CSA Week 2: Kale as a "super food" and more leafy greens.

We made it through week 1 of the CSA, consumed pretty much everything and are now moving on to week 2.  Here is the run down for what we received: 

-1 bunch kale
-2 kohlrabi bulbs
-1/2lb bag of baby leaf lettuce
-1/3lb bag of Asian mix
-1 head of romaine lettuce
-1 head of green leaf
-2 heads of escarole
-1 2in basil plant
-1 2in sage plant
-1 4in rosemary plant

The lettuces went to salads and as of Thursday we only have a small amount of lettuce left over.  The plants were all added to our herb pots on the deck which are growing nicely and will be used throughout the summer as I cook and I'm going to make a slaw out of the kohlrabi (In doing some further research, the taste of it is a cross between a cauliflower and a turnip and you treat it like the rest of your root veggies).    I have big ideas for the escarole that I will share the results of in a new post and then there are these stubborn Asian greens that I'm having a hard time getting into and considering they are on the list for week 3, I'm going to have to find a way to like them fast.  I once read somewhere that when you are trying to get someone to like a food that they've never had before, you want to pair them with other well liked foods and flavors so that way they have something familiar to hold onto and enjoy and then it doesn't seem like this foreign thing you are eating.  So I think we are going to go the stirfry route with some pork/chicken and other veggies and make it seem like homemade Chinese food...details to come.


The thing that I was the most exciting about this week was the kale.  Kale was one of those foods that I had not eaten much of in the past and seemed like at first thought this health food that tree huggers in Vermont ate.  But I kept seeing different recipes for it that looked really delicious so I embraced the kale head on and made a quiche.  This is another super easy recipe that you can do in stages or squeeze in whenever you have the time and it kept for a few days for breakfast and lunches.  And maybe I'm playing mind games with myself, but I have to tell you that after eating the quiche I felt healthier and like I was doing this wonderful thing for my body considering that one cup of kale has 2 times the amount of fiber then that of a slice of multigrain bread.  

   Kale and Zucchini Quiche

-1 store bought pie crust, pressed into a pie or quiche dish*
-3 eggs
-3/4 cup milk
-3/4 cup half-and-half or cream
-1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (you could also use feta but I'm not a huge fan of it)
-1/2 onion chopped

-1 bunch kale (washed, chopped)

-olive oil

-1 clove garlic chopped

-1 zucchini, shredded
-salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 375°F.  Prick the bottom of your pie crust with a fork and pre-bake it for 15 minutes until it starts to set up (quick tip:  have your crust go a little bit higher up in the pan because it tends to shrink down slightly when cooking).

While the crust is baking saute your chopped onion with a good glug of olive oil into its soft and translucent.  Add in the garlic, let it saute until soft and then throw in your chopped kale and let cook until soft about 10 minutes.  (If you only have small blocks of time to make this recipe, you can totally do this step ahead of time and let it sit in a bowl until you are ready to assemble the whole thing together).

In a small bowl, whisk together your eggs, 1/2 and 1/2 and milk together (I used skim milk because that what we had in the house and I didn't miss the extra fat at all) with some salt and pepper until smooth.  Remove the pie crust and sprinkle the cheese, half of the kale/onion mixture and half of the zucchini into the dish.  Pour the egg mixture on top and then pour in the remaining vegetables.  Give it a gentle stir to make sure everything is immersed in the egg mixture.  Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

*For a long time I thought I had to be all Martha Stewart in everything that I did and would have balked at the idea of using a store bought pie crust.  Maybe I've regained some sort of sanity in my life but I'm now a big believer in the store brought frozen crust.  You can't be the state of perfection all the time and every good cook needs a few short cuts once in awhile.  By all means if you feel the great urge and desire to make your own crust, please feel free to go the extra mile and do so...I will envy you even more for having enough free time and energy to do so!  I usually use the Trader Joe's brand that is in the freezer section and comes 2 to a box.  I let it soften and then roll it out to fit my dish and no one ever said "oh this quiche stinks because of the crust".