Massaged Kale Salad with Gorgonzola

Ingredients:
1 bunch kale
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup sunflower seeds, toasted
¼ cup diced red onion
¾ cup diced apple, (½ apple)
¼ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons unfiltered apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup Gorgonzola cheese, crumble

Directions:
De-stem kale by pulling leaf away from the stem. Wash leaves. Spin or pat dry. Stack leaves, roll up and cut into thin ribbons (chiffonade). Put kale in a large mixing bowl. Add salt, massage salt into kale with your hands for 2 minutes. To toast seeds, put in a dry skillet over low to medium heat and stir constantly for a few minutes until they change color and give off a nutty aroma.
Put kale in a fresh bowl and discard any leftover liquid. Stir onion, apple and toasted seeds into kale. Dress with oil and vinegar and toss. Taste for salt and vinegar, adding more if necessary. When at desired flavor, toss in cheese.

I substituted a lot of the listed ingredients with other in season and fresh ingredients, experiment and have fun!!!

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Risotto with kale, garlic, and peaches

1 ½ T olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cups kale, stems removed, leaves coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 c Arborio rice
2 c white wine (could omit and double the broth)
2 c chicken broth (could substitute veg broth)
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 fresh peach, peeled and chopped (could double for a fruitier flavor or substitute with mango)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese (or any other strong flavored cheese)

1. In sauce pan, bring wine and broth to a simmer.
2. In a separate sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened (about 5 minutes). Add the kale, stir, and cook for about 1 minute until it turns a brighter shade of green.
3. Add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Add the rice and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Raise the heat to medium-high and ladle in 1 cup simmering stock. The liquid should quickly boil and continue to simmer.
4. Continue to stir, without stopping, reaching all sides and the bottom of the pan so the rice does not stick or burn. Keep stirring until the liquid is absorbed and evaporated. Ladle in ½ c more hot liquid and repeat the process until the pan is again void of much stock.
5. After 15 minutes or so, season with salt/pepper and taste. Risotto should be tender but firm to the bite. You may add slightly less liquid now at each addition until you get your desired results in about 20-25 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and stir in peach and cheese. Serve immediately.

Serves 2 – 4

Submitted by CSA member Amy Rowley, Adapted from “The Bold Vegetarian Chef”

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Kale and Swiss Chard
Remove stems, wash well in water, tear into pieces and place in a large covered pan. Add just enough water to cover bottom of pan. Heat with a medium heat until water begins to simmer. Simmer till the leaves are wilted remove cover and strain excess water. Add butter, salt and pepper to taste.

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Steamed Broccoli, Asparagus and Kale with Garlic Leeks, Butter, and Lemon

Clean and cut the broccoli into smaller size florrets, clean and break asaparagus tops off and add to steamer (keep asparagus bottoms for soups or other meal, they just need to be cooked a little longer then the tender tops). Cut Kale into one inch stripes add to steamer for the last minute of steaming before broccoli and asparagus are tender. As the veggies are steaming, melt a few tablespoons of butter (olive oil is a good substitute) in a pan, cut up garlic leek(s) into 1/4 inch pieces and add to butter on a low heat as it is melting and saute for a minute. Once the butter is melted turn it up to a medium heat, once the butter starts to bubble remove from heat squeeze 1/2 a lemon into the pan and add the steamed veggies, stir it around so they all get some butter on them and enjoy! Add salt and pepper to taste.

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Roasted Kale
by Eva Moore

“Holy cow, have you made roasted kale yet? I read about it almost a year ago but just now got around to making it. It's stunning. We ate it two nights in a row.

”Basically you strip some kale leaves off the stalks, wash and dry them, toss them with olive oil, and roast them at 375 degrees for about 5 minutes per side. Err on the low side -- the leaves get overly brown very easily. A little chewiness is okay, as it will be mixed in with brownish crispy patches. And while the recipes I read said to toss the kale with salt, and I am a salt fanatic, I actually left it out altogether and liked it better. But try it both ways.”

Check out Eva and her mom's website for some good recipes: http://cookinghabit.blogspot.com/

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Swiss Chard and Kale Wanton Raviolis
The Farmers Market Cookbook by Richard Ruben

Wanton skins are such a versatile product. Outside of Asian markets you can find them in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. Place the package of wantons in the refrigerator and let them defrost in the course of about 2 hours.

-1 Bunch of Swiss Chard Kale (approx 2 pounds)
-2 Tablespoons +1/2 cup olive oil
-2 Garlic cloves (or you can use 6-8 scapes instead)
-3/4 Cup Parmesan cheese
- Salt and Pepper to taste
-1 Package wanton wrappers (approx 50 count)
-1/4 Cup cornstarch (you can substitute cornstarch 1:1 with potato or rice flour or 1:2 arrowroot or other flour’s)

Remove Ribs from leaves. Wash but keep separate. Bring a four quart pot of water to a boil and cook the leaves for 3-4 minutes. Drain. Roughly chop the leaves. Meanwhile, dice the ribs into small pieces and saute in 2 tablespoons of olive oil with the garlic for 5 minutes. Drain the ribs through a fine sieve over a large bowl collecting the liquid given off from the cooked ribs. Reserve the liquid. Toss the swiss chard leaf, rib and Parmesan cheese together. Taste and correct seasoning with salt and pepper. Place about a tablespoon's worth of the swiss chard/kale mixture in the center of a wanton skin. Lightly dampen the edges with water and lay another wanton skin on top. Carefully squeeze out any air from the ravioli and pinch edges to seal. Place the completed raviolis on a tray lightly dusted with cornstarch (prevents raviolis from sticking to surface). Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking tray and lay the raviolis down in a single layer. Lightly brush the tops with olive oil. Place in oven and bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Bring the reserved swiss chard and kale liquid to a boil season with salt and pepper, and add remain oil to the liquid. Drizzle over each serving.

Kale is one of the several dark green leafy vegetables of the cabbage family, related to collards and mustards greens. All of these greens provide calcium, iron and carotenoids in abundance, as well as many anticancer factors. Kale and related greens should always be eaten cooked - but not over cooked- so that the oxalic acid they contain is neutralized.

Chard is a member of the beet family, selectively bred for its leaves rather than its root. Although chard is often referred to as Swiss Chard, the champions of this versatile vegetable are the French who add it to soups, stuffings, pates and pancakes. Like all dark green leafy vegetables, chard is rich in iron calcium, magnesium, vitamin C, and carotenoids. Chard should always be eaten cooked as it contains oxalic acid that may irritate the mouth and intestinal tract. These are neutralized during the cooking.

Sourced from Nourshing Traditions by Sally Fallon