Harvest Notes June 24, 2010

Written by Kara Lanning

Summer is officially here! While it is clearly apparent judging by the exponential increase of short and tank top wearers (myself included) the Garden has exploded as well. We have enjoyed the beautiful weather this week and planted 8 additional rows of slicing and lemon cucumbers and 2 rows of eggplant. For your baskets this week we have included:

• Strawberries
• Red Leaf Lettuce
• Sugar snap peas
• Radishes
• and KALE!!!!

Kale is hands down, absolutely my favorite vegetable! I can't really put my finger on the reason but I find this nutritionally packed leafy green to be tasty and incredibly versatile. I have included a couple kale recipes below for you to enjoy at your choosing. To help you cool off from the wonderfully hot weather, I have also included a recipe for strawberry granita.

Happy Eating!

Kara

Fresh Strawberry Granita

1 cup hot water
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 cups sliced hulled strawberries (1 pound whole berries) plus additional berries for garnish
Stir first 3 ingredients in small bowl until sugar dissolves. Blend 3 cups strawberries in processor until smooth. Add sugar syrup and blend until combined.

Pour mixture into 13x9x2-inch nonstick metal baking pan. Freeze until icy around edges, about 25 minutes. Using fork, stir icy portions into middle of pan. Freeze until mixture is frozen, stirring edges into center every 20 to 30 minutes, about 1 1/2 hours. Using fork, scrape granita into flaky crystals. Cover tightly and freeze. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep frozen.) Scrape granita into bowls. Garnish with berries and serve.

Kale, Garbanzo beans and Rice

I bunch of Kale roughly chopped
1 can garbanzo beans
1 shallot, minced (can substitute a small onion)
a little olive oil
Cooked rice
Garnish with Parmesan, goat cheese, or asiago (all very tasty)

In a saute pan cook the shallot until translucent over medium heat. Add the kale. Once the kale is cooked (about 3-5 minutes) add the garbanzo beans. Heat the beans through. Serve this deliciousness over a bed of rice and sprinkle or grate your favorite cheese over it. Salt and pepper to taste. Voila! It is just that easy! It is fun to experiment with this recipe- so go nuts!

Popcorn with Kale Chips

1 batch of lightly salted popcorn (or 1 bag of plain/lightly salted)
extra virgin olive oil, preferably in a mister
sea salt
fresh cracked black pepper
nutritional yeast
crushed up kale chips

This recipe is all really to taste. But to make the kale chips, tear the kale into small pieces (small enough for popcorn). Put a little olive oil in a bowl and mix the kale with the oil. Bake the kale in a 350 degree oven for approximately 10 minutes (stirring the chips half way through). To make sure that all of the popcorn and kale gets seasoned evenly my grandfather taught me to put the stuff in a paper bag and shake like H-E-double-hockey-stick- this method always made the best popcorn-YUM!