First Harvest Meal, 2011: Kale Chorizo Stew

The first meal from the garden is always an exciting event.  Today, the Red Russian Kale seemed to have enough large leaves to harvest, so harvest it, I did.

Last year, the kale didn't do very well.  The weather went from hot and wet to cold and wet to more wet, and it languished.  It still tasted terrific, though, and Tae and I ate all of it raw while standing over the container in which it grew.

This recipe is more of an assembly guide than it is a proper recipe.  The quantities of each ingredient are totally up to you, and you can add as you wish.  We were out of onions, so there was no onion.  If I had more kale, I certainly would have added it.  The vegan chorizo isn't shown, but here were all the other the ingredients.

I make my own chorizo, vaguely using the chorizo recipe from 'Viva Vegan' as my guide.  'Viva Vegan', is one of the best vegan cookbooks EVER, and I've tried a lot of recipes.  I mostly use them as inspiration and wander off on my own, but it has many, many interesting places to start.

If you don't have your own seitan chorizo on hand, I would recommend the 'Chipotle' sausage from Field Roast.  It was my favorite 'sausage' until I started making my own.

I used fresh corn and used the cobs to start a stock for the stew.  If you have to use frozen, skip the step making the broth and head straight to the Massels.  You might want to add an extra cube if you don't make the quick stock. Without the stock-making step, this recipe only takes 15 minutes or so to make.

As an option on this, try baby bok choi or gai lan (Chinese broccoli) in lieu of the kale, and mix in  1-2 tsp of miso paste right before serving.

Kale Chorizo Stew

serves 4

1 Tbs olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 c water

2 Massels vegan broth cubes

2 ears of fresh corn

Red potatoes, diced
1 bunch kale, cleaned, stemmed and chopped

3 carrots, diced

mushrooms, cleaned and chopped

corn from the ears

6-8 oz vegan chorizo, diced

Using a sharp knife, remove the kernels form the fresh corn and reserve.

Heat a 6 qt pot

Add olive oil and saute garlic for 30 seconds

Add corn cobs and Massels cubes

Add water

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10-15 minutes

Remove cobs and toss in the compost pile

Add kale and potato

Cover, bring back to a boil

Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes

Add corn kernels, mushrooms, carrots and chorizo.

Cover, bring back to a boil

Reduce heat and simmer 5minutes

Check veggies for doneness

Serve with a sprinkle of chile flakes if desired.  

In the photo above, we served the stew with home made kamut bread and a sprinkle of Daiya Pepper Jack vegan cheese.  And chile flakes, of course.  They go on everything...

Kale Potato Vegan Blue Cheese Pizza

Kale Potato Vegan Blue Cheese Pizza

1 dough for 12" pizza crust (see our Dec 16 2008 post)
1 bunch kale
2 tsp sea salt, divided
3 medium yukon gold or Klondike rose potatoes
1 Tbs olive oil
3 Tbs Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese Chive and Herb flavor optional
8 oz Teese Mozzarella, grated
2 oz Sheese Blue Cheese, grated
1 tsp Bacon Salt

Preheat oven to 425F.

Rinse and chop kale, discarding stems.
Add kale to pressure cooker with 1 cup of water and 1 tsp of the sea salt and pressure cook for 8 minutes at 10 pounds.
While kale is cooking, peel and slice the potatoes into 1/4 inch slices.
After kale beeps, release pressure. Add a steamer basket over the kale still in the pot, and lay the potato slices evenly along basket. Note: if you like your kale chewier, remove it before cooking the potatoes but make sure you have sufficient water left for your pressure cooker.
Pressurize to 10 pounds and cook for 10 minutes.

While veggies are cooking roll out the pizza dough and put in the baking pan. Brush the edges lightly with the olive oil. No need to brush the entire crust, just the edges.
If using, spread the Tofutti around evenly in the middle.

When veggies are cooked, remove and cool so you can touch them.
Add a layer of potatoes to the crust and sprinkle with half the Bacon Salt.
Add a layer of kale to the potatoes and sprinkle with the remaining Bacon Salt.
Sprinkle the remaining 1 tsp of sea salt over the top.
Sprinkle the Teese mozzarella evenly over the pizza.
Bake for about 18 minutes.
Remove from oven, sprinkle with the Sheese blue cheese, and let pizza rest 2-3 minutes before cutting and serving.

Makes 4 generous slices.

Kale & Quinoa Lasagna with Leek Bechamel

Sometimes you get an idea that you just KNOW is going to work. I had quinoa, leeks and cooked beans in the fridge, won ton wrappers which had reached their expiry date, and the local store had beautiful kale. A match made in heaven with flavors that really work nicely together.

People rave about couscous and I have never understood it. Sure, it is quick to make, but its pretty bland. And, although treated like a grain, it is actually a pasta with nothing nutritional except carbs. Quinoa, on the other hand, is small, easy to cook and has a somewhat similar texture but is loaded nutrients and has great flavor. It isn't a grain either, though. It is a seed. Since both cook like a grain, look like a grain, and can be used like a grain, most cookbooks just put them in the grain section. If you haven't used quinoa, you should. And if you follow the simple instructions following the main recipe, it will come out perfectly every time.

This was basically a throw-together leftover meal for me, but I do realize that most people aren't going to have the ingredients cooked and waiting in the fridge. So, the cooking instructions for the individual items will follow the main recipe.


Kale & Quinoa Lasagna with Leek Bechamel
Serves 6-8

1 bunch fresh kale
salt to taste
1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
2-3 c leek&onion broth
3 Tbs olive oil
3 Tbs flour
3 c cooked quinoa
3 c cooked beans (approx 2 cans, drained and rinsed if you use canned)
4 oz grated Cheesly or other vegan cheese
1 pack wonton wrappers (See important note following ingredients)

(Note: the wonton wrappers I used were not vegan. Vegans should use a thin vegan pasta )

Preheat oven to 400F.

Wash and coarsely chop the kale. Cook in a pressure cooker with 1 cup of water for about 10 minutes at 10 pounds pressure or until very soft. Add vinegar, lightly salt, toss and set aside to cool slightly.

In a 2 qt saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the flour and stir to cook for about 30-45 seconds. Whisk in the onion broth and bring to a simmer. Simmer briefly until the sauce thickens.

Using a 9x13 lasagna pan or similar dish, spread several Tbs of the bechamel on the bottom, and spread it out.

Put one layer of pasta sheets over the sauce.

Add 1/2 of the quinoa and spread it around. (Note: it is best to keep the quinoa about a half inch from the edge of the pan to keep it from getting too dry and crunchy in the oven)

Add 1/3 of the beans and spread them around evenly.

Add another layer of pasta sheets. Spread a few Tbs of bechamel over the pasta.
Layer the kale evenly into the dish.
Drizzle a few tablespoons of sauce over the kale.
Top with another layer of pasta sheets.
Add the remainder of the quinoa and spread evenly.
Add the remaining beans and spread evenly.
Add another layer of pasta sheets.
Pour the remaining bechamel over the top and spread evenly.
Spread the grated cheese evenly over the top.
Bake for 30 minutes.

Let the lasagna stand for 5 minutes before slicing.


Basic Quinoa

1 1/2 c quinoa
2 c water
1 stock cube

Put a 2 qt saucepan with lid heating over a medium low flame.
Rinse the quinoa in a bowl of warm water and rub it with your hands. Drain it into a strainer and rinse again. Add the quinoa to the dry saucepan and stir a few minutes until the quinoa is dry and starts smelling toasted. Add the water and stock cube, raise heat and bring to a boil. Immediately lower the heat, cover and simmer as low as possible for 20 minutes. Turn off heat and let quinoa sit for 5 minutes before fluffing with a fork.

Leek & Onion Broth

Washed green tops from 2-3 leeks
1 yellow onion chopped coarsely
4-5 cloves of garlic, unpeeled

Add all ingredients into a pressure cooker with 8 cups of water. Pressure cook for 20-30 minutes. Strain liquid into a saucepan and boil 15-20 minutes until the liquid is reduced to about half (around 2-3 cups). Set aside to cool.

Smoky Beans

1 c Yellow Woman or pinto dried beans, soaked overnight
4 c water
2 tsp Bacon Salt, hickory flavor
1 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp sea salt

Pressure cook at 10 pounds for about 18 minutes. Release pressure and add sea salt. Stir and set aside. Drain before using for lasagna.

revised 25-10-09