This week’s mealtime garden goodness: potatoes, broccoli and cabbage

I haven’t had much reason to cook recently since we’ve been out of the house so often during meal time. Last night, however, we invited a friend to join us and I drew from our store of garden goodies for the meal.

Our main course was braised paprika chicken with broccoli, prepared with one of our frozen bags of broccoli. Braising a meat helps to keep it moist and flavorful which definitely was the case with this recipe.

The side dishes were a potato cake made from a combination of our red and white potatoes and cole slaw, which I had made this summer and frozen. The only vegetable for the meal that I had bought at the store was onions.

The taste? The veggies were all great, although the chicken dish was a little over-salted, which Jim must have commented on at least three times. He’s usually the one adding salt to the meal. The next time if I dredge the chicken in a mixture that contains salt, I’ll be sure to also use a low-sodium broth so it doesn’t overpower us.

Christmas blessings to you all!

Don’t Give Up on the Kale

As the end of October nears, I feel like every growing thing I still find in my garden is a gift. Last night we feasted on salmon, roasted vegetables (butternut squash, beets, sweet potatoes, white potatoes and onions) and kale. Since I had neglected it, the kale was surely a gift.
I had planted it in the corner of the garden in the spring. I didn’t realize that corner of the garden was prone to takeover by grass and no matter what I did, I couldn’t seem to keep it clear enough for the kale to grow uninhibited. So I gave up on it, assuming I wouldn’t get kale this year.

This summer, I broke my ankle and couldn’t get into my garden for about seven weeks. When I returned, I saw the kale had grown into enormous leaves that actually overshadowed the grass! Knowing that kale so large would likely be bitter, I cut it anyway reasoning I could season it to get rid of the bitterness. That’s exactly what I did last night and it worked. I first caramelized onions then added the chopped kale, layering it with salt. I then put in a little sugar, lemon juice and chicken broth, topped it with toasted pumpkin seeds, and there wasn’t a bit of bitterness in that powerful load of vitamins K, A and C. I’ll never give up on my kale again!

For more information about the powerful nutrition you get from kale, go to http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=38.