Kale the hearty versatile vegetable
Winter or summer, kale is a hearty vegetable that can be prepared many ways. It makes a perfect raw salad that marries well with any number of textural additions like nuts, dried fruit, shredded carrots and shaved cabbage. When it is lightly steamed or blanched, kale is also flexible enough to be shaped as a wrapper that can be stuffed with rice, cooked meat and vegetables.
Here are two kale recipes that show the versatility that kale offers – Ellie Markovitch’s sprouted lentil and raw kale salad, and sea bream and kale spring rolls that are stuffed with marinated sea bream and match stick winter vegetables. For the spring rolls, use medium sized kale leaves and slice your vegetables as thinly as possible. Any root vegetable will make a delicious addition. Look for Little Seed Gardens’ celery root, Schoharie Valley Farms’ turnips, kale, braising greens, cabbage, parsnips, scallions, and Migliorelli carrots and black radishes at the Berry Farm – who also happens to grow kale year round in their solar heated greenhouses.
Sprouted lentil and raw kale salad
1 bunch of kale, chopped
2 cups of sprouted lentils
1 bunch of green onions, chopped
1/4 cup of olive oil
2-4 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
salt and pepper to taste
Whisk together the oil, vinegar, and maple syrup. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour the mixture over the kale, lentils and green onions. Toss the salad, mixing well. Refrigerate 4-8 hours.
Sea bream and kale spring rolls
By Published: April 16, 2013
- Yield: 10 Servings
- Prep: 45 mins
A delicious and healthy appetizer with fresh winter vegetables and Local Ocean's sea bream
Ingredients
- 2 fillets Local Ocean sea bream boneless and skinless
- 10 medium kale leaves center rib removed
- 2 tablespoons Wan Ja Shan's organic soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons Hawthorne Valley Farm hot pepper sauce
- 2 tablespoons Butternut sqaush seed oil from WholeHearted Foods
- 2 scallions thinly sliced
- 4 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 turnip peeled and sliced into thin match sticks
- 1 carrot peeled and sliced into thin match sticks
- 2 cups red cabbage thinly sliced
- 1 black radish peeled and sliced into thin match sticks
Instructions
- Whisk the soy sauce, hot pepper sauce, honey, butternut squash seed oil, and lime juice together in a small bowl.
- Cut the sea bream into thin strips and place it in a bowl with the vegetables.
- Pour the marinade over the fish and vegetables.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil.
- Submerge the leaves one at a time in the boiling water for 10 seconds.
- Remove and place in a bowl of ice water.
- Drain the leaves and pat dry with paper towels.
- Drain the fish and vegetables in a colander.
- Add the cilantro, scallions and sesame seeds.
- Place a small mound of the fish and vegetables in the center of each leaf.
- Fold the left and right ends toward each other over the center of the fish and vegetables.
- Roll the bottom edge over the fish towards the top edge to form a "burrito" shaped roll.
- Course: Appetizer