What to do with all this kale??

I have never cooked with kale before last week when I got a HUGE amount of it in my first Veggie Box.  Since then I’ve had to search out some recipes that helped me prepare kale and other leafy greens in new and tasty ways.

I made:

Kale Crisps

Preheat oven to 350*. Wash and dry kale. Strip leaves from stem and tear into small pieces. Arrange on baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and sea salt. Toss to coat and spread out. Bake for 10 minutes or until browned and crispy.

Spring Greens Risotto

3 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1 1/2 cup Arborio rice

1/2 tsp salt

4 cup hot vegetable or chicken broth, divided

4 cup coarsely chopped spring greens (kale, collards, chard, spinach, bok choy, tat soi, etc.- any combo will do. Use what you have or what you like)

1/4 tsp grated nutmeg (optional)

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Heat oil in heavy pot over medium heat. Add onions; cook 3 minutes. Add rice and salt. Cook and stir until the rice begins to color.

2. Add 1/2 cup broth; cook and stir until most of the broth is absorbed. Add 1 1/2 cup broth; simmer, stirring occasionally, until mostly absorbed, about 10 minutes. Add remaining broth. Simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Place greens on top of rice. Cover and simmer 3 minutes. Stir in greens. Simmer and stir a few minutes more until broth is absorbed and rice is tender but moist.

4. Remove from heat. Stir in Parmesan and serve.

* I served this alongside black beans the night I made Steak Quesadillas. The following night I made a healthy version of Chicken Cordon Bleu and served the leftover rice mixed with the leftover beans, and added extra kale steeped in chicken broth, some chopped tomatoes and dried cilantro. Yum!

Chard Bake

Fill an 8×8 inch oiled pan with chopped greens. Chard, spinach and other thin greens work best. The greens cook way down so fill the pan up. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with slightly overlapping slices of tomatoes. Top that with bits or slices of goat cheese. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

* I used mostly collards, mixed with some kale and baby bok choy. I also didn’t have any goat cheese in the house so I used what feta cheese I had.

Egg Casserole

Sorry, no picture Unfortunately it didn’t come out pretty because I was using my new convection oven and one of those Glad plastic bakeware pans. Now, I’ve never had any trouble with those pans before – I bake with them, throw them in the freezer, bake them again, no problem- BUT just as a little FYI…if they get too close to the heat bars they will melt.  The casserole was fine, but the pan was a mess!

1 doz eggs, whisked with 1/4 cup milk

salt & pepper to taste

1 cup shredded potatoes

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

diced tomatoes, however much you like

1/2 cup small kale pieces

1/2 cup shredded cheese (mozzarella or cheddar)

1. Preheat oven to 350*

2. Place shredded potatoes on the bottom of a greased 8×8 square pan. Layer on tomatoes, cheese and kale. Pour beaten eggs over all and bake for at least 30 minutes, or until eggs are set.

3. Sprinkle shredded cheese over top and place back in oven until melted.

I still have some kale left and plenty of collards. It’s a good thing I am only getting veggie boxes every other week! Stay tuned for recipes for rutabagas and butternut squash!

What do you do with kale or other leafy green vegetables?

Breakfast Pizza

Whew! Another Christmas Day come and gone. As much as I love this time of year I am always glad when the anticipation has past for the kids. For many this means the end of the Christmas season. For others it is at New Years. But still for others this is only another phase. The 12 Days of Christmas started only yesterday and will continue until January 6th.

Either way I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas Day with loved ones.

That’s what I call a successful Christmas. Two boys wiped out

Now on to the best part of this post…. Breakfast Pizza!

This is very yummy and easy to make and I like to make it when I have guests because it will feed many people. In fact, I don’t normally make this just for the 4 of us because it’s too much food, but it’s special enough for Christmas morning.

There is no recipe with measurements. The ingredients are:

1 cast iron skillet – 12 inches

Hash brown potato strings (I buy a 2.5 lb. bag from Schwans and use a little more than half)

18 eggs (a smaller pan could use only a dozen)

shredded cheddar cheese (usually a whole 2 cup bag)

Turkey Bacon (it’s a matter of taste what meat you use and how much. I used about 18 slices)

I find it easier to cook a lot of bacon at once using a pan and the oven at 350*

Heat up the pan with some oil and spread out the potatoes. Let them cook down and flip them occasionally so they don’t burn. You’re creating a crust-like layer of the pizza, but don’t worry if the potatoes are clumping. It will all come together eventually. The potatoes don’t even have to be perfectly cooked and browned. Turn off your burner and make sure the oven is preheated to 350*. Layer in the meat and cheese. I usually take the turkey bacon and crumble it up. You don’t want full pieces so whatever meat you use make sure it’s been cut or crumbled. Then I whisk the eggs with some milk for that fluffiness, add a little salt and pepper, and pour it over the whole thing. Place the skillet in the oven for about 25 minutes or until the eggs are set. I cover it with foil until the end and then allow a few extra minutes for the top to brown. Allow the pan to sit for a few minutes before cutting into the pizza. You can also easily add tomatoes or any other veggies you’d like. I’m the only one in this house that would like that stuff so I just leave it out.

As I do with most recipes I come across, I play with them to make them my own and do what works for me. So if you don’t have a cast iron skillet you could probably brown the potatoes and then transfer them into an oven safe dish before layering on the rest of the ingredients. It’s such an easy recipe that it really can’t go wrong, and the egg really holds it all together, so you may end up with more of a casserole cut into squares (or you could use a pie dish and still have “slices”). Also, I don’t have a reference for this recipe because I pretty much came up with it on my own, though I don’t claim to be the only person who’s ever thought of it, so no stealing of ideas was intended.

I hope you enjoy this yummy breakfast as much as we do!