Kale Burgers (They Really are Delicious!)

Adapted from a recipe I found online, here goes:

2 cups of kale, stems removed and sliced into thin ribbons and steamed for three minutes
1-16 oz. can of navy beans, cannellini beans, or chick peas--drained and slightly mashed with a fork
3 eggs or egg whites
1/4 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 t. salt
pinch turmeric
pinch paprika
bread crumbs
olive oil for frying

1) Combine first 8 ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl. Grind slightly with an immersion blender to combine the beans and kale into the rest of the mixture.
2) Add enough bread crumbs to make the mixture easy to form into patties.
3) Place in a pre-heated non-stick skillet over medium heat with some olive oil.
4) Cook on each side 4-6 min or until golden brown. Remove and put on a plate with a paper towel to drain/cool.
5) Serve with plain yogurt or other topping or your choosing! Enjoy!
Makes approximately 8-10 medium-sized patties.

Veggie Stuffed Shells

You know I can never follow a recipe exactly, so I adapted one from a recipe online because I wanted to use up some kale and thought it could be hidden well in some delicious stuffed shells. As I've done with lasagna in the past, I substituted 1/2 of the ricotta for soft tofu and it was still delicious. I doubled the recipe and it ended up making 3 pans of shells. Below is my attempt to scale down the recipe for normal family consumption (we made some extra for a friend and I froze the extra pan).

Ingredients:
1 package pasta shells
2 T. olive oil
2 cloves garlic* (I used roasted garlic)
5-6 mushrooms
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/2 red pepper*, finely chopped
salt & pepper
1 1/2 c. kale/mustard greens* or other hearty greens (washed, dried and roughly chopped)
handful of sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
2 T. mushroom broth (or water)
8 oz container of part-skim Ricotta cheese
1 package soft (silken) tofu (can use 16 oz ricotta for the above two ingredients)
2 c. shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
2 T. pesto*
homemade or your favorite jar(s) of tomato sauce--appx. 3 cups of finished sauce per pan of shells

1) Boil pasta shells according to package directions (appx 12 min)
2) While shells are cooking, mince garlic and saute in olive oil. Add onion, red pepper and mushrooms, cooking until slightly softened. Add sun-dried tomatoes, season to taste with salt & pepper. Add greens, stirring into vegetable mixture until slightly wilted. Add broth or water and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
3) Meanwhile, combine ricotta, tofu, 1 c. of parmesan cheese and pesto in a food processor. Blend thoroughly, then add kale mixture and blend again.
4) Remove shells from water and drain. Spoon filling into shells. You may use a pastry bag (I used a large Ziploc bag with the tip cut off). Lay the shells into a lightly greased 9X13 pan. Cover with desired amount of tomato sauce and the reserved Parmesan cheese. Refrigerate until ready to bake or bake right away, covering tightly with foil, for 40 minutes. Remove foil and allow to bake for another 5-10 minutes. Serve immediately with bread for dipping and a nice green salad!

*denotes contained ingredients from our CSA (community supported agriculture)/farm share

Butternut Squash Soup and Parm-Garlic Rolls

Even though the CSA has slowed down to delivery every 2 weeks, we seemed to be overwhelmed with butternut squash for a while. I made a big batch of butternut squash soup along with some parmesan and garlic rolls in the bread maker. Squash and garlic provided by our farm!

Roasted Garlic Hummus

In our share this year, we got a ton of garlic. I roasted about six whole heads of garlic recently and have been using it in recipes here & there ever since. This morning, I got up early and made some homemade roasted garlic hummus. I didn't have any lemon in the house, so I substituted a mix of apple cider vinegar and balsamic vinegar instead. Here's my modified recipe below:

1 large (1 lb. 13 oz) can chick peas (strain but reserve liquid for later)
1 T. tahini (sesame paste)
1 T. olive oil
1 T. apple cider vinegar
1/2 T. balsamic vinegar
(can use juice of 1 lemon in lieu of both vinegars)
5-6 cloves of roasted garlic

Add chick peas, roasted garlic and tahini to the food processor. Blend, adding reserved liquid and olive oil until you get your desired consistency. Add vinegar/lemon and blend again. Season with salt if needed. Makes a big batch for lunches or an appetizer to feed about 10 or so. Enjoy!

Sometimes the Easiest Recipes are the Most Delicious

My Nana Olson's recipe for cucumber salad. I made it plain and then in a version I made for a work picnic, I also threw in some local tomatoes for a little extra color:

To 1/2 c. white vinegar add 2T white sugar. Stir until dissolved.
Add 1 c. water and salt & pepper to taste.
Stir in sliced cukes and thinly sliced onions (vidalia is nice) separated into rings. Chill in frig for several hours.

Next to the picture above are the lovely grape tomatoes we also got that week in the share. They were super sweet like Starburst candies, except more natural and sweetened by the sun!

Maury Elementary goes Local!

I can't tell you how pleased I was to see that my son's new school, Maury Elementary, is jumping on the locavore bandwagon and offering fresh fruits & veggies from local farms. No more disgusting cafeteria "ketchup is a vegetable" a la the Reagan era, and waxy green beans from a can!

Baby Eggplant and Soy Salmon with Garlic Mashed Potatoes

We had lots of potatoes and garlic from the farm these last few weeks, so I made some garlic mashed potatoes. I also used some baby eggplant and peppers to make this Asian-style salmon with soy-sauce, ginger, garlic and some spicy black bean sauce. It was delicious!