If you live in the Northeastern part of the United States you know that God laughs a hot, sweaty heat. The Husband and I live in a second floor apartment of a house that only has window air conditioners in three of its four rooms (the room without the AC being the kitchen) and this means that 98 degrees (feeling like 110) outside means we were lucky, LUCKY if the temperature dropped below 86 (Fahrenheit that is). We didn't use the kitchen once this week and we spent way too much money eating outside the home, in air-conditioned restaurants.
And so my dear beloved readers, I have to apologize, the beautiful produce I drove 45 minutes for on Monday has gone to waste. By the time the heat broke last night and temperatures began to be reasonable outside and in, the Fava Beans rotted, the Tomatoes got soft and mushy, and the Kohlrabi... well that's just fine I think the only way to kill that thing is with fire.
I did have time to make one dish for you today, because once we COULD cook I felt like we SHOULD make something for you. And so, continuing reading for this week's installment of "What the Frack* do I do with All this Kale?"
*not the actual word
The answer? Quesadillas!
The first step with all Kale recipes is to stem and wash the Kale. This can be easily achieved by folding the Kale in half and ripping out the thick woody stem from the center. Then throw it in a bowl of water, agitate and let it sit for a bit before pulling it out to dry.
And so I was pulling the Kale from the big bowl of my salad spinner when I made a noise that sounded something like frightened horse and the screech of car breaks.
- Me: EEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAA
- The Husband: ::rushing in:: What? What's the matter? What's wrong?
- Me: Sp-sp-spider!!!!
- The Husband: Where?
- Me: It's dead.... floating... in the salad spinner, please get rid of it.
- The Husband: Hahahaha, well what did you expect, it's called a FARM box.
- Me: I know, I know just get rid of it please.
I don't like spiders. I'm not sure how I would have responded had I met that spider ante- instead of post-mortem. The Kale would probably have ended up all over the kitchen with me standing on top of the kitchen table screaming and trying to brush the spider, that is clearly nowhere near me, out of my hair. And, to be sure, I never would have finished cooking.
But with the spider neatly disposed of by The Husband, brave and courageous, I continued on by chopping the the Kale into 1 inch pieces and giving them a quick blanch (boiling water for 2 minutes, then ice bath to stop the cooking process).
Meanwhile I chopped the Red Onions which were still good from 3 boxes ago. Interestingly, they were only really red on the outside layer of the onion. Once I had made it into the inner layers I think it's fair to say they weren't red anymore. Ah well.
I also chopped up a single Jalapeno Pepper, the recipe called for 2 peppers but since The Husband is not a fan of heat, I cut the amount in half.
Amateur note for working with hot peppers, remove the seeds for a less intense heat and of course NEVER TOUCH THEM WITH YOUR SKIN. It might even be advisable to wear safety goggles. I have gotten way too much hot pepper juice into my eyes by either an errant squirt while chopping or by just accidentally rubbing my eyes with my hands after working with peppers. Now I always handle with care, through a plastic bag, just in case.
Once everything is prepped I cooked the onions in a non stick skillet until they started to get translucent and then added the pepper, a single clove of chopped garlic, the cumin and the chili powder.
Then I dumped in the Kale and continued cooking until the kale had diminished by about half.
Take it off the heat into a bowl, wipe out your skillet and put in a flour tortilla. You could use corn if you wanted to but I don't really like that texture so I went with flour. Add a layer of cheese, a layer of the kale mixture, a little bit more cheese and a second tortilla. Cook for a few minutes on both sides until the tortillas are toasted and the cheese is melty.
Top with some sour cream and salsa (or really whatever you like) and enjoy.
The Final Product:
THE VERDICT:
These were delicious. The original recipe called for some cooked cherry tomatoes to be added in to the Kale mixture, and I was planning to use the tomatoes we had gotten in the box but when we found them rotten I decided to forgo the ingredient. I could see why it would be a nice addition, might add a little brightness to the quesadilla, but I don't think I missed it. The dish probably could have used a little extra heat but I think The Husband would not have appreciated it as much as I did. Overall it was a yummy way to use up Kale and quick and easy meal.
Now if you excuse me, I have to go attend a funeral for the remainder of my produce.... sigh.
The Recipe
Recipe Credit goes to the folks over at cooksimple.com and can be found HERE.
Ingredients
- 2 cups coarsely chopped kale (make sure it is not in long ribbons or else you will pull pieces of kale out of the quesadilla when eating it)
- 1/2 cup red onions, cut into 1/4-inch dice
- olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 2 fingerhot, serrano or jalapeño peppers, minced (I only used 1 pepper... see above)
- 7 cherry tomatoes, halved (I didn't use these, but you could... it's fine)
- 2 Tablespoons cilantro, minced
- 4 flour tortillas
- Shredded Cheddar cheese (we used a "mexican" blend of cheeses)
- Blanch the kale until tender then set aside.
- While kale is steaming heat 1 teaspoon oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until translucent, 3-5 minutes. Add garlic, peppers, cumin and chili powder and sauté 1 minute more. Add tomatoes (if you are using them) and kale and sauté another 3-5 minutes until you can squish the tomatoes easily with the back of a spoon. Put mixture in a bowl, add cilantro and mix.
- Wipe out the skillet and over medium heat layer your quesadillas as you like. Heat for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until browned.
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