Farm share, week 15

[magid]

• a bunch of kale or collards (lacinato again for me)
  
• two leeks
  
• a head of cabbage (Savoy or green; green for me, with the start of some sauerkraut thoughts*)
  
• a pound and a quarter of carrots
  
• a pound and a half of onions (red only by the time I arrived)
  
• a third of a pound of mesclun
  
• a bunch of Hakurei turnips with greens
  
• a winter squash (smaller kinds, like delicata or acorn or carnival; I chose the latter)
  
• a bunch of herbs (some usual suspects, parsley, oregano (what I chose), cilantro, also some more unusual types, such as lemon balm, stevia**)

* I can order bulk, $30 for a bushel (50 pounds) of cabbage, but I certainly can't turn all of that into sauerkraut, at least not at my current kraut consumption rates.

** I tried a leaf of the stevia, knowing that the extract is used as a sweetener, and... it was an odd mixture of sweet (which is particularly strange from a leaf rather than a fruit or vegetable) and bitter undertones that were strong, and stayed longer. Somehow, the proportions of it were unpleasant, even though I suspect I could handle either flavor alone.

Comments

[fetteredwolf.livejournal.com]

Too much stevia is bitter. So I'd think that would be true for the fresh leaves as well. Unless you ate a zinnia leaf. (Ha, that's a private joke with myself. I planted zinnia and stevia in more or less the same spot in our garden, and only one thing came up, so I made SO taste it to figure out what it was.)

[(Anonymous)]

Might you have any interesting suggestions for a kale saute?

I saw tomatillos today that were larger than the size with which I am familiar and thought of you.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I don't generally saute kale; it takes a lot of time to get it to a point I find edible, being such a hearty green, so it often goes into soup. That said, I have been known to cook it with onions, sweet potatoes, and spicy sausage, though with more liquid than oil. It takes long enough to cook chunks of sweet potato that the kale cooks enough for me.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I've never tried stevia before, in any form. It was disconcerting to have a leaf be that sweet, and the bitter just didn't go with it properly. (And SO had to taste, not you?)

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you so much for your help.

Yes, I found that out today, how tough kale can be. I guess what I did was braising, since there was still water on the kale from the washing (all the washing!). I started with olive oil, garlic, ginger, and a little salt, then added the wet greens. It looked pretty and bright and a little wilted, but my teeth are still hurting. And this was only ten leaves.

If it is more liquid that is needed, perhaps I should boil it? Like blanching, except a longer boil? Your suggestions also cause me to wonder whether it would taste good cooked with lentils, with supporting ingredients including onions, and whether with extra liquid it would cook through enough in the time it takes to cook the lentils. It would be nice, though, to have a method to prepare basically just the kale.