Kale, Strawberry, and Mandarin Orange Salad
This is a delicious salad made with a surprising ingredient – raw kale. The dressing is sweet and tart. The strawberries add a zing that really sets it apart. Our Executive Director highly recommends this one.
Ingredients:
1 bunch Kale
1 lb Strawberries, sliced
1 Can Mandarin Orange Segments (11 oz)
2 Tablespoons Sesame Seeds, toasted
Vinaigrette:
1 Tablespoons Shallots, Minced
2 Whole Lemons, Juice and Zest
2 Teaspoons Dijon Mustard
2 Teaspoons Honey/Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Fresh Thyme, chopped
1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
2 Teaspoons Ground Pepper
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Directions:
Fill a large mixing bowl with tap water.
Clean the kale. Pull the curly leaves off at the stem, discarding the stems. Dunk a couple of handfuls at a time of the de-stemmed leaves in the bowl of water. Let them float there a few seconds, tapping them down into the water a bit, so that any dirt and debris can sink to the bottom of the bowl. Pluck those handfuls out of the water, placing them on a cutting board or paper towels. Repeat this until all of the kale is cleaned, it will probably take 5-10 minutes to clean one bunch. Discard the water and rinse the bowl.
Chop the kale. Working with a couple of handfuls of the kale leaves at a time, chop it into 1/2 inch pieces. You want it large enough to be speared by a fork, but not so big it’s more than a small bite. Put the chopped kale into the rinsed mixing bowl.
Make the vinaigrette. In a medium sized glass or ceramic mixing bowl, add the shallots, lemon juice, lemon zest, mustard, sugar/honey, thyme, salt, and pepper. Mix this well with a wire whisk. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking to emulsify properly. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed. You want this to be a little sweet with a good tart background.
Dress the kale. Pour most of the vinaigrette over the chopped kale – reserve a few tablespoons in case you want to add more later. You don’t want to over-dress this salad.
Toss the kale. Now for the messy part – “massage” the vinaigrette into the kale. Kale has a water-resistant exterior that needs some coaxing to take hold of the dressing. I conquer this by tossing the whole mess vigorously with my hands a few times.
Marinate the kale. Cover the bowl with plastic and let it set in a refrigerator or on the counter while you’re preparing the rest of your meal. The time marinating will also help to tenderize the kale a bit.
Assemble the salad. You can do this in individual bowls or in the larger bowl. If you do it individually, place the kale in the center of a bowl. Sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds on top to taste. Add as many strawberry and orange slices as desired.
Dig in and enjoy!
Read MoreBaby Spinach Pasta
Let’s keep the baby spinach going!
Ingredients:
¾ pound of whole-wheat pasta – I used penne, but any tubular pasta would do
2 cups of fresh baby spinach leaves, loosely packed, divided
3 ounces of goat cheese
3 ounces of cream cheese
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Broccoli and Baby Spinach Soup
We just started getting our baby spinach in! To celebrate, here is a simple and warming soup for those cold winter nights.
Ingredients: 
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 large garlic clove, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground nutme
about 2 pounds 4 ounces broccoli, spears separated and stalks peeled and thinly sliced
Read MoreSweet Baby Carrots
We’ve been a bit proud of those carrots you all have been getting. Here is a little recipe to sweeten it up even more. May not be the most “nutritious” but its certainly a treat.
Ingredients:
1 bunch Baby Carrots
1/2 cup of Butter
3 tablespoons Honey
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
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Mustard Greens with Cumin and Balsamic
This recipe was shared with our CSA members on January 5th. I found this recipe on the Kosher Foodies blog. It comes from someone who joined a CSA but had no idea what to do with Mustard Greens, so here’s some inspiration.
Ingredients:
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 onion, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
2 bunches mustard greens
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
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Roasted Kale Chips
This recipe comes from our very own Renee Catacolos. This has been one of her family’s favorite for the past few months. She says it is more a method than a recipe. As Renee said “these are easy, quick, and even kids love them!”
ROASTED KALE CHIPS
1 bunch kale
olive oil
sea salt to taste
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Rinse the kale and strip the leaves off the stems. Discard the stems. Tear the leaves into three or four pieces each. Spin them in a salad spinner to remove excess water. Spread the leaves in a single layer on two cookie sheets or if you have only one cookie sheet, roast the kale in two batches. Drizzle a scant tablespoon olive oil over the kale on each sheet. Sprinkle with salt. Toss the leaves gently with your hands to coat with olive oil – they don’t have to be slathered, you just want each leaf to have a bit of oil on it and for the salt to be distributed.
Place in the oven. After about 4-5 minutes, you’ll hear sizzling. Take out the sheets – the leaves will have shrunk considerably and look limp. Turn and stir the leaves with a spatula and return them to the oven. It should take another 3-4 minutes for the chips to become brittle and begin to brown. Watch them during this time; you don’t want them to burn, but you want them to be completely crisp. When you stir them around with a spatula, they should sound like paper or dry leaves.
Remove them to a bowl and serve!
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