Earthbound farms organic kale!

Calling Kale!

The 'let's eat our greens revolution' has caught on in the US and in our home!  In my conversations with friends and family the one argument that most have against greens is the time it takes to clean, wash and prepare them for cooking. Well, all that has ended for at least one of the greens we all must eat regularly – Kale! Today I was pleasantly surprised to find the Earthbound farms washed and ready to eat organic baby kales 1.5 lb mix in the vegetable section of our local Costco! The sight of the bag really excited me, yippee…no more time consuming washing required, just open the bag and cook away!

I grabbed the bag not sure of the tempting creations I would have to cook up to go through the 1.5 lb bag of the powerhouse greens.

I must admit to having ignored a lot of the greens popular in the western world for many years after my arrival in this country. I used to walk past the kale, chard, collards and dandelion greens admiring them  but unsure of how to turn the leaves into a tasty and healthy gastronomic creations!

The initial hesitation I had to using them changed after watching a few cookshows by holistic nutritionist chefs using the greens and also after reading up about the nutritional value and health benefits of the greens. We have now embraced them and have welcomed them into our cooking space!

Oven Roasted Kale

The first thing I did with the entire bag of Kale was to bake the leaves in the oven. Baking them is a very easy, quick and delicious way to use then Kale. Preheat the oven to 350F and cover a sheet pan with aluminum foil. Spray the foil with cooking spray and heap generous amounts of Kale on the sheet pan. Spray the leaves with the cooking spray as well and place it in the middle rack of the oven. Bake for about 20 min till the leaves wilt and get crisp. You, now have oven baked crisp kale that can be eaten as is with some salt and pepper, added to salads, added to yogurt to make a dip or paired with other vegetables to make pastas or Lasagna.

Here is the recipe for the Butternut Squash and Kale Lasagna, the first dish I prepared with my oven baked Kale!

Butternut squash and Kale Lasagna.

You will need:

Oven ready Lasagna sheets (enough to make three layers in a lasagna dish or a 9x13 inch baking dish).

 4 cups of Baked Kale

4 cups of Baked butternut squash ( The squash is cubed and placed in a hot 400F oven on a foil lined sheet pan , coated with a cooking spray and baked for about 20 min till golden).

3 cups of pasta sauce (tomato based)

1 cup of ricotta cheese, 1 cup of shredded mozzarella and 1 cup of parmesan cheese).

3 tsp of Italian seasoning mix

Salt, pepper and paprika to taste. 

1.   Preheat oven to 375 F or to the temperature suggested by the manufacturer on the Lasagna box.

2.       Mix the ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses in a bowl. Season with salt, pepper and paprika to spice it up.

3.       Grease the bottom of the lasagna or baking pan with cooking spray and start the layering process.

4.       Add a layer of tomato sauce at the bottom of the pan, and then build a layer of oven ready lasagna sheets on top.

5.       Add 2 cups of the kale mixture on top and layer that with cheese mixture. Sprinkle some of the Italian seasoning on top.

6.       Now, add another layer of the lasagna sheets followed by a layer of tomato sauce. Add 2 cups of the butternut squash pieces on top, followed by a sprinkling of the Italian spices, salt, pepper and paprika.

7.       Layer the cheese on top and put the last layer of lasagna sheets. Add the tomato sauce, followed by the remaining kale and squash pieces, add the Italian seasoning and lastly add the cheese on top. Spread evenly.

8.       Cover the pan with a piece of foil, bake for about 30- - 35 min with foil and then remove foil and broil for about 5 -7 min till the cheese browns.

9.       Remove lasagna from the oven, let it rest in the pan for about 10 min. Serve with a side of Salad and voila! You have an extremely nutritious flavorful meal ready!