Tuscan Kale with White Beets and Farro

kaledish

I know it’s been a while. I apologize for that. Life gets in the way, as it tends to do.

I have some good stuff coming your way though. Even some giveaways! So I hope you’re all still around.

So in addition to be finally sharing a fabulous dish with you today, I’m also excited that it’s been three years since our fabulous group of Kosher Connection food bloggers came together. I can’t believe it’s been three years! And in those three years, we’ve all grown. It’s amazing to see what our little foodie group can do and where we’ve been.

So today, we’re having a virtual potluck meal of sorts. And I’m bringing a fabulous vegetarian side dish to the table.

Summer in the kitchen, for me, is an exciting  time. The food that I serve is all about what’s in season and as much as possible, what’s local. My CSA pick-up is on Tuesdays and I tend to hit up the various local farmers markets Thursdays and Sundays. I’m thankful to have some amazing options near by.

This dish I’m sharing with you and with my Kosher Connection family is inspired by some greens I had a local restaurant and something I’ve played with over the past several weeks. You can change up any aspect of this dish based on what you have on hand. The greens are interchangeable with any hearty summer green – from kale to swiss chard to spinach to collard greens – you can play with it. I used beets today, but this dish is also wonderful with Japanese Turnips, radishes and other flavorful roots. Additionally, that farro can also be swapped out. I happened to have some ready made farro in my fridge from shabbat cooking, but you can also use quinoa or barley or whatever grain you prefer. The point is to use what you have – the freshest of what you have and to enjoy it.

The white beets that I used can be hard to find, but if you do see them, buy them. They are so great. If you can’t find them though, I’ve used Japanese Turnips in this dish. The taste is obviously not the same, but it’s another great root vegetable that works well against the greens.

I washed and peeled the beets and then I sliced them thinly with a mandoline. I then put them in the hot pan with some olive oil, shallots and garlic. Once the beets had softened, I added in the chopped greens. I added some salt and pepper to taste and stirred everything together. Greens don’t take long to cook.

white beets sliced

cooked beets

kale

Once everything was ready, I took everything off the heat and then stirred in the farro. And the dish is ready. It’s that easy. And it’s good. Hope you enjoy!

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Tuscan Kale with White Beets and Farro
 
Author:
Recipe type: side dish
Ingredients
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • 2 shallots, chopped
  • 3 cloves garilc, chopped
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
  • 2 white beets, washed and peeled
  • 1 bunch of Tuscan Kale, washed and chopped
  • 1 cup cooked Farro
  • Additional salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Wash and peel the beets.
  2. Slice the beets thinly. A mandoline is a great tool for it.
  3. Heat up the olive oil in a large pan.
  4. Add in the sliced beets, shallots and garlic. Cook about 5 minutes until soft
  5. Add in the chopped kale, salt and pepper. Stir and let the kale soften. Remove from heat when cooked.
  6. Mix in the cooked farro
  7. Serve

kale with white beets

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Farro Salad with Carrots, Mushrooms and Baby Spinach

Farro with Carrots, Mushrooms and Spinach

I’m always looking for fun ways to use grains in my meals. I am a total carb fiend. Definitely not the best for me, but I love them and can’t stay away.

I try to get whole grains in to my meals as much as possible. One of my favorite grains is farro. Farro is a variety of wheat and can be cooked in a multitude of ways, with several delicious outcomes. Around the High Holidays, I cooked up a creamy risotto style farro, which was amazing. More recently, I decided to go with a simpler approach. I wanted a dish that would taste great – both as a room temperature salad and also when served warm, fresh from the stove. This farro dish fits that need.



Farro Salad with Carrots, Mushrooms and Wilted Spinach
Ingredients:

1 cup farro
2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 tbsp. olive oil
3 shallots chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp. lemon zest
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground pepper
1 cup shredded carrots
5 oz. mushrooms, sliced
1.5 cups baby spinach
additional salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Place the farro in a pot over medium-high heat. Pour in the vegetable broth. Let the mixture come to a boil. Once it’s boiling, reduce the heat to medium low and cover the pot. Check on the farro every few minutes and stir a little. Once all of the liquid has evaporated, fluff the farro with a fork and remove from the heat. Set aside.

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Heat up the olive oil in a large saute pan.  Add in the shallots, garlic, lemon zest, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.  Cook the mixture for a few minutes until softened. Add in the carrots and the mushrooms and cook for a few more minutes. Do not overcook. You want the veggies to have a bit of a bite left. Once the mushrooms are slightly cooked, turn off the heat.

Stir in the baby spinach and let it wilt a bit. Take a bite. Add in additional salt and pepper if necessary.

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Mix in the already cooked farro.

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Serve warm or cool down and serve room temperature. It’s excellent either way.

Enjoy!

Farro with Carrots, Mushrooms and Spinach



Warm Roasted Beets and Carrots With Farro

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On a recent visit with my parents, we strolled through the various food vendors at Chelsea Market. We happily came upon the Italian market where my parents were thrilled with the many goodies there. One thing they picked up was some Farro. Farro is a wonderful grain that is native to Italy. I wish it was gluten free so more people could enjoy it! It is very similar in texture to barley in the way it cooks up and has a similar nutty mouth feel.

When I was in Minneapolis at my parents, they prepared this lovely bag of Farro. As I was eating this, I thought about how versatile it was and how it would really go well with some Rosh Hashanah flavors. This Farro would be the perfect side dish with a slow-cooked brisket or even a grilled salmon. My parents cooked the farro rissoto style, giving it a really nice texture and bringing out all of the flavors of the other ingredients. I decided to cook this farro in a similar way. So happy I did.
This yummy farro recipe is a part of a special Rosh Hashanah blog party! Please see the details below and enter to win a fantastic giveaway for Levana Kirschenbaum’s latest cookbook, The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen!

Warm Roasted Beets and Carrots with Farro
Ingredients:
4 peeled and washed carrots
1 large golden beet, washed
1/2 head of garlic
2 shallots
1.5 tbsp. olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
1 cup farro
3-4 cups of warm vegetable broth
salt
fresh ground pepper
Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350.

Wrap the beets in foil and place in the oven.

In a large roasting pan, place the carrots as well as some foil wrapped garlic and shallots and place in the oven.

When veggies are done roasting, chop them up. Peel the beet first.
Heat up the olive oil in a large saucepan.
Saute the chopped onion for a couple of minutes. Add in the chopped garlic.  Add about a teaspoon of salt.
Add in the farro and stir. Let the farro toast in the pan for a few minutes. Your stove should be set to medium.
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Pour in a cup of the vegetable broth and stir. Stir for a minute and then stir in the chopped and roasted veggies.
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Keep stirring until the liquid evaporates.
Once the liquid evaporates, ladle in another cup of the vegetable broth. Keep repeating until you have used up the broth and the farro has softened. It will still be nutty in texture.
Add a bit of salt and pepper to taste and serve.
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Enjoy!
P.S. See below for links to more tasty Rosh Hashana treats as well as a chance to enter a giveaway to win a copy of Levana Kirschenbaum’s The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen! 
~~~
Welcome to the first ever Jewish Holiday Blog Party, hosted by Jessie of Taste and Miriam of Overtime Cook, and sponsored by Kitchen Aid! As you may know, Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year is coming up, and Jewish bloggers from all over the world are celebrating with all kinds of twists on traditional Rosh Hashanah foods.
To kick off the celebration, Levana Kirschenbaum is giving away a copy of her fabulous new book, The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen to three lucky winners. To enter, leave a comment on this post. Limit one entry per reader per blog so click over to the other participating blogs below for your chance at additional entries! Giveaway ends 5 am eastern time on September 11th, 2012.

Prize is sponsored by Levana and available to readers from all blogs participating in the Rosh Hashanah Blog Party. Prize can only be shipped within the US. 
 
This is the first of hopefully many exciting Holiday Blog Parties, so if you would like to join in the fun, please email holidayblogparties@gmail.com.
Stop by and check out some of these amazing Rosh Hashanah themed recipes on the following blogs:
 

Challah and Bread:

Marlene of The Jewish Hostess made Apple Challah
Amanda of The Challah Blog made Pomegranate Challah
Shelly of The Kosher Home made Apple, Honey and Pomegranate Challah!
Sides, Salads and Starters: 
Sarah of Food, Words, Photos made Tzimmes (Rosh Hashanah Carrots)
Tali of More Quiche, Please made Roasted Beets and Butternut Squash
Roberta and Lois of Kosher Eye made Simanim Salad
Chanie of Busy In Brooklyn made Pomegranate Coleslaw
Rivki of Life in the Married Lane made Super Salad
Hannah of Cooking Manager made Beets Marinated with Ginger and Garlic
Sina of The Kosher Spoon made Pomegranate, Almond and Raisin Couscous
Shulie of Food Wanderings made Rosh Hashanah Salad
Hindy of Confident Cook-Hesitant Baker made Warm Roasted Beets with Farro
Sarah of Kosher Street made Sweet Potato Apple Tzimmes
Main Dishes:
Jessie of Taste made Smoked Salmon
Samantha of The Little Ferraro Kitchen made Chicken with Dates
Michele of Kosher Treif Cooking made Coconut Chicken Strips with two dipping sauces
Melinda of Kitchen Tested made Key Lime Glazed Duck
Stephanie and Jessica of The Kosher Foodies made Chicken Braised in Pomegranate
Liz of The Lemon Bowl made Beef Brisket
Estee of Anyone Interested? made Easy Breazy 5 Minute Brisket
Desserts and Drinks:
Miriam of Overtime Cook made Mini Apples and Honey Tarts
Laura of Pragmatic Attic made Fresh Ginger Honey Cake
Susan of The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen made Honey Caramel Apple Galette
Danielle of Hugs and Cookies xoxo made The World’s Best Rugelach
Amy of What Jew Wanna Eat made an Apple and Honey Cocktail
Nick of The Baking Process made Apple and Date Honey Squares
Lisa of The Monday Morning Cooking Club made Honey Chiffon Cake and Traditional Honey Cake
Leah of Cook Kosher made Pomegranate Ice Cream
Nossi of The Kosher Gastronome made Non-dairy Key Lime Cheesecake Bar with Key Lime Caramel
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