Toasted Kale Salad

This one is adapted from Heidi Swanson's "Super Natural Every Day"

Ingredients:

1 bunch chopped kale, (3 1/2c ribs removed)

1/3c olive oil

1tsp sesame oil

2T shoyu, tamari, soy sauce or liquid aminos

1 1/2c unsweetened large flake coconut

2c farro or other cooked whole grain (I have used quinoa, bulgur wheat and wheat berries with good results and I bet rice would be great.)

Preheat oven to 350.

In a small bowl whisk olive oil, sesame oil and soy sauce. Put the kale and coconut in a bowl and toss with about 2/3 of the olive oil mixture.

Spread kale/coconut evenly on a baking sheet and bake for 12-18 minutes until coconut is golden brown, toss once or twice along the way.

Remove from oven and add to a medium sized bowl. Add extra dressing if you feel it needs it. Serve over the cooked grain.

Kale Chips

For those of you who are not sure what to do with kale, here's a recipe food.com

1 bunch kale, washed and dried well
1 tablespoon olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon brown sugar

Kate's note: You can also use seasoned salt instead of the salt, pepper, brown sugar

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Tear the leaves off the center rib of the kale and tear into large pieces. Place leaves in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil and toss until completely coated.

Divide kale between 2 baking sheets lined with parchment. Arrange in a single layer and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in the oven and bake for 25 minutes, or until crisp. Place in a serving bowl and sprinkle with brown sugar.

Cook's Note: Be sure to place the kale in one layer on the sheet tray. Overcrowding will steam the kale rather than crisp it.

Spinach Chop

Since there will be plenty of spinach this week!

This one is adapted from Heidi Swanson's cookbook "Super Natural Every Day." She also has a blog: 101cookbooks. The harissa recipe is from The Stone Soup by Jules Clancy.

16oz Spinach, tough stems removed

1T extra-virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic

1T harissa (see below if you can't find any pre-made)

1/2c slivered almonds, toasted

grated zest of 1/2 lemon (optional)

4 hard boiled eggs (peeled and chopped)

Wilt the spinach in 1/2inch of boiling water. Stir it constantly for about 1 minute.

Drain spinach and run cold water over it to cool.

Spin spinach in a salad spinner or press spinach in a clean towel to remove as much water as possible.

Finely chop spinach.

Heat olive oil over medium heat and stir in garlic, cook about 1 minute--don't brown it.

Remove from heat and stir in harissa and spinach.

Add eggs, almonds, lemon zest and salt to taste.

For the harissa:

1 jar roasted red peppers (8oz)

2-5 small red chiles

2tsp caraway seeds

1tsp smoked paprika

1T lemon juice

2T olive oil

Put the first 5 ingredients in a food processor until smooth.

Stir through olive oil.

Serve as you would any chili sauce.

Enjoy this week's plethora of spinach!

Sheridan Local Foods Expo!

Please join us at the Local Foods Expo. Look for our booth!

April 30th, 2011 9:00am-3:00pm Watt Ag Center Sheridan College

It's FREE!

More information: www.downtownsheridan.org/

The Downtown Sheridan Association is pleased to be working with the University of Wyoming Extension Office, Sheridan College and many local producers & volunteers to bring you the 1st Sheridan Local Foods Expo.

The Expo is aimed at supporting the health and economic benefits of local foods and will include educational sessions, workshops and networking for producers and consumers of local food.

The keynote speaker will be Suzanne Wainwright-Evans AKA"The Bug Lady."

Whether you are a backyard gardener, a large scale producer or interested in eating locally, we invite you to join us for the day! The event is free and lunch service will be available. Raffles & Giveaways!

Arugula Pesto Recipe

(from: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/arugula_pesto/) 


Ingredients

2 cups of packed arugula leaves, stems removed

1/2 cup of walnuts

1/2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

6 garlic cloves, unpeeled

1/2 garlic clove peeled and minced

Method

1 Brown 6 garlic cloves with their peels on in a skillet over medium high heat until the garlic is lightly browned in places, about 10 minutes. Remove the garlic from the pan, cool, and remove the skins.



2 Toast the nuts in a pan over medium heat until lightly brown, or heat in a microwave on high heat for a minute or two until you get that roasted flavor. In our microwave it takes 2 minutes.


3a Food processor method (the fast way): Combine the arugula, walnuts, roasted and raw garlic into a food processor. Pulse while drizzling the olive oil into the processor. Remove the mixture from the processor and put it into a bowl. Stir in the Parmesan cheese.



3b Mortar and pestle method (photo pictures pesto produced this way): Combine the nuts and garlic in a mortar. With the pestle, grind until smooth. Add the cheese and olive oil, grind again until smooth. Finely chop the arugula and add it to the mortar. Grind up with the other ingredients until smooth. 

Because the pesto is so dependent on the individual ingredients, and the strength of the ingredients depends on the season or variety, test it and add more of the ingredients to taste.



4 Mix with freshly prepared pasta of your choice*. You may need to add a little bit of water or more olive oil to mix the pesto more evenly with the pasta.
Makes enough pesto sauce for an ample serving of pasta for four people.

Oh Arugula...

This week we are sending each of your a bunch of yummy arugula!!! For those of you wondering what in the world to do with that much arugula- here is a quick recipe: (...and I use the term 'recipe' loosely, this is kind-of an eyeball recipe, just use what looks good, add whatever you want, and enjoy!)

Easy CSA Stir-fry

1 bunch arugula, chopped
1 onion, chopped
Chinese cabbage (use 1/2 to a full head)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 carrots
stir fry sauce to taste (we like Schezwan)
2-3 tbsp. oil
cooked rice (2-3 cups, depending on how many servings are desired)

Cook rice, set aside. In large skillet or wok heat oil and add onion, carrot, and garlic. Cook till caramelized. Add greens and stir-fry sauce. Heat 2-3 additional minutes and serve over rice.

Yum!