Tag: Kale

Kale Salad with Tahini Dressing, Avocados, and Kumquats

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Here’s a great salad to celebrate citrus season! As a girl growing up in California, many of my friends had kumquats growing in their backyards. These are such a treat! This easy salad is an homage to my roots- it’s like sunshine in a bowl.

Kale Salad with Tahini Dressing, Avocados, and Kumquats

1 bunch kale, leaves stripped from stems, chopped, and massaged
1 large avocado, cut into bite sized pieces
6-8 kumquats, thinly sliced and seeds removed
1 cipollini onion or small shallot, thinly sliced
1/4 cup cashews, roasted and crushed
1/4 cup tahini
1 small clove garlic, peeled
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
Salt to taste

1. In a blender, combine tahini, garlic, lemon juice, water, maple syrup, and chili powder. Blend until smooth. If it’s too thick, add more warm water. Season with salt.

2. Toss massaged kale, avocado, and onion with enough tahini dressing to coat. Place in a large serving bowl. Top with kumquat slices and cashews.

Kale Smoothies

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Purple kale smoothieGood Morning Kale! We got the mother load of kale in our CSA boxes this week! I’ve covered the basics of massaging kale for a salad here, but this versatile veggie is also a great way to start the day. Here’s a simple recipe to jumpstart your morning with a kale smoothie. Feel free to switch things up depending on what you have available- I fashioned mine around the CSA box and the last bits of frozen fruit lurking in the freezer from last year’s harvests.

Smoothie

Ingredients:

3-4 purple kale leaves, de-stemmed
1 small apple or pear, cored and cut into smaller pieces
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 cup frozen mango (pineapple or strawberry would be great too)
1/2 cup yogurt
1 tablespoon chia seeds (optional)
Almond milk or water to thin as needed

Method:

Place everything in the blender and puree until smooth! This recipe makes enough for two!

Colcannon and a note

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colcannonDark winter mornings call for hearty fare and this recipe fits the bill. Colcannon is a traditional Irish dish made from potatoes and kale or cabbage. It is comfort food at its finest. While this dish can be served as a side dish at dinner, we like to have it for breakfast with sliced bacon and a fried egg. When you’re cooking the potatoes, be sure to place them in the pot right away so they come to a boil with the water. This ensures they cook through evenly without being crumbly on the outside and hard on the inside. This recipe is written to serve two as a hearty breakfast but feel free to increase the quantities as needed.

colcannon and potatoesThis week was the last delivery of Jubilee’s CSA for the Fall session. Thank you so much for following along as I wrote these recipes with our weekly bounty. I’ll be posting other recipes from time to time until the winter session starts up in February. If you have any questions in the meantime, feel free to contact me through the link above- I’d love to hear from you!

Happy Holidays!

colcannon breakfastIngredients:

4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into large pieces
2 large kale leaves, stripped from stem and cut into smaller pieces
2 tablespoons half and half
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
2 slices of bacon, cooked and cut into smaller pieces
2 eggs, fried

Method:

  1. Place potatoes in a pot with water to cover by about an inch, add a good pinch of salt and bring to a boil.
  2. When potatoes can easily be pierced with a fork, toss the kale into the pot and cook for 30 seconds to a minute.
  3. Strain the potatoes and kale and return to the pot. Use a potato masher or fork to mash the mixture, adding in the half and half, butter and Dijon. When it’s reached a texture you like, dish it onto plates and top with bacon and fried egg. A grind of fresh pepper and you’re ready to eat!

colcannon and kale

The Secret to Delicious Kale Salad

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Every summer my husband and I travel to visit his family in the Berkshires. We have a handful of favorite dinner spots scattered among the hills that we try to frequent whenever we’re in the area. The food is always wonderful and made from local produce. On our last visit, we stopped by The Dreamaway, a quirky old institution in the Berkshires famous for its colorful history and live music. As I perused the menu, I was drawn to the kale salad. I have a serious weakness for kale. It’s such a nutritional powerhouse- vitamins K, A, and C not to mention fiber, manganese, calcium, and potassium! Now, I’m sure many you have experienced one of downsides of eating raw kale: texture. It can often feel like you’re burning all your calories just trying to chew the darn stuff. Enter my epiphany at The Dreamaway: when my salad arrived, it was the most incredible, tender kale salad I had ever eaten. I ate every single morsel on that plate and considered ordering a second. When our server came by to check on us, I had to ask, “What on earth do you do to make this kale so tender?!” Her reply… “We massage it.” After our meal, I took a quick trip to The Dreamaway’s kitchen to do some culinary reconnaissance. After a nice chat with the cooks, I had it figured out and here’s what I learned:

Bunch of kale

First, strip the leaves from the stems and wash them. Dry the leaves in a salad spinner or with a dry towel.

Torn kale

Tear the leaves into bite sized pieces and place in a large mixing bowl.

Massage Kale

Lightly drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle a dash of salt over the leaves. Then get your {clean} hands in there and firmly massage all the leaves. You will notice the color change to be slightly darker and brighter.

Finished Kale

Once the kale appears to have reduced in volume by up to half and all the leaves have been rubbed, toss the kale with your favorite dressing and toppings! You will notice it is so much more tender! An added bonus- that olive oil feels great on your hands!