Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Fun With Beets and Kale

As my fiance and I enter the fifth week of our farm share, we are still utterly enamored of the harvest that comes our way each week. The staples, like fresh beets and scallions, are always welcome, and every Wednesday there is something new to give us a little thrill. This week: new potatoes!

Still, when you find yourself staring down at enormous bunches of kale, Swiss chard, and beet and turnip greens each week, you do start to wonder how many times you can sautee them with garlic and onion, delectable an option as it is.

Lucky for me, Red Fire Farm sends out seasonal recipes with each week's harvest e-mail, and keeps even more on their fabulous website. Whether you have a farm share or are just looking for a creative way to prepare your goodies from the market, it is a great place to turn for some delicious and often surprising ideas. My favorite so far? Kale chips! I've included the recipe here, and you can follow this link to see the other yummy ideas that Red Fire has in store for you.

Easy Kale Chips

1 lb kale, chopped
Preheat oven to 400
Toss kale with olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread out on a baking sheet and bake, turning every 5 minutes until brown and crispy. Kale should be dry and able to be eaten by hand like chips!

2 comments:

  1. Yes! Bon Apetit had a recipe for kale chips a few months back (same technique), and I loved it. What a great alternative to sauteeing. I'm wondering what to do with the rainbow chard I've got in the fridge right now. It would be cool to prepare it in such a way that the colors are still visible...

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  2. Hmmm...I don't have any ideas quite as brilliant as the kale chips. I can say, though, that I cooked some beautiful Swiss chard last week (sauteed with garlic, of course) and included a lot of the chopped up stem. The red color was brilliant against the deep green of the leaves, and it was a great texture contrast. (Unlike a lot of leafy greens, the stems of Swiss chard are not chewy or tough.) Maybe you could keep the many colors of the rainbow chard this way as well?

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