June 6th, 2009 Newsletter
Bardstown Road Farmers Market Newsletter
Sarah’s Corner
From our friend Sarah Fritschner
Several years ago I met an African-American who moved north to work in New York City and become a chef. A native Southerner, he had spent summers with his grandparents in rural Georgia, where he learned all about gardening and eating fresh food, and wanted to spread the message of healthy, good-tasting food to children and others.
He shared a recipe with me that was made with chard and black eyed peas. “Chard?” I asked. “Did you eat chard growing up?” He allowed as to how he didn’t, and one could substitute kale or collard greens in the recipe.
Check the index of cookbooks written by Californians and Northerners and Midwesterners. You won’t find kale or collards. And in recipes that call for “greens,” it’s usually chard or spinach.
Which I guess is fine: chard grows well enough in the Southern garden and its multi-colored stems can make a dinner plate look gorgeous.
Still, other greens taste fabulous, grow like crazy and are very nearly the healthiest foods we can eat. Chard is healthy, too, but its beet-y taste isn’t for everyone all the time.
Collards have the mildest flavor—good for beginners. Kale has a touch of bitterness (not much). You might like either of these greens more than spinach, which cooks in a jiffy but goes very limp when overcooked and leaves a sort of metallic taste in the mouth. Greens, even when cooked a long time, retain their chewiness, an attribute I particularly appreciate.
If you indulge in greens each week (and you should, according to health experts), bring the greens home but don’t wash them. Wrap in damp paper or cloth towels and place inside a plastic bag. Refrigerate. Kale and collards keep a long time (a week or more) this way.
If you stem the greens before you wash them, you’ll make your job easier by removing a lot of places where grit can gather. To stem, cut down along both sides of the stem from about midway down – or wherever the stem appears to get fairly tough. Chard stems are usually cooked separately and then combined with the leaves (the stems are where the brilliant colors are), but most people discard the tougher stems of collards and kale.
Be apprised that though you may have bought a huge bunch, the leaves cook down to about a tenth their original size (or less). There are several recipes for kale (substitute collards for a milder flavor) on the Bardstown Road Farmers Market website. One of my favorites is J.J.’s kale and sausage soup. Go to www.bardstownroadfarmersmarket.com, click on “archives” and then go to Nov. 8.
Easy Asian kale
Calling for 1 pound of kale is really a ballpark estimate. A pound could be about 2 quarts of torn leaves, but if you use 3 quarts or 10 cups, you’ll be fine.
1 pound fresh kale
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 to 5 cloves fresh garlic, minced (1 tablespoon)
1 tablespoon fresh, grated ginger
½ cup chicken broth or water
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil, optional
Stem and rinse the kale. Chop kale coarsely. Heat oil in a wide skillet over medium-high heat and add garlic and ginger. Cook a minute or so, until aromatic. Add kale, several handfuls at a time, stirring until it wilts. Add water or broth, salt and red pepper flakes. Cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until liquid evaporates and kale is tender (if you think the leaves are too chewy, add more liquid to the pan and cook until done to desired taste). Serves 4.