It’s early December, and I harvested most of our dinner from the backyard farm garden.
Sure, it’s been a warm winter so far, but there definitely has been frost on the ground some nights, and both our kale and our sunchokes made it into December. Now, if that sounds like serious gardening skills, it’s not, my friends.
I bought the kale plants (read–not seeds) in May and plopped those guys in the ground. And I bought sunchokes at the produce store, cooked most of them and plopped a few of the leftover guys in the ground. Then we watered them, and just like in the storybooks, they grew!
Fear not if your garden is done (or never was started). Sunchokes are at the produce store (near the entrance at Market Place on Oakton, to be exact), and kale is there too. And if you’re near me, you could also march yourself into our backyard and cut off some kale leaves, while supplies last.
ROASTED SUNCHOKES
Roughly peel sunchokes with peeler, no need to get every bit, and chop off the rough ends. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Roast at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until soft.
CHICKPEA KALE WITH ROASTED BREAD CRUMBS
Bunch of kale, roughly chopped
1 cup chickpeas
1 block diced and roasted tofu (coat in olive oil and soy sauce and roast on 450 for 30 minutes, flipping once)
1 chopped onion or shallot
2 cloves of chopped garlic + one more for the bread crumbs
olive oil
1/4 cup bread crumbs
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Saute the onion in olive oil on medium heat until lightly browned. Add the garlic and saute one more minute. Add the kale and stir to coat in olive oil. Cover with a lid and let simmer for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chickpeas and salt and pepper to taste. Remove kale mixture top with tofu. Add a teaspoon more of olive oil to the pan and saute last garlic clove for one minute. Add breadcrumbs and salt to taste and stir until lightly browned and crunchy. Add to kale mixture.
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