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Post Title.

11/18/2011

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I found another interesting recipe for kale. Seems like it might be a good one for Thanksgiving.

Creamy Leek and Kale Gratin With Crunchy Brown Butter Bread Crumbs
Published November 15, 2011

Makes 6 servings

This creamy-yet-virtuous gratin of greens is crowned with crunchy homemade bread crumbs tossed with nutty-tasting brown butter. To make bread crumbs, remove the hard crusts from baguette or other rustic bread, cut the bread into cubes, and pulse in a food processor until the crumbs are the size of granola. Make ahead: The gratin can be assembled up to one day in advance. Allow the gratin to cool completely before covering it with plastic and storing it in the refrigerator. Add 10 additional minutes to the baking time.

Ingredients

    * 2 10-ounce bunches curly green kale
    * 4 tablespoons butter (divided)
    * 1 1/2 cups coarse fresh bread crumbs
    * 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
    * 2 medium leeks, light green and white part only, split lengthwise, rinsed well and thinly sliced crosswise
    * 2 medium cloves garlic, thinly sliced
    * 2 cups whipping cream
    * 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
    * 1 pinch cayenne pepper
    * Salt and freshly ground black pepper
    * 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray an 8-cup shallow baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Bring a Dutch oven or large pot of salted water to a boil. While the water is coming to a boil, tear the kale leaves away from their tough center rib. Discard the ribs and roughly chop the kale leaves into bite-size pieces. Add the kale to the pot and cook, stirring frequently, until the kale is tender, 6 minutes. Drain in a colander, rinse with cool water, and squeeze the kale to extract all of the water; set aside.

In a small sauté pan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Cook, swirling the pan frequently, until the butter turns chestnut brown, about 45 seconds. In a medium bowl, combine the browned butter, bread crumbs and thyme; set aside.

In the Dutch oven used to cook the kale, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-low heat. Add the leeks and cook, stirring frequently, until they are tender and translucent, 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, 45 seconds. Add the cream and bring to a simmer. Add the kale, nutmeg, cayenne and salt and pepper to taste. (Easy on the salt; there is plenty in the parmesan cheese.)

Pour the kale mixture into the prepared gratin dish. Sprinkle with the parmesan cheese and then the bread crumbs. Place the gratin dish on a baking sheet and bake until the sauce is bubbly and the bread crumbs are golden brown, 25 minutes.
From Ivy Manning

http://www.oregonlive.com/foodday/index.ssf/2008/06/recipe_detail.html?id=8065
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Post Title.

11/14/2011

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A number of our customers have asked me about green smoothie recipes. Honestly, I've been postponing experimenting with these because they really didn't seem that appealing. However, thanks to feeling a lot of joint pain recently, I've joined the growing club of what appear to be almost fanatics for green smoothies. People claim that they have cured just about every ailment known to humans. A friend of ours undergoing chemotherapy says they turned her life around by making her feel better (more energy, less nausea). Another friend claims they cured her of recently-diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis. People also claim that you start craving them once you have had them for a day or two and I'm finding that to be true. They are strangely satisfying, invigorating, and centering. It's as if they are healing something from the inside-out. Kind of like a breath of fresh air, or that first glimpse of the ocean.

I've attached a recipe that I downloaded from the Vitamix website, so you can get a "flavor" for the options. If you sign up for their newsletter you can get a table with a list of mix and match options. They're pretty basic, though, so you can make your own. In the first column list the greens. They list 2 cups spinach, 1 cup kale, 1/2 head of romaine lettuce, or 1 romaine lettuce heart, 3/4 cup of raw broccoli, and 1 small head of bibb or Boston lettuce. Please be sure to add turnip green, mustard greens, beet greens, collard greens, and parsley to their list of greens you can use. In the second column they have fruits including apples (1), bananas (1), grapes (1 cup), oranges (1), pineapple (1 cup), and berries (1 cup), or veggies, such as carrots (1), celery (2 stalks), and cucumber (1/2 cup peeled or unpeeled). In the third column they have 1 cup of either water, soy milk, yogurt, or fruit juice. Almond milk would work too. Raw beet and fresh ginger are also good (both are said to have very beneficial health and healing properties).

Using the recipe below, I kept leftover smoothie in the fridge tightly covered for a day and it was fine. I wouldn't keep it longer than that because of oxidation. I think the lemon helps with preserving the smoothie for a bit. (Note: if you're using cabbage, drink it right away, immediately, and don't save it. You'll see why if you try it. Eeiuww.)

I'm also experimenting with the best time to have these in terms of food combining. Ideally you'd have it as an in-between meal snack, I think, but I had one with breakfast and so far so good.

Meanwhile, here is my favorite recipe so far, in part because it's so simple. You can double this for about 3 or 4 servings.

1 cup chopped fresh clean kale (wash each leaf individually under running water)
1 apple, quartered
1 cup water
1 slide of lemon with peel (wash the lemon carefully first)

Put it all in a vitamix or blender and let 'er rip. The flavor seems improved if it's cold so add some ice cubes if you like.

Cheers,
Wendy

Kat James' Beauty Detox Elixir Yield: 2 (10 ounce) servings
Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (360 ml) water or aloe juice 1/3 cup (20 g) fresh parsley 1 3/4-inch wedge red cabbage 1/2 cup (30 g) dark, fresh bitter greens, such as mustard greens, kale, collards, or dandelion 1" piece fresh ginger 1/2 lemon, scrubbed and unpeeled 1/2 small beet pinch cayenne pepper or 1/4" slice of jalapeno pepper to taste smart sweetener (i.e. stevia, agave) 1 cup (240 ml) ice cubes   1. Place all ingredients into the Vitamix container in the order listed and secure lid.
2. Select Variable 1.
3. Turn machine on and slowly increase speed to Variable 10, then to High.
4. Blend for 30-45 seconds or until desired consistency is reached.

Health Classification: Diabetic Friendly, Low Fat, Low Sodium, Low Cholesterol, Heart Healthy, Gluten-Free, Vegetarian, Vegan, Raw   Meal Type: Green Smoothies, Beverages  

You may view this recipe on the http://vitamix.ahoy.com web site at:
http://vitamix.ahoy.com/recipe/recipe.cgi/0/476


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Post Title.

11/1/2011

1 Comment

 
Hi, friends. We are so happy that the hard frost is holding off a little longer. It allows the greens to grow so vigorously that they are simply glowing. They are healthy and happy and they will make you healthy too! Red Russian kale and turnip greens are still growing on the farm. We also have romaine lettuce and green peppers, comfrey, lemon verbena, and parsley.

Check out this website: www.whfoods.com. I really liked it and I copied the following regarding turnip greens. For max nutrition, they recommend the following: Cut greens into 1/2-inch slices and let sit for at least 5 minutes to enhance their health-promoting benefits and steam for 5 minutes. (I didn't know about letting them sit, although I did know that was true for garlic).

    * The noticeably bitter taste of turnip greens has been linked by researchers to its calcium content. On an ounce-for-ounce basis, turnip greens contain about 4 times more calcium than a much less bitter-tasting cruciferous vegetables like cabbage. Even in comparison to mustard greens, turnip greens contain about twice the calcium content. High calcium content is not the only reason for the noticeable bitterness of turnip greens, of course. But it may be an important contributing factor. While the commercial food industry has sometimes tried to breed out the bitter-tasting constituents from turnip greens, this practice doesn't make sense if you want to maximize your nourishment from this cruciferous vegetable. A much healthier approach would be the use a recipe and cooking method that brings out the delicious potential of turnip greens in a flavor-blended way.
    * For total glucosinolate content, turnip greens outscore cabbage, kale, cauliflower, and broccoli among the most commonly eaten cruciferous vegetables. That fantastic glucosinolate content brings with it some equally fantastic health benefits. The glucosinolates in turnip greens are phytonutrients that can be converted into isothiocyanates (ITCs) with cancer-preventing properties. All cruciferous vegetables have long been known to contain glucosinolates, but it has taken recent research to show us exactly how valuable turnip greens are in this regard.

If you have a recipe for turnip greens that you think is successful, I'd love to hear about it. I'm interested in figuring out how to use these amazing greens.

For a Halloween party this year, we made a rice salad with brown rice, garbanzo beans, chopped carrots, chopped cooked kale, dried tart cherries, and toasted cashews, and tossed the whole thing with a dressing made of spices (turmeric, coriander, cumin, and garam masala) sauteed in ghee, and lemon juice. It was good and also looked nice (we called it pond scum salad to comply with the theme of the evening, after the bits of kale, but you could name it something a little more conventional).
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