Monday, June 27, 2011

Kale, Mushroom, And Dill Squares With Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

Here is a delicious meatless meal that is nutritious and packed with protein. Did you know that kale is a good source of protein? 



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Kale, Mushroom, And Dill Squares
From the CSA cookbook, From Asparagus To Zucchini, MACSAC

2 tbsp butter, or olive oil
4-6 ounces fresh mushrooms, finely chopped
1 1/2 pounds kale, cleaned, blanched, drained
6 eggs, beaten
1 cup heavy cream or half-and-half
3 tbsp chopped fresh dill (I used about half this amount)
1/3 cup minced green onion
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 ts pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 8 1/2 by 12 1/2 inch baking dish, or similar size, with a little butter or olive oil.

In a medium or large skillet, saute mushrooms over medium-high heat in butter, or olive oil, until all the liquid evaporates. Remove and set aside. Blanch kale as above, or steam them down like I did until very tender in the skillet. Cool, then squeeze liquid from kale. Chop kale and combine all ingredients. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Cook about 25-30 minutes or until center is set. Cool about 10 minutes. Cut into squares and serve warm or at room temperature.


To blanch or not to blanch
I chose not to blanch. I just washed the kale in warm water, drained it but didn't dry, and steamed it down in a sautee pan until very tender.


Squeeze and chop
Remove kale and let cool a little. Squeeze as much liquid as possible from the kale - very important! And chop well. I didn't chop well. I was lazy. I call it a rustic chop. But don't give it a rustic chop. I think this would be better well chopped.

Put it all together
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Pour into a prepared baking dish. Bake about 25-30 minutes, until set in the middle.


Cool and cut
Cool about 10 minutes and cut into squares. Enjoy it warm or at room temperature.


They tasted great alone . . .


. . . but really great with roasted fingerling potatoes.


I don't have a precise recipe for these. I just preheated a baking dish in a 400 degree oven. Tossed chopped potatoes with extra virgin olive oil, fresh chopped rosemary, salt and pepper to taste. Placed them in the hot dish and cooked until tender, about 30-40 minutes depending on their size.



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Nature
I can't help myself from being distracted by nature! This beautiful oriole visited the bird bath while I was out photographing the meal. Wish I had had my zoom lens.



And, this is how the garden is doing . . .



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The kale and eggs in this recipe were picked up from the farmers' market. The kale is from Confreda Farms and the fresh eggs are from Oakdale Farms.