Recipe: Kale Burritos

Kale burritos?  Am I crazy?  I wanted Mexican food, but we had some kale that we had to use, so I combined the two and it worked out pretty well.

Ingredients

• 1 bunch kale, chopped
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 t ground cumin
• 1/2 t Mexican oregano
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 can refried black beans
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 chipotle in adobo sauce, minced, plus some sauce
• shredded cheese
• whole wheat tortillas

Saute the onion in some olive oil until softened.  Add the garlic and the cumin and oregano and cook until fragrant.  Add the kale in bunches and wilt.  Squeeze lemon on top and cover to let kale cook.  Meanwhile, combine the sour cream and chipotle.  Add adobo sauce to taste (depending on how spicy you like it).  Also warm the beans up in a separate pan.  To assemble, warm the tortillas then pile on the beans, kale, cheese, and sour cream sauce.  Fold into a burrito and enjoy!

PS – I’m going to start italicizing all of the CSA ingredients in my posts.  I’m also italicizing ingredients I forage from my yard, like lemons, herbs, and soon peaches and tomatoes!

Recipe: Stinging Nettles Soup

Quick & easy soup that’s satisfying yet light.  I ate it hot, but would be good cold as well.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 russet potatoes, cubed
• 2 handfuls nettle leaves, rinsed
• a dash of cream
• sour cream & chives to garnish

Saute the onion in some butter until softened.  Add the potatoes and cover with water.  Bring to boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.  Add the nettle leaves and cook 5 more minutes (to prep the nettles, tear the leaves off the stems and wear rubber gloves and don’t psyche yourself out too much by worrying that the poison is somehow getting through the rubber – it’ll be ok).  Puree the soup using your new immersion blender (yay! so much easier than the blender) and return to the heat.  Add a little cream to taste and taste for S&P.  Serve topped with sour cream and chives.

Recipe: Cabbage Lasagna and Green Garlic Mashers

I’ve never been a huge cabbage fan and you may have noticed that I hadn’t posted a recipe using that oxheart cabbage we got for Valentine’s Day.  Well, the March issue of Vegetarian Times arrived in our mailbox last week and included a feature about cabbage with various recipes.  Below is my take on their “Cabbage Casserole with Leeks, Ricotta and Pine Nuts.”  I didn’t really read through the recipe before I started making it, and thought that it would make a nice topping for mashed potatoes (or mashers), but it turned out that the recipe was more like a lasagna with cabbage filling in for pasta.  The mashers made a great side dish for this hearty, yet healthy meal.

Ingredients for the Cabbage Lasagna

• 12 large leaves of oxheart cabbage (or savoy)
• 2 baby red onions, sliced (or 3 small leeks)
• 1 baby garlic, sliced
• 1/2 cup veggie broth
• 3 slices lemon
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 15-ounce can chopped tomatoes – we had fire roasted tomatoes with peppers, which made the dish spicy
• 3T chopped parsley
• 8 oz ricotta
• 3T toasted pine nuts

Blanch the cabbage leaves in a large pot of boiling salted water about 5 minutes or until softened.  Drain, pat dry and set aside.  Heat some oil in a skillet over medium high eat and add the baby red onions, baby garlic, and broth.  Place lemon slices on top and bring to a simmer.  Drop the heat to low and cook for 25 minutes.  Drain the liquid in a colander, remove the lemon and put aside.  Preheat the oven to 350.  Heat some more oil in the skillet, add the garlic and cook for about a minute before adding the tomatoes.  Cook for about 10 minutes or until most of the liquid is evaporated.  Stir in the parsley.

To assemble.  Oil a baking dish and the lay down a layer of 3 or 4 cabbage leaves.  Top with 1/3 of the tomatoes, 1/3 of the ricotta, 1/3 of the pine nuts and 1/3 of the onion mixture.  Repeat 3 times and top everything with a last layer of cabbage.  Bake for about 30 minutes.

Ingredients for the Mashers

• 3 russet potatoes, peeled and chopped into large chunks
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/3 cup veggie broth
• 1 bulb of green garlic, chopped (including green parts)
• sour cream (to taste)
• pats of butter

Combine milk, broth and green garlic in a pan and bring to a simmer, turn off and let milk infuse.  While the cabbage is baking, put potatoes in a large pot, cover with cold water and bring to a boil.  Simmer until potatoes are cooked, 15-25 minutes.  Once soft, drain and return to the pot.  Let sit 30 seconds or so to allow the water to evaporate.  Pour the infused milk into the potatoes (making sure to get all the green garlic) and mash with a potato masher.  Add a few spoonfuls of sour cream to taste and mix in.  Add S&P to taste.  Serve with a pat of butter on top.

Not really a recipe: Taco Night!

OK, so the only CSA ingredient in this taco plate is the shredded lettuce, but they were so good!  Oli’s brainchild – he sauteed TVP with jalapeno and onion and topped it with cheese, sour cream, home-made guacamole, salsa and romaine lettuce, nestled in a toasty corn tortilla.  Accompanied by refried beans and chips.  YUM!