Recipe Ideas: Kale and Collards

Photo via TheBittenWord.com 

With ample servings of kale and collards in our first two shares, I wanted to offer up a few recipe ideas for how to use them.  

Last night I cooked our first batch of kale and collards from the first week's share. I followed a method suggested by cookbook author Deborah Madison, which I'll paraphrase here:  

Bring a pot of water to boil. Boil the collards and kale for 10 minutes.  Remove to a bowl, reserving the cooking water.  In a wide skillet, heat butter.  Sauté a diced onion until lightly browned and soft. Add the collards and half of the cooking liquid. Sauté for 30 minutes, until greens are very soft. In the last 10 minutes of cooking, add a teaspoon and sugar and a tablespoon of red wine vinegar. Serve. 

They were delicious and went perfectly alongside a grilled entrée. 

Here are a few more ideas for using kale and collards:

• Sauteed Greens with Smoked Pakrika (via Epicurious.com)
• Raw Kale Salad with Gouda, Pears and Walnuts (via Whole Living)
• Whole Wheat Pasta with Kale (via MarthaStewart.com)
• Sauteed Collard Greens with Raisins (via MarthaStewart.com)
• Cider Braised Collards with Ham (via Food & Wine)

How are you using kale or collards? Do you have a favorite recipe? If so, please share it in the comments!

-- Clay 

Comments

[Debra DeRuyver]

Green Shakes!

Kale and Collards are excellent base ingredients for green shakes. There's lots of recipes out there but my favorite is

1 large bunch of greens (e.g Kale, Collards, Chard)
1 apple
1 cup berries
juice of one lemon.
1 cup water

Put in blender and blend to desired consistency.

[Fred]

Here's another variation on Baked Kale/Kale Chips that Shannon shared. It's from Kath Eats Real Food http://www.katheats.com/favorite-foods/kale-chips/

[LH]

Cook some whole wheat pasta and drain but do not rinse. Then saute a leek (the bulb and light green part) and some garlic (or garlic scallions!). In the pasta pot, put a little olive oil and chopped kale and let it cook down just a little bit over medium heat - just 4-5 minutes. Then mix everything up with some red pepper flakes and some mascarpone cheese.

[Meghan Klasic]

I have a blog that I only started a couple of months ago that I plan to update based on recipes we try with the farm veggies! Thanks in advance for recipe ideas...

Kale Salad with Ricotta Salata:
Cut up the kale into thin strips. In a small bowl combine 3T olive oil, 2T fresh chopped or minced garlic, 1T lemon juice, salt and pepper. Toss the kale with this dressing mixture. Grate enough ricotta salata to taste and toss with the kale salad.

[Shannon Sonnett]

I love to just toss the curly kale with olive oil, salt/pepper, garlic (powder or fresh) then bake at 350 deg. turning a couple of times until it turn crispy. It is surprisingly fantastic! Almost like chips. Even my kids like it.

[David Levy]

Kale and collard greens are so good for you and are delicious when used in place of spinach. I have prepared polenta (cooked Italian cornmeal) usually with some added grated cheese, and layered it with sauteed kale seasoned with garlic, chopped onion and chopped tomatoes, all lightly sauteed and baked it for a short time(15 to 20 minutes) and then served it as a side dish with chicken or beef.