Week Five and My Favorite Veggie: Kale

The weeks are streaming by, and without knowing it I've lost a whole week in the shuffle of lettuces and weeding and phone calls! We enjoyed a cooler week last week and have been starting into our second rotation of crops in some fields. The popcorn is just starting to peek out of the ground and the hot season crops (tomatoes, peppers, basils and eggplants) are coming along nicely.

This week's featured vegetable is my favorite, KALE! I recently learned that there are dozens of varieties of kale, but most often we associate with Green Boar Kale. In my own small garden I have ten plants of Rainbow Lacinato Kale, more than enough for our family of four. But we enjoy Kale in salad, stir-fry, casserole, and even smoothies (it's a great way to get some greens into your littlest ones). Here's a recipe one of our volunteers suggested:

Kale Chips

Ingredients

• 1 bunch kale
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a non insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
3. Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.