Healthy and nutritious kale in Camel CSA’s veg boxes

In all the veg boxes this week: –
*kale – red Russian OR curly
*onions
*carrots
cabbage – red OR green
leeks (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
cauliflower (Restharrow)
potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Chillies and curly kale in Camel CSA’s veg boxes

In all our boxes this week: –
*chillies
*curly kale
*salad leaves
*onions
parsnips (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
cauliflower (Restharrow)
potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:-
extra potatoes
*swede
*cabbage (Camel CSA / Mark Norman, Bodmin)
leeks (Restharrow)

* = grown to organic principles
Please wash all vegetables and fruit.
All produce grown by Camel CSA unless otherwise indicated.

Try these delicious kale and chilli dishes on Camel CSA’s recipe pages: –
Stir-fried curly kale with chilli and garlic
Hugh’s pasta with greens, garlic and chilli

Seasonal local food recipe No. 303 – Red dragon pie

This is a favourite, well-loved recipe from Sarah Brown’s Vegetarian Kitchen which I have been making for the past 30 years, I will be serving it with the curly kale from this week’s veg box.  It gets its name from the Chinese name for aduki beans – red dragon beans.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Cooking time: 35-40 minutes

Ingredients
110 g aduki beans
50 g brown rice
1 Tbsp oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
225 g carrots, scrubbed and diced
1-2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp mixed herbs
275 ml aduki bean stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
450 g potatoes, peeled
25 g butter

Method
Soak the aduki beans overnight or steep them in boiling water for an hour.  Drain and rinse, then bring them to the boil  in fresh water along with the rice and cook for 50 minutes, until the beans are tender and the rice is fairly soft.  Drain, reserving the stock.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a saucepan and fry the onion for 5 minutes.  Add the carrots and cook for 2-3 minutes before adding the cooked beans and rice.  Mix the soy sauce, tomato puree and herbs with the stock and pour over the bean and vegetable mixture.  Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes, so that the flavours are well blended.  Season to taste.  Add a little more liquid if necessary so that the final mixture is moist.

Transfer into a greased 1.5 litre casserole.  Whilst the bean and vegetable mixture is cooking , boil the potatoes until soft and mash them with the butter.  Season well and spread the mashed potato over the beans and vegetables.  Place in a preheated oven 180°C/Gas mark 4 and bake for 35-40 minutes until the potato is crisp and brown.

Seasonal local food recipe No.251 – Paprika and chilli kale chips

I was recommended to try making kale chips by a CSA member.  I found this recipe from Australia on the internet and my husband made them last night.  We ate them as a starter with a glass of chilled white wine and they were soon gone!

Serves 2-4

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 12-15 mins

Ingredients
1 bunch (about 250g) curly kale, washed and dried
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried red chilli flakes
Sea salt, to serve

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 5. Line 2 large baking trays with baking paper.  Trim centre stems from kale, tear into small bite size pieces. Combine olive oil, paprika and chilli in a large bowl.  Add kale leaves and toss to coat in oil mixture.

Spread kale out in a single layer on prepared trays.  Bake for 12-15 minutes, swapping trays half way through cooking time, or until leaves are crisp. Serve sprinkled with sea salt.

Curly green kale in Camel CSA’s veg boxes

We have a wide selection of Cornish-grown winter vegetables in our boxes this week: –
* curly kale (Camel CSA)
leeks (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
cauliflower (Restharrow)
carrots (Restharrow)
swede (Restharrow)
potatoes ‘Wilja‘ (Restharrow)
* onions (Mark Norman, Bodmin)

Standard boxes also have: –
extra potatoes
* purple sprouting broccoli (Camel CSA)
* cabbage (Camel CSA)
Jerusalem artichokes (Restharrow)

* = grown to organic principles

Sweet corn-on-the-cob in Camel CSA’s boxes this week

The bountiful autumn harvest continues! Both small and standard boxes have: –

* sweetcorn (Camel CSA)
* tomatoes (Camel CSA)
* curly or black Tuscan kale/cavalo nero (Camel CSA)
* basil (Camel CSA)
* mixed salad bag (Camel CSA) **
* bunched turnips (Camel CSA)
* potatoes (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)

Standard boxes also have extra potatoes plus:
* aubergines (Camel CSA)
* peppers (Camel CSA)
* cucumbers (Camel CSA)

* = grown to organic principles
** salad bag – lettuce, mibuna, mizuma, baby leaf beet, rocket

It’s time to… dig up over-wintered kale

Camel CSA’s growing team have been digging up the winter brassicas (watch this RHS video) that have yielded so much for us over the last few months.

Top of the list are the three types of kale we’ve been growing this past winter. They are: –

• common curly kale
• gourmet cavolo nero (Tuscan kale)
• sweet-tasting red Russian kale

We’re about to start off next winter’s crop in modules.

Seasonal local food recipe No.162: Chinese-style kale

This incredibly simple dish from BBC Good Food comes via the Grow to Love campaign at Horticulture Wales. (Thanks to Tony Little of Canolfan Organig Cymru/Organic Centre Wales for the tip-off.)

You can use any kind of kale to make it. This year at Camel CSA we’re growing two varieties – red Russian and Tuscan (cavalo nero), which are much superior in taste and texture to common curly kale.

Serves: 2-3

Preparation: 5 minutes
Cooking: 10 minutes

Ingredients
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large garlic clove, sliced
200g kale,chopped
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce

Method
Heat the oil in a large wok or frying pan, then tip in the garlic and cook for a few secs. Throw in the kale and toss around the pan to coat in the garlicky oil.

Pour over 100ml boiling water and cook for 7 mins more until the kale has wilted and is cooked through. Stir in the soy and oyster sauces and heat through to serve. 

Try with… Grilled chicken, pork or beef and a bowl of aromatic steamed rice.