As an FDC member for more that 10 years, I have at least five go-to recipes that many of my family kale naysayers will eat. Here is one of them. I would like to thank FDC member Christina Pastan for passing this New York Times recipe on to me. It is easy, fast and a keeper!

Recipe By: New York Times adapted by Heidi Rubin
Serving Size: 4-6

Ingredients:
2 bunches Tuscan kale (also known as black, dino or lacinato kale)- So far any kale from the FDC works
1 garlic clove, finely chopped (I use 2-3 cloves)
1/2 cup finely grated pecorino cheese, more for garnish
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, more for garnish
2 lemons, freshly squeezed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste.

Optional: 2 thin slices country bread (part whole-wheat or rye is nice), or 1/4 cup homemade bread crumbs (coarse); 1/2 cup currants
Directions:
1. Trim bottom 2 inches off kale stems and discard. Slice kale, excluding ribs, into 1/4-inch-wide ribbons. You should have 4 to 5 cups. Place kale in a large bowl with 1 cut up lemon (squeeze lemon quarters before putting in bowl) and cover with water for 2 hours. Squeeze kale and spin well in salad spinner. Place in serving bowl.
2. If using bread, toast it until golden on both sides. Tear it into small pieces and grind in a food processor until mixture forms coarse crumbs. The bread can be replaced with 1/4 cup of currants.
3. After chopping the garlic, transfer to a small bowl. Add 1/4 cup cheese, 3 tablespoons oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper flakes and black pepper, and whisk to combine. Pour dressing over kale and toss very well to thoroughly combine (dressing will be thick and need lots of tossing to coat leaves). Add currants or breadcrumbs.
4. Let salad sit for 5 minutes, then serve topped with additional cheese and a drizzle of oil. If you don’t have time the dressing can be made with all the oil and cheese at the same time. Enjoy!

I have had gazpacho on the BRAIN. Caps, for emphasis. As in, I mentioned to Michael several times that I might make it, would make it, was planning on making it.

On Sunday, we stopped by a farm stand post-beach, and I bought a pound of tomatoes. These were not just for salads. These were my gazpacho tomatoes.

We also had kale. And Michael was asking for kale chips, again. We really do love them! I know lots of bloggers make kale chips (and green monsters, and overnight oats, and the like…and yes, I like them all!) and it’s KIND OF overdone, but hey. I’m showing mine off anyway.

This gazpacho was inspired by The Curvy Carrot. I like my soups kind of chunky and stew like – even in a gazpacho. Certainly puree yours more if you don’t.

Here’s what I did:

1 pound of tomatoes
1/2 cup cucumber
1/2 cup kohlrabi, sliced into matchsticks
1 ear of corn, with kernels cut
1/2 large avocado, sliced into bite sized pieces
juice of 1 lemon
3/4 cup of water
1 tbsp each: parsley, basil, mint
1/8 tsp each: chipotle pepper, smoked paprika (I used Penzey spices for both)
salt and pepper to taste

In food processor, combine tomatoes and cucumber and pulse until desired consistency. Pour into bowl. Add remaining ingredients, spices and water. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. I let it sit for 30 minutes before serving.

For the kale chips:

~ 6 large kale leaves, destemmed and cut into pieces
1 tbsp coconut oil
smoked salt, to taste
Preheat oven to 400. In a large baggie, throw in all your kale and coconut oil. Seal bag and shake it up to coat all the leaves. Line a baking dish with parchment paper or tinfoil, and invert the bag and spread out the kale.

Cook about 8-10 minutes, and keep checking on them – they go from crispy to burnt very quickly! Remove and top with salt.

I picked up lacinato kale on Tuesday, and rather to my surprise, a simple pan-searing brings out wonderful flavors. Of course, adding garlic scapes didn’t hurt…

A lot of store-bought pasta is extruded, and somewhat dense as a result, whereas homemade noodles are mostly rolled and cut like in this recipe. The fettuccini are incredibly light as a result – I think it’s worth the extra effort for the texture alone.

Because this recipe uses rye and whole wheat, more liquid and salt are needed than in a regular pasta recipe.

For the Pasta
½ cup rye flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs
About ¼ cup water
3-4 large sprigs fresh oregano, strip and finely chop leaves (about ¼ cup)
3/8 to ½ teaspoon salt
Pepper

1) In a large bowl, mix flour, eggs, salt and pepper by hand until a dough forms. Add only enough water to make the dough lightly sticky. Knead the dough on a flat surface for five minutes, adding flour if necessary. It should come off the surface easily and only feel “grippy” in your hands, not really sticky anymore. Knead or roll into a flat shape, distribute oregano evenly on top and roll up, knead to evenly distribute the oregano.
2) If using a pasta maker, roll out to the finest setting and cut into fettucini strips. Liberally flour both surfaces whenever the dough gets too grippy. Most rollers won’t cut if the dough is too sticky or the rollers are moist. You can also roll out the dough by hand (this takes time but is a good workout!). The dough should be so thin as to be translucent before you cut it into long strips with a sharp knife. Dry the fettucini by draping them over an oven rack or pasta drying rack.
You will get about 6 servings of pasta. Once dry, the pasta can be kept in an airtight plastic storage container in the fridge for a couple of days. Because of the eggs, I would freeze it if I wanted to keep a portion for longer.
3) Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water for 3-4 minutes. Coat the pasta very lightly in olive oil or rinse in cold water to prevent sticking.

Topping
The veggie topping is much less time-consuming. For two portions:
1 bunch lacinato kale, cut into ¼ inch strips
4 garlic scapes, cut into ¼ inch pieces
2 tablespoons extra-vigin olive oil
Salt

1) Heat sharply and sear all ingredients in a large skillet, reduce heat and cook until scapes are tender but firm, about 10 minutes. Toss with the pasta.

I grated a generous helping of the wonderful fiddlehead fern cheese from the cheese share on top. Add a tossed salad and it’s a complete dinner meal.

I think of this greens and quinoa salad as a beauty food. Kale and broccoli are wonderful for your skin: it’s all the Vitamin C, A, and K. Add in some quinoa and all those happy amino acid chains, and you have a lovely lunch. I chopped up some tomatoes for lycopene, and a little mozzarella for….fun. But let’s call it calcium.

• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 cup kale, deveined and cut into strips
• 1 cup broccoli florets
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, cut into small pieces
• 1 good fistful of basil (I have really no idea how much that is), julienned
• 1 tbsp really good balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• salt & pepper, to taste

Somedays we can’t get enough fish! Other days, we don’t notice we didn’t have any. But sometimes, I make a delicious dinner and realize – hey! I didn’t even add cheese. That kind of feels like a win to me, espescially when it’s so filling and SO GOOD. I love being all flexitarian (I went there!) for reasons like this dinner, right here.

Orange Herbed Salad:

spinach

orange segments

avocado

Herbs: cilantro, basil and mint

salt and pepper

extra virgin olive oil (or any oil you prefer)

Mix salad ingredients together (in portion sizes needed), and lightly dress if desired. I can tell you I’ve made this salad three times in the last week. I took it for lunch twice with a 1/2 cup of cottage cheese on the side, and it was seriously delicious. I don’t kid about food being good.

My inspiration for this next dish came from Cate, of Cate’s World Kitchen. I know it’s not really the same, but credit where credit is due. And this was my jumping point.

Pesto Quinoa:

3/4 cup of cooked quinoa (you can use any color you prefer)

1/2 head of lacinato kale, cut into thin ribbons

2 cups of mushrooms

For the pesto:

~1.5 cups of basil, loosely packed

juice of 1 lemon

1/4 cup walnuts

salt and pepper

While the quinoa is cooking, sautee the kale and mushrooms until the kale is pliable and the stems are easily chewed (about 10 minutes). In a blender/food processor, combine the pesto ingredients and puree until smooth. Combine quinoa, kale and mushrooms and pesto. That’s about it!

Last year we got a lot of kale, particularly because my daughters and the nanny were doing our pick up and my 9-year-old loves kale so I had to find new uses.

Wash the kale and remove the vein as soon as you get them then pat dry and freeze flat (best with dino kale). Then any time you need a meal replacement or substantial snack you can make this smoothie.

• 1 large frozen kale leaf
• Fruit either fresh or frozen (a great use of berries about to turn): blueberries, strawberries, frozen mango, banana if you like a milder taste
• 1- tablespoons of spirulena (for protein if using as meal replacement)
• 1-2 table spoons of wheat germ

Blend all of above ingredients with enough liquid to make a thick shake like consistency. I use either: water, OJ, or yogurt

Drink in an opaque glass as it tastes good but has some color issues. The kale gives it a little chew or just seems to make it more substantial. I know it sounds a little gross but it is a yummy healthy way to extend the useful life of your farm share.

Mix everything together in a medium pot with a tight-fitting lid and simmer for 1/2 hour or until desired tenderness.

Optional additions include hot sauce, soy sauce, or double/triple the stock to make a soup.