Recipe Files

It's been awhile since we've posted our Produce Club recipes, so try out some of our old favorites

March 5th

Fish, Squash, Tomatoes, and Olives

Easy Strawberry Jam

Moroccan Carrot Salad

Sauteed Kale

Tuscan Kale Chips

Rice with Kale and Tomatoes

Fish, Squash, Tomatoes, and Olives

Steaming food in parchment -- or “en papillote,” as it’s traditionally called -- is a low-fat way to cook a full meal in one shot: The juices from each ingredient are sealed inside the pouch to flavor the dish. Plus, it makes for a dramatic presentation. Just be careful not to burn yourself when the steam escapes!

Whole Living, September 2010

4 skinless 6-oz. halibut fillets or other white flaky fish

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 yellow squash

1 pint cherry tomatoes

1/4 cup pitted oil-cured black olives

2 whole sprigs fresh thyme

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly season the halibut fillets on both sides with salt and pepper. Cut 4 pieces of parchment paper (12 by 16 inches each) and lay them on a clean work surface. Fold each in half crosswise, making a crease in the middle, then open and lay flat.

Cut yellow squash into julienned strips and divide among parchment rectangles, mounding on one side of the fold. Season with salt and pepper. Lay a piece of halibut on top of each pile of squash. Divide the cherry tomatoes (sliced in half, if large) and olives between the four piles and top each pile with thyme. Drizzle each with oil.

Starting in one corner, fold each packet into a half-moon and seal well. Transfer packets to a rimmed baking sheet, and cook in the oven until parchment puffs up, about 12 to 14 minutes. To serve, place each packet on a plate and cut open with kitchen shears at the table.

Easy Strawberry Jam

Whole Living, June 2011

1 pound hulled strawberries (cut into 1/2-inch pieces)

1/2 cup sugar

Heat strawberries and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until bubbling and thickened, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a glass jar and let cool completely.

Moroccan Carrot Salad

Body+Soul, March 2008

Prepare this salad and store in the refrigerator, without the cilantro and pistachios, up to two days ahead.

1/4 cup shelled pistachios

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut into 2-inch pieces (halve pieces again if thick)

1/4 cup raisins

3 tablespoons lemon juice (from 1 lemon)

2 garlic cloves, mashed to a paste

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread pistachios on a rimmed baking sheet; toast in oven until fragrant, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool; coarsely chop.

In a large saucepan of boiling salted water, cook carrots until crisp-tender, 5 to 7 minutes, adding raisins during last minute of cooking. Drain in a colander; rinse under cold water until cool.

In a medium bowl, whisk together lemon juice, garlic, cumin, paprika, cinnamon, and cayenne; season with salt and pepper. Whisking constantly, slowly add olive oil.

Add carrots, pistachios, and cilantro to dressing; toss to combine.

Power Foods: Kale

Body+Soul, September 2008

Raw or cooked, these showy ruffled greens bundle great taste with a host of key nutrients.

When you bring kale home from the farmers’ market, you might not know whether to cook it or arrange the attractive green, blue, and purplish leaves in a flower vase. This cabbage cousin, cultivated for more than 2,000 years, comes in even frillier ornamental varieties.

It’s the culinary kind that offers the complete package: good looks, plenty of nutrients, and, when eaten young, a mild flavor.

Health Benefits

Considered a “nonheading” cabbage because the central leaves don’t form a ball, this verdant beauty grows in both warm and cool climates, and some types even grow in frost and snow. Common varieties include the tightly curled Scotch Vates and the red- to purple-veined Red Russian. The latter is sweet enough to eat raw, as is Lacinato, or “dinosaur,” kale, an Italian heirloom variety.

Flavor aside, kale holds its own among fellow members of the Brassica family, including broccoli, brussels sprouts, and kohlrabi. The low-calorie green provides an excellent source of both vitamins A (as beta-carotene) and C, along with a decent amount of fiber.

Kale also delivers vitamin B6, which helps maintain healthy nervous and immune systems, as well as iron and calcium. In fact, our bodies can better absorb the calcium in kale than in spinach, as it has less oxalic acid, a substance that can disrupt the nutrient’s absorption. Kale’s vitamin K content, essential for proper blood clotting, far surpasses that of broccoli, spinach, and Swiss chard.

Perhaps most impressive, this versatile green contains especially high amounts of the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, two powerful phytochemicals that may help safeguard the eyes from macular degeneration and cataracts.

Like many Brassicas, kale also delivers a hearty dose of sulforaphanes. These anticancer, antimicrobial compounds may suppress tumor growth by raising the body’s levels of cancer-fighting enzymes.

Cooking Tip

Strip the leaves off extra thick or woody stems with a paring knife; discard stems. For easy cutting, stack the leaves, roll them, and cut crosswise into thin ribbons. Braising or sauteing kale both work well, but don’t boil it; you will lose some vital nutrients, such as vitamin C, folate, and thiamin.

Nutrition Breakdown

Per 1 cup cooked, chopped:

Calories: 36 kcal

Fat: 0.52 g

Fiber: 2.6 g = 10 percent of DRI*+

Vitamin A: 885 mcg** = 126 percent of DRI

Vitamin C: 53.3 mg = 71 percent of DRI

Vitamin K: 1,062.1 mcg = 1,180 percent of DRI

Calcium: 94 mg = 9 percent of DRI

Iron: 1.1 7 mg = 7 percent of DRI

* DRI, Dietary Reference Intake, is based on National Academy of Sciences’ Dietary Reference Intakes, 1997 to 2004

+ Percentages are for women 31 to 50 who are not pregnant

** Retinol activity equivalents (RAEs). 1 RAE = 1 mcg retinol or 12 mcg beta-carotene

Text by Cheryl Sternman Rule; recipes by Charlyne Mattox

Sauteed Kale

Gourmet  | November 2003

1 pound kale, tough stems and center ribs discarded and leaves cut into 1-inch-wide strips (8 cups)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small red onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise

1 garlic clove, minced

Pinch of dried hot red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon salt

Cook kale in a 6-quart pot of boiling salted water , uncovered, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 10 minutes, then drain in a colander.

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté onion, stirring occasionally, until softened, 6 to 8 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté, stirring, until garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Reduce heat to moderate, then add kale and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through. Remove from heat and stir in vinegar and salt.

Tuscan Kale Chips

Bon Appétit  | February 2009  by Dan Barber

12 large Tuscan kale leaves, rinsed, dried, cut lengthwise in half, center ribs and stems removed

1 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat oven to 250°F. Toss kale with oil in large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Arrange leaves in single layer on 2 large baking sheets. Bake until crisp, about 30 minutes for flat leaves and up to 33 minutes for wrinkled leaves. Transfer leaves to rack to cool.

Rice with Kale and Tomatoes

Gourmet  | November 1990

1/2 cup long-grain unconverted rice

1 small garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

a 14-ounce can plum tomatoes, drained, seeded, and chopped

2 cups finely chopped rinsed kale leaves

In a small heavy saucepan bring 1 cup water to a boil, add the rice and salt to taste, and cook the rice, covered, over low heat for 20 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender. In a heavy skillet cook the garlic in the oil over moderately low heat, stirring, until it is golden, add the tomatoes and the kale, and cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the kale is tender. Fluff the rice with a fork and in a bowl combine well the rice, the kale mixture, and salt and pepper to taste.