Fresh from the Farm

It’s that time of year again when the farmers’ market is brimming with tasty treats, and our CSA is full of goodies fresh from the farm. As it was last year, our first couple boxes have been mostly various types of leafy greens and lettuces. The lettuce is always the easiest to fix…nothing beats a super-fresh salad with some grilled chicken or steamed shrimp. Some of the other greens take a bit more imagination. Luckily, Delvin Farms always sends out recipes with their emails of what to expect in the coming week.

Last year, Mike and I both had kale for the first time. We tried a couple recipes, but the kale chips were our favorite, and very easy to fix. This year we wanted to try something different, something that preferably didn’t require us to turn on the oven when our A/C was already working overtime to keep up with the 95-degree heat outside (in May!!).

We opted for kale bruschetta, and made the crostini in the toaster oven. The recipe was easy to put together. I do think we should have chopped our kale into smaller pieces to make it easier to spoon onto the crostini, but we also could have made our crostini from bigger bread.

Overall, this wasn’t my favorite recipe. I’m not a fan of cooked spinach, and this was very reminiscent of that. Mike thoroughly enjoyed it, however, and actually ate several bites with a spoon, no bread required. I would make it again for him, and possibly for guests I think would enjoy it, but it just wasn’t my favorite. I did think about trying it one more time and perhaps adding some crumbled cooked bacon to it. I think that, coupled with chopping it into smaller pieces, may go a long way to making it more to my liking.

Kale Bruschetta with Garlic & Parmesan

1 bunch curly green kale

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for brushing toasts

2 large cloves of garlic, minced

Large pinch red pepper flakes

Salt to taste

8 slices crusty Italian bread

Grated parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Wash the kale in cool water, cut off the fibrous stems, and chop. Add the kale to the boiling water with ½ teaspoon salt, and reduce the heat. Simmer, partially covered, for 5 to 7 minutes. Drain the kale in a colander. When cool enough to handle, squeeze the water out of the kale.

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over moderately low heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes, and sauté till fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the kale, raise heat to medium, and stir to coat. Sprinkle with salt to taste and keep warm.

Brush bread with olive oil and toast in the oven until lightly golden. Flip to toast the other side.

Spoon kale mixture onto the toasts, sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese, and serve.