Mexican Kale Salad

It's CSA box season for Angelic Organics shareholders and our farmers' market is in full swing so all restraint has gone straight out the window. Three different varieties of crisp lettuces in addition to arugula and spinach, fresh herbs, broccoli, beets, turnips, radishes, scallions, kale and flats of ripe strawberries have taken over the kitchen, not to mention the peas and tomatoes that are starting to roll in from our own little garden plot. And we're just getting the season started!

This is obviously cause for celebration. Where we live, when it comes to fresh local produce, we get it while we can. Winters are rough. Thank goodness there's no season for chocolate or March would be completely unbearable around here. For now though, we're wallowing like a bunch of baby rabbits in nature's bounty.

But where are we going to put all of this gorgeous organic produce?

Main refrigerator compartment? Door? Crisper drawer? Dark, cool corner of the basement? What's the best place to store those luscious lettuces? For a quick crash course, check out this Freshness IQ Challenge put together by the food storage gurus at Wolf and Sub-Zero. As an added bonus, they'll donate a dollar to FoodCorps for every completed quiz.

So how'd you do? I know enough not to ruin juicy summer tomatoes by putting them in the fridge but I admit to storing fresh fish in the main fridge compartment all these years. Who knew?

Now that we have proper storage out of the way, it's time to put the good stuff to work make something awesome like perhaps...a little Mexican Kale Salad?

This is summer for lunch. Or dinner. Or breakfast for that matter. Starting the day off with a salad is a great way to meet your produce quota and helps ensure all those leafy greens get used. Forget Wheaties. Breakfast salad is where it's at. If you're a traditionalist and need a little more breakfast in your breakfast, try slicing a hard boiled egg on top.

Earthy ribbons of deep green kale play so well alongside buttery avocado, salty Cotija, kicky radishes, and crunchy pepitas but it's the lime that really got the kids. Looly, surprise surprise, picked out the avocado, but all three of the 7-and-unders in this house ate this kale salad. By choice. There was no cajoling. No bargaining. They actually dumped kale salad on top of plain pasta to make their own creation - Mexican Kale Pasta Salad, then had seconds. Those are my kids!

Mexican Kale Salad

For the dressing

1&1/2 tbsp sunflower oil (or canola, olive or grapeseed oil)
1 lime, juice and zest
1 tsp agave
1/4 tsp kosher salt
pinch freshly ground black pepper

For the salad

1 bunch kale, sliced into thin ribbons
1 avocado, cubed
4 medium radishes, thinly sliced
1/2 cup Cotija cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup pepitas

To make the dressing combine the oil, lime juice and zest, agave, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Whisk to combine.

In a large bowl, combine the salad ingredients. Pour the dressing over the top and toss gently. Let sit at room temperature for 15-30 minutes. Toss it again and serve. Garnish with more pepitas, a sprinkle of Cotija, and lime wedges.

Swiss Chard Soup

My sister has a killer recipe for Swiss Chard Soup. Sadly, I've never made it because every time she sends me the recipe I lose it. Somewhere around here there's a goldmine of heirloom recipes tucked into one book jacket or another. But after searching in vain for the elusive recipe stockpile and faced with an overflowing vegetable drawer from the latest CSA delivery from Angelic Organics, I finally made up my own.

The bounty of vegetables presented the perfect opportunity to test out our new crock pot.  Ever since a batch of pulled pork cracked the insert of our old KitchenAid slow cooker for the third time, I've been on the lookout for a new, heartier model. After extensive research that mostly entailed reading amazon.com reviews, I decided it was time to downgrade. Yes, downgrade. Our new Crock Pot was cheaper and a little smaller that its predecessor (6 quarts vs. 7), but the reviews on this baby look great and after one round of chard soup, I am pleased. Fingers crossed that this crock doesn't shatter on me too. I'll keep you posted on that one but so far so good.

Swiss Chard Soup

2 tbsp olive oil
2 leeks, thinly sliced, and washed well
1 cup onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large bunch of chard, washed, and roughly chopped
4 large carrots, chopped
3 cups waxy potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
6 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 Parmesan rind (I happened to have one in the freezer, but you could leave it out and add extra Parmesan on top when serving)
1 large bunch summer savory (or substitute fresh oregano), tied with twine for easy removal
Parmesan cheese for garnish

1. Heat olive oil in a large saute pan. Add onion, garlic, and leeks and saute until soft and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add chard to the pan and continue to cook until the chard wilts.
2. Transfer chard mixture to a 6-quart (or slightly larger) slow cooker crock. Add next 8 ingredients (through Parmesan rind, if using) and stir gently. Nestle the bunch of summer savory right on top and cover. Cook on low setting for 8-10 hours. Garnish with plenty of freshly shaved Parmesan cheese and a serve with a hunk of crusty bread.

My champion chard spinner

Shareholder Open House at Angelic Organics

As I mentioned in my recent beets post, we are shareholders at Angelic Organics, a super community supported agriculture farm in Caledonia, IL. This weekend we visited the farm as part of an open house for shareholders.

We took a hay ride through the fields to admire and learn about the crops. The kids were particularly taken with the first blushing tomatoes and watermelons ripening on the vine, and Looly asked some great questions about the different growing techniques. There may be hope for my city kids yet.

Bean enjoying the hay ride

While a performance by famed Bubble-ologist, Geoff Akins, was definitely the highlight for Looly, Bean, and Roo, they also loved visiting the pigs...

petting goats and chickens...

and picking 3 pounds of green beans and wax beans in the U-pick garden, which resulted in 4 pints of spicy pickled beans. I need to work on my bean loading technique as these are kind of smooshed into their jars, but the marinade is good and spicy. Mufasa has big plans to put them to use during football season tailgates. They will be awesome nestled alongside a freshly grilled bratwurst, in peppery bloody marys and for general snacking, of course.

Spicy Pickled Green Beans and Wax Beans
adapted slightly from food.com

2 pounds green beans, wax beans or a combo, trimmed
2 tbsp. salt
2 and 1/2 cups red wine vinegar (5% acidity)
1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 cup vodka
4 tbsp. mustard seeds
2 tbsp. black peppercorns
1 tbsp. pink peppercorns
4 tsp. fennel seeds
4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (less, if you prefer)
8 cloves garlic
4 bay leaves
2 tsp. dill

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and blanch beans until crisp tender, about 4 minutes, then plunge into an ice bath to halt cooking.
2. Combine remaining ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook over medium high heat for 2 minutes, stirring to dissolve sugar.
3. Place beans into sterilized pint jars (more neatly and artistically than I did, no doubt!). Remove bay leaves from marinade and pour hot marinade over beans leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Seal jars and process in a boiling water bath canner for 15 minutes. Allow to sit in the canner for 5 minutes then remove and cool completely on a wire rack or clean towel. Check seals and reprocess if needed. 

Makes 4 pints

Bring on the Beets

As much as I want to be that mom that drives a hybrid and outfits my children in hemp and secondhand organic cotton, I spend a lot of time at Target. And Starbucks. And while I'm making confessions, sometimes I don't turn the engine off on the minivan while I'm waiting to pick up the kids. Yup. I idle.

But, I do buy organic as much as I can. Dairy and meat almost always, skincare most of the time, produce when it makes sense. I turn off the water while brushing my teeth. The kids color on recycled paper that goes back into the recycling bin. And we subscribe to a weekly CSA box from Angelic Organics. That's a whole share, people. No half-boxes here.

I adore our weekly CSA box. Opening the flaps of that waxy cardboard to a chorus of oohs and ahhs from dill-sniffing, lettuce munching munchkins is pure joy. But there is one problem. The beets.

That's one week's worth, people. There will be more to come in six days and counting. Another confession. I can't stand beets. Yes, I've tried them with goat cheese. I've tried them in salads, roasted, candied. And you know what? I still don't like beets.

But in all fairness I've been calling out the kids a lot lately claiming that they can't say they don't like something until they've tried it in every possible preparation we can find. So, I've got some work to do. Beet chips. It worked for the kids with kale chips. Let's go.

Okay, they are freakishly beautiful. If the chips don't go over well maybe I'll just use the next batch to make some natural dyes. I mean come on, look at those things.

Beet Chips with Curried Yogurt Dip*

4-6 beets, thinly and uniformly sliced on a mandolyn
Canola or vegetable oil for frying
1 tsp. salt
1 cup Greek yogurt (fat content of your choice)
1 tbsp. curry powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. cilantro, finely chopped

1. Heat oil in a deep, heavy bottomed pot to 350 degrees. Add beet slices in small batches and fry until bubbling subsides and edges curl and brown. Interestingly I found different colored beats needed varying frying times with the dark purple beets taking the longest. I'm assuming this has to do with different water content but use your judgement. I recommend frying batches of one color at a time. Nobody likes soggy chips. Burned ones, I kind of dig, but the choice is yours. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with salt while still warm.

2. For the dip, combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl and mix until well combined. Serve alongside the beet chips.

*My kids struggle to gain weight and I was really trying to sell these so I fried our chips. You could save yourself a heck of a lot of calories and oil by baking them instead. Just toss the beet slices in a little oil and place them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until crisp and nicely browned.

Verdict? They. Were. Awesome. I'm still not ready to dig into a bowl of borscht, but seriously, these were perhaps the most delicious chips I've ever eaten. The sweetness from the beets really enhances the salty crispiness we're used to in chips. Bean couldn't get enough. Roo, upon tasting his first chip, instructed me to make all of the rest exactly like the one in his mouth. High praise from a boy who fasts like a martyr much of the time. And Looly, well, she was the lone holdout but it's no surprise. She's a slow sell and she's finally coming around to kale chips so give us a few months.

Summer Reading List

I am easing into the Kindle revolution. More accurately I've succumbed to reading most books and magazines on my iPad. It hasn't been easy but my back enjoys the lightened load in my bag. 

Cookbooks are another story. I appreciate the weight of them. More than that I like splattering grease all over the pages. So, instead of clearing shelves and edging toward a new digital clean, I keep amassing more. I can't stop myself. There are so many great food books out there. And they keep coming! Here are a few I'm especially digging right now.

For your own guilty pleasure...

Masala Farm by Suvir Saran
Shout out to my fellow Upstate New Yorkers: buy this book now, unless you are on my Christmas shopping list in which case you will probably be receiving this book as a gift. Sorry to spoil the surprise.

Suvir Saran is my new hero. I might be a little biased here by the whole Indian chef moves Upstate from Manhattan to raise goats and heirloom chickens, cook seasonally, and give back to the community. Masala Farm reads with the ease of a well written novel and has tons of local relevance to the Saratoga Springs-Salem-Battenkill area. Perhaps most thrilling, the book features eastern Upstate NY in a uniquely bountiful and inspiring light without ignoring the social and economic woes that are still very real there. It's bursting with beautiful photos of good food and the fields and animals that provide it. The recipes are unique, running the gamut from Ginger-Soy Fresh Ham with Roasted Garlic to Chaat Masala Fries and Pakoras and to Upstate Apple Butter. The flavor spectrum here is vast but the recipes are totally accessible, like this Chunky Eggplant Dip I made for the 4th of July...

Yummy Roasted Chunky Eggplant Dip from Saran's Masala Farm Cook Book

The Preservation Kitchen by Paul Virant
Who makes canning sexy? Paul Virant, that's who. Following my success with Balsamic Strawberry Jam with Cracked Pepper, I ventured beyond the pages of Better Homes and Gardens to this gem. Seriously, if a giant pot of boiling water and a few dozen Ball canning jars doesn't get your heart racing, it will after you flip through this book. Grilled and Pickled Hot Peppers, Cherry Mostarda, and Pear and Vanilla Aigre-Doux are all on my agenda. Better still, the entire second half of this book is devoted to recipes featuring the items you preserved in the first half. Brilliant!

Farmer John's Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables by John Peterson
This is technically out of print but amazon.com looks to still have a few copies. Farmer John just happens to be the man behind Angelic Organics, the farm where we get our summer CSA vegetable share. His organic vegetables are a true summer treat to behold and this book is invaluable when you just don't know what to do with all that rutabaga, or the third bunch of beets. 

and one to share with the kids...

Fanny at Chez Panisse by Alice Waters
If you cook at all with your children, or you take them to restaurants, or you have seen them eat food, you need this book. Originally released in 1992, the story of Alice Waters's daughter, Fanny, and her adventures at Berkeley's legendary Chez Panisse restaurant, is as relevant today as it was twenty years ago. This is the rare book that the kids request repeatedly and I never tire of reading. It is a literal and visual celebration of fresh, flavor-packed, nutrient-rich foods and the many interesting characters who make it all possible. The book includes 46 recipes for real food...no cupcake chickens or smiley face pancakes here (though I have a soft spot in my heart for those as well). This is real food, for real people, that kids can relate to.

So that begs the question, what are your favorite cookbooks?