Food Simply Simple

What a busy growing season we've seen!  Abundant everything.  I've been doing a lot of business travel and cooking in spare weekends and evenings, so I've not added a lot of ideas here.  I'll catch up more frequently now that harvest is slowing a bit -- and I'll be on my squash hunt.  A horrible growing year in the midwest, so my outstanding source of outstanding squashes in Iowa is not on my hunt list this year, and I hope very much that Kathy's Pumpkin Patch in Donnellson, Iowa will be back up and running next year at this time.  I am sourcing some squashes in upstate New York, though, and always looking for growers who will add a few more types.  I found La Estrella locally recently, and also an American Tonda.  I'll add photos later.

But now -- a great crop that is just starting to be readily and abundantly available is kale.  We love Tuscan (Lacianato, Dinosaur) and Red Russian.  So few recipes seem to be available that make great use of kale, and even worse, so many recipes require that we first boil the kale and then sauté the kale.  I am unlikely to use two pans where one will do.  So try some kale with feta – a great main dish since it has protein.  It’s easy.  Serve with bread or rice and/or a salad.

Kale and Feta

1-2 bunches of kale (Tuscan, Red Russian, or Curly), stems removed

3-4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1-2 red peppers, cored, seeded, and very thinly sliced

3-4 oz. feta, crumbled

Olive oil

Salt and Pepper

Finely slice the de-stemmed kale and put it in a sauté pan.  If it’s still wet, that’s great.  If it’s pretty dry, add ¼ - ½ cup water.  Bring the kale to a boil and stem it with the lid on for 3-4 minutes.  When it wilts a bit, remove the cover, add oil and the garlic, and sauté until the kale is cooked – another 5-8 minutes depending on how soft you prefer kale.  Spread the kale around the pan.  Distribute the pepper rings on top, and cover for 2-3 minutes while the peppers wilt.  Season to taste.  Top with crumbled feta.

We use 2 bunches of kale for 3 people as an entrée.

Lin Kroeger