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.

JoMo's Zucchini Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Icing

My mom, aka JoMo or Nana, has been making this cake since before I was born. A site to behold, isn't it? It was the much anticipated payoff for hours spent weeding our massive vegetable garden and tolerating the plethora of beets it produced. Now, every year as soon as the zucchini harvest starts rolling into the farmers market, I get the craving.

Most of the time I strive for Roo-safe baking. It's not always easy due to his egg allergy. The texture on this baby is so perfect, however, that I couldn't bring myself to use Egg Replacer, which made the whole ordeal scandalously indulgent. Roo helped grate zucchini and mixed in non-egg ingredients but he couldn't eat the finished product. Luckily I had plenty of Divvies Choco-lot Brownie Cookies in the freezer.

Of course you could forgo the frosting and bake this in bread pans for a more traditional breakfast style quick bread but don't do it! The voluptuous curves, thick dribble of cream cheese icing weeping down the sides, and a sprinkling of citrus zest elevate this humble quick bread to an entirely different plane.

JoMo's Zucchini Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Icing

3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 and 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups raw, unpeeled, grated zucchini
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
3 cups flour, sifted

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl beat the eggs until foamy. Gradually beat in oil and sugar. Add grated zucchini, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Mix well. Gradually blend in flour, mixing well after each addition.

2. Pour batter into a greased 3-quart Bundt pan and bake for one hour or until the cake tests done and begins to leave the sides of the pan. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Loosen the edges with a knife and turn onto a cake rack to cool.

For the Lemon Cream Cheese Icing

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. lemon zest, divided
3 cups powdered sugar

1. Beat the cream cheese, vanilla, lemon juice, and 1tsp. lemon zest in a large bowl. Gradually mix in powdered sugar stopping at your desired consistency. For zucchini cake I like to keep the frosting thick but just little runny so it will drip down the sides.
2. When the cake is completely cool, spoon icing on top, letting it ooze and drip down the sides. Sprinkle with remaining lemon zest.

Basil Corn Farro Salad

Our local farmers market opened this past weekend (woo hoo!), strawberry picking starts this weekend (wocka wocka!), and Cooking Light just put out their summer cookbook issue (yee haw!). I am overstimulated to the point of paralyzation.

I'm continuing to do my best to expose the munchkins to new foods and since they aren't yet regulars at the ancient grains table, how about a little farro? Not familiar with farro? It looks like this.

It's a kid-friendly grain on many levels. It cooks quickly (about 15 minutes, though you can buy it precooked too), has a mild flavor similar to brown rice, and maintains a chewy firmness when cooked. No pile of mush over here. I am confident the kiddos are going to dig it.

So here I go. Boil water, make farro, husk some corn, whisk up a little vinaigrette, pull the pork that's been marinating out of the fridge, slice corn off the cob, leave 3 ears intact to boil for the little tyrants who will revolt if I don't, saute the kernel corn, slice grape tomatoes, rinse the farro, toss the salad, chiffonade a little basil, and...c.r.a.p.

I forgot not to toss some farro with vinaigrette.

You might have noticed by now that when introducing newish foods to anyone under 7, my approach hinges on simplicity. Typically that means butter, salt, and occasionally Parmesan cheese. Hang on, don't judge me just yet.

I get that lots of kids out there eat cilantro creme fraiche on their lamb burgers and suck spicy mustard from baby bottles. I was going to have those children. But here's the thing. Those are not my children. Those children probably don't gag when a drop of Children's Tylenol grazes their lips or when a stray sliver of onion hasn't been strained from the marinara. Those kids probably hang out on normalized growth charts and don't need suspenders to sport American sized pants. Lemmings.

See, my kids need a little hand holding in the new food department. Launching them into farro-land with a full strength peppery vinaigrette didn't seem prudent. So guess what? Mufasa and I ate it all. Every last bite. And it rocked.

Basil and Corn Farro Salad
adapted from Cooking Light June 2012

12 ounces farro
2 ears corn, husked, kernels cut from cobs
2 tbsp. olive oil, divided
1/2 pint grape tomatoes
1 and 1/2 tbsp. white balsamic vinegar
1 and 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cracked black pepper
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped

1. Cook farro according to package instructions. Drain and rinse in cold water. Set aside.
2. Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in skillet and saute corn for three minutes.
3. Halve grape tomatoes. Combine farro, corn, and tomatoes in large bowl.
4. Whisk remaining 1 tbsp. olive oil, vinegar, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper. Drizzle over farro mixture and toss gently. Stir in basil.

Next time I'll try to remember an actual sample for the kids.