Kale!

Season: Fall through spring, sometimes into summer.

How to Grow Basics: Kale likes sun but can take some part shade. It is a pretty plant that can be integrated into a landscaped garden or grown in pots.
Local Sources: Farmers’ Markets, Chico Natural Foods, and S&S Produce. The farmers of GRUB grew these kales at the farm on Dayton Rd.

Health Benefits: WHOA!! According to the World’s Healthiest Foods website kale is rated “excellent” for providing the vitamins K, A and C and Manganese! In fact one serving gives you a huge 1327.6% of your daily needs for Vitamin K! Kale is rated “very good” for dietary fiber, copper, calcium, vitamin B6, and potassium. Can you believe it? But it doesn’t end there; kale is also rated as a “good” source of iron, magnesium, vitamin E, omega 3, vitamin B1, B2, B3, protein, folate, and phosphorus. All that and it tastes good!

Fun Fact(s): Your child has probably already tasted kale in their garden at school and probably really likes it raw and straight from the garden! In your box you should get 2 different kinds of kale: one is the curly kale and the crinkly one is dinosaur kale (a favorite with the kids.)

Quick Tips: Try these raw! At this time of the year they are at their best, as they get sweeter after frosts. Try it in a salad mixed with milder greens. They do stand up well to cooking and are often included in stir-fries or soups. You can try them in place of chard or spinach in most recipes.

Winter Vegetable Hash

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, diced
• 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 small acorn squash, diced
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch ground black pepper
• 1 cup chopped kale

• 4 sprigs fresh sage

• Place oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Melt butter and mix in potatoes, mushrooms, pepper, squash, and shallot. Season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Cook 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender.

• Mix kale and sage into skillet. Continue cooking 5 minutes, until kale is wilted. Serve and enjoy!

Crispy Kale

• 6-8 cups chopped fresh kale, hard stems removed
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt or sea salt

Place a rack on the lowest shelf of your oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread kale out on a sturdy baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and apple cider vinegar. Toss to coat completely. Place on the lowest rack of the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and stir so that kale can get crispy all over. Bake another 8 to 12 minutes or until kale is crispy. It should be just lightly browned and crispy to the touch. If kale still bends, rather than crackles, when you touch it, it isn't done yet. Return it to the oven. Turn down the heat if it is getting too brown. Continue cooking until crispy. Remove from oven, and sprinkle with sea salt and serve immediately.

Eggs Over Kale

• About 8 ounces kale
• 5 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• A pinch of dried red pepper flakes
• 2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 3 to 4 cups stock or water or a combination
• Thick slices of country bread
• Eggs
• Olive oil
• Parmesan cheese

Stack a few leaves at a time; then slice them into ¼-inch-thick ribbons. Dump the sliced kale into a salad spinner and spin dry. In a large (4-quart) saucepan, warm the oil over medium-low heat. Add the onions, and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are translucent but still firm. Add the red pepper flakes and garlic and the kale, and stir until the kale is fully wilted. Add stock to cover by about ½ inch. Bring to a simmer. Cover, and continue to simmer until the kale is tender but not mushy, about 30 minutes. Taste, and salt as needed. To serve, toast one slice of bread per person. While still hot, lightly rub both sides of the toast with raw garlic. Place the toast in the bottom of a wide soup bowl. Now, fry some eggs – one per person, probably – in olive oil. Pile some kale onto the toast in each bowl, drizzle with a little bit of olive oil, and top with a fried egg. Strew with prosciutto, if you want. Grate some cheese over the whole thing, and serve.

*A quick and simple version we make at the GRUB house includes braising the kale in a skillet with a small amount of water. Then break the eggs on top and put a lid on it until the eggs are cooked. We take a spatula and cut it up like a pie so that everyone gets an egg on top of a “nest” of yummy greens.

Happy Winter Season to our Garden Friends and their families!

Love from Sherri Stephanie, Cameron and Desi