use)
1 large egg
¼ cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1 teaspoon dried Italian blend herbs (or use dried basil)
¾ teaspoon kosher or sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper, or more to taste
25-30 ounces of homemade tomato sauce or your favorite jarred brand (I used McCutcheon's marinara sauce)
To view the rest of this recipe, please visit: http://afoodcentriclife.com/kale-and-ricotta-stuffed-shells/