Harvesting + Recipes

On Thursday, the club came out to the garden to harvest the kale we planted last Spring. It was great to harvest some of our produce (there are recipes for kale listed at the bottom of this post).

...and here is our new composter from Metro Vancouver! We used the money we received from the PAC to purchase it, and it's already taken up all of the excess yard trimmings and food scraps we couldn't fit in our first one. Thank you, PAC!

Lentil Soup with Kale

Ingredients

*Note: these are flexible - you can mix and match as you like

1 cup dried lentils [brown or green], rinsed

1 Tbsp quinoa (if available)

1 medium yellow onion, diced

2 carrots, diced

1 rib celery, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

2-1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

3 cups water

5 cups torn kale leaves—discard thick center stems

1 tomato, diced

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions

1. Rinse lentils and quinoa under cool running water. Place in a large pot.
2. Add chicken broth and water.
3. Add onion, carrots, celery and garlic to pot.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cook until lentils are tender.
5. Stir in kale and tomato. The kale will quickly wilt and reduce in volume, so don’t panic. Cook until kale is tender.
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Sautéed Kale With Garlic

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds young kale, stems and leaves coarsely chopped
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic finely sliced
• 1/2 cup vegetable stock or water
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
2. Add the garlic and cook until soft, but not colored.
3. Raise heat to high, add the stock and kale and toss to combine. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
4. Remove cover and continue to cook, stirring until all the liquid has evaporated.
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add vinegar.

Kale Chips

Ingredients

1 bunch of kale, washed and stems removed

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar or lime juice

1-2 tablespoon olive oil

sea salt or seasoning blend to taste

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Chop or tear kale into pieces.
3. Mix oil, salt and vinegar (or lime juice) in a bowl, mix well with kale and massage into kale pieces.
4. Spread onto baking sheet.
5. Bake for 10 minutes or until crispy. Take kale out immediately if it changes colour to brown.