Oven Crispy Kale

Five years ago, I had never tasted kale. Add five growing seasons, 2 CSA seasons, and countless vegetarian potlucks, and kale has become one vegetable that is a staple of my kitchen garden. Why? Oven Crispy Kale. This simple side dish has to be the fastest, yummiest way to cook kale - ever. When your kids are begging for "more kale," you know the recipe is a keeper!

Ingredients

Kale
Olive oil
Sea salt
Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions

Cut the kale into small pieces - kitchen shears work perfectly for this - and discard the stems. Lay the kale pieces on a baking tray in more or less a single layer. No need to be exact.

Drizzle generously with olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt and parmesan cheese, if desired.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until the kale become crispy. Serve and enjoy!

easy summer veggie roast

I don't know what was in your CSA box this week, but ours had potatoes, green beans & spring onions, among other early summer harvest. So when my lovely, dear & ever helpful friend came to visit today, we had a summer veggie roast.

Ingredients
1-2 lbs potatoes
Quart green beans
20 green onion bulbs
10 cloves garlic, peeled (optional)
Olive oil
Sea Salt

Directions
Cut potatoes into small wedges. Cut off green onion tops & clean bulbs. Trim green beans.

Mix potatoes, onions, beans & optional garlic cloves in a large bowl with a generous swirl of olive oil. Be sure all veggies are coated. Salt to taste.

Spread evenly on one or more roasting pans, and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until potatoes are soft.

My daughter Sydney has her own variation on this dish where she adds whole cloves of garlic, and although I didn't do it today due to time constraints, I must admit, it wasn't the same without the garlic. Next time, I'll make time for the garlic prep.

And a final note, you might notice a new tag down below: ministry. I struggled for a name for what I'm tagging, and ultimately chose this over service or charity. After the recent birth of my third baby, I realized that there are certain times in a person's life where a friend showing up at the door with a dish makes all the difference between feeling alone and unloved and feeling supported by a community. I think it's important that I make time to show the friends in my community that they are supported and cared for in their vulnerable times.

Yet, it's so hard to find time for "food ministry" when you have to think of what to fix each and every time. This is the part that has always been my downfall in the past, for both potlucks and friends in need.

So I'm tagging it. Hopefully a database of easy, quick "comfort foods" will be just what I need to provide this for my people.

green onion recipes

This morning, I harvested over 100 green onions to send to the farmer's market with our partners at WindDance farm, and there are still dozens more in the field. Time to post a couple good green onion recipes!

P.S. I also sent these recipes out to our market email subscribers. What? You didn't know we sent out a market email? Well, if you're local and you'd like to get an email about what we'll have at market each week, let me know and I'd be happy to sign you up! :-)

Sauteed Fresh Green Onions

This recipe is as simple as can be, but really brings out the sweetness of fresh spring onions.

Ingredients:

Green onions, with tops cut off to 2 inches above onion (reserve tops for green onion dip!)

Olive oil

1 Tbls. butter (optional)

Sea Salt

Pepper

Directions:

Wash and dry onions

Cut off green tops leaving only about an inch or two above bulb

Heat large fry pan to medium

Swirl oil once or twice around pan

Add butter, if desired

Add onions and stir gently until slightly brown

Remove from pan and add kosher salt and white pepper to taste

Serve as a side dish - great with new potatoes!



Green Onion Dip

Mix into sour cream or yogurt:

Chopped green onion tops

Chopped garlic scapes

Dill

Sea Salt

cheesy squoodles (starring the spaghetti squash)

Since my husband has been home full-time, I've been more conscious of the names I give certain dishes. My husband is quite a bit more....selective...discerning...okay, picky than I am, a trait which can easily influence my daughter's perceptions of our meals. While she used to extol the flavor of the spaghetti squash, for example, a few dozen times of Daddy telling why he doesn't like it (doesn't like the taste of squash, doesn't like the texture of it, prefers real pasta, etc...), she has now decided she doesn't like it either.

Sigh.

This is what happens when you live in a household where everyone can be their own authentic selves and give their real opinions out loud instead of smiling and nodding until the kids go to bed, I guess. Or maybe this is what happens when you live in a household where the kids are always awake at the same times you are. When else can you give your real opinions?!

So to my six year old's newly discovered sense of supper independence, my response has been to try to make the foods sound amazingly fun and kid-friendly. Hence, on the menu tonight were cheesy "squoodles": the spaghetti squash noodle.

Ingredients

Spaghetti squash
1 Tbls. Butter
1 Tbls. Flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cheese (colby or cheddar works well)
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup Ground beef crumbles (optional)
Chives (optional garnish)

Directions

1. Bake spaghetti squash. (Cut in half, scoop out seeds, place face down in a baking pan with 1 inch water on the bottom. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until soft.)

2. In a skillet, melt the butter on medium heat. Stir in the flour with a fork until it browns a bit. Quickly stir in the milk and cook 2-3 minutes until thick. Add the cheese and stir until melted. Salt and pepper to taste.

3. Scrape out the spaghetti squash, placing the squoodles in a serving dish. Top with the cheesy sauce. Layer ground beef crumbles on top of the cheese sauce (if desired) and top with a garnish of chopped chives.