CSA 2016

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Instructions:   Here you will find three links to pages for you to print, fill out, and mail with your deposit to-

Sign Up Sheet

CSA Agreement

New Member Survey

Goodness Grows

5360 Bedford Valley Rd.

Bedford, PA 15522

You may also email your documents to goodgrows@gmail.com and I will contact you to make payment arrangements that best suit your needs.

Our CSA:  We offer the area’s only 100% certified organic CSA from May – October (see below about our winter shares.)  With the addition of our commercial kitchen certification, we can start our year strong, and end it that way as well! Early on, we will see products from our small grains, such as breads and baked goods, soy products such as vegan sausage and gluten free cookies, and animals products such as cheese, meat, and eggs.  Please note–these animal products are not available to the public–only shareholders get to enjoy the goods from the barn!  We are the only farm in the area to offer certified organic fruit and grains in our CSA packages.  The great variety, combined with our extended growing season, makes our certified organic CSA a fantastic value.

The Basics: Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) agreements are a unique relationship between farmer and consumer.  CSA members pledge their support to a farm, through financial contribution and volunteer efforts, and receive weekly produce in return. As a shareholder, you become a contributor and partial owner of the farm’s harvest.  Modest participation in farm activities will increase the bond between farmer and consumer, and this is our aim through our CSA program. This arrangement gives our farm more liberty to offer a wide variety of products, including meat and dairy. You own the goat, you feed the chickens (so to speak), and you reap the rewards!

Contribution:  The cost for a ‘half’ share is $265 plus five hours of volunteer work, a ‘regular’ share is $465 plus ten hours of volunteer work, and a ‘large’ share is $715.00 plus fifteen hours of volunteer work. For a description of the volunteer requirement, see below. For your contribution, you will receive lots of great fruit and veggies (along with occasional eggs, cheese, or meat, if that floats your boat) at convenient pick-up locations in the greater Cumberland, Maryland and Bedford areas.   A half share will feed 1-2 people (we really do not recommend a half share for families larger than that), a regular share can comfortably feed a family of 3-4, while a large share is perfect for families of 6+ people or folks who do lots of canning and preserving.  A deposit of $165 for a half share, $265 per regular share, and $375 for a large share is due by April 15th.  If you pay the entire balance in full by March 15th, you will receive a 5% discount.

Volunteer Hours: Being part of a community farm offers rich experience as well as super fresh, healthy food!  Becoming a farm volunteer will give us the time to get to know you, and gives you the time to get to know where your food comes from.Volunteer hour requirements are for the whole season.   Our volunteer requirement is very flexible and can be tailored to your individual needs. We understand that not everyone can spend several hours weeding on their hands and knees, and that sometimes, there are physical limitations, time constraints, etc. You can do anything from helping in the fields, to helping bundle CSA bags, to lending a hand at the market, or participating in our CSA Advisory Committee–there are many possibilities. Also, if you want to bring a friend or the rest of the family, their hours will count toward fulfilling your volunteer requirement! Please feel free to let us know about your particular wants and needs, and we will do our best to accommodate them!

Pick-up:  We will be posting precise locations shortly after we receive all applications (by April 15th) in order to ensure convenient arrangements for all of our members.  Tentatively, we have planned the following pickup locations & time frames:

  • Bedford on Wednesdays at the Farmer’s Market, 9:00am-1:00pm and at the Wholesome Living Marketplace, 3:00pm-5:00pm
  • Cumberland, Maryland on Thursdays at the Downtown Farmer’s Market, 9:30am- 1:00pm
  • Everett on Saturdays at the Farmer’s Market at the Mason Temple Parking Lot, 9:00am-1:00pm
  • Goodness Grows, flexible days and hours
  • Contact us for other locations…We will be willing to arrange group drop off points at other destinations provided we can get enough interest!

Planned Offerings:

We highly encourage you to come pick up your bags at the market, if at all possible, so you can take advantage of the market-style choices when available. If you are unable to do so, you can still pick up a pre-packaged bag full of the very best of the week’s products at your regular location.

Planned offerings include breads, tofu and other soy products, meats, dairy items, eggs, apples, black raspberries, peaches, strawberries, beans, peas, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce (varieties), mesclun, herbs (varieties), tomatoes, winter and summer squash, peppers, nuts (yes, nuts!), cucumbers, onions, garlic, potatoes, corn, beets, radishes, sprouts (varieties), spinach, eggplant, melons, turnips, tomatillos, zucchini, kohlrabi, swiss chard, sunflower seeds, and more! Each week, you can expect to see 5-8 different items in your bag.

Food Allergies and Dietary Restrictions: We are aware that many people have dietary needs that do not encompass all that we have to offer. For this reason, we have our survey for each member to fill out. We do our very best to substitute items you cannot enjoy for items that you CAN enjoy. We have even grown specialty crops in our trial gardens for our vegan members and those with a delicate digestion. Please let us know if you need to refrain from any items so we can keep them out of your bag and prevent cross-contamination, particularly with nuts and other severe food allergies. Within the five years that we have offered our CSA program, we have never had an issue of cross contamination with allergens in anyone’s bags. We have also been able to successfully introduce new foods to those with restricted diets to expand their limited menus because of the bountiful variety of items we grow for our members.

To sign up,  download the registration forms to print and mail below.   If you would like to pay by credit or SNAP benefits, please email or call me so we may arrange payment.   Thanks so much and we look forward to a fantastic season working with you.

 

Winter Shares!!!   

We have been working on a way to provide our loyal customers with local certified organic farm fresh foods through the winter, so by popular demand we decided to offer our winter CSA package.   The winter shares are on a month by month basis, and will be going to Mountain City Traditional Arts in Frostburg, MD two Saturdays a month.  We will have a local farm pick up on Fridays.  April will be our last month for winter shares.   You may sign up anytime before the first delivery of the month.   Click on the link below for more details.

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Soup Salad and Sandwich Saturday

As temperature plummeted across our region, and winter markets are picking up, I’m more in the mood for soup.   Saturdays are the perfect day for us because I only need to cook once for 2-3 meals over the weekend.   This week I made chicken and white bean chili using a slightly modified Food Network recipe, salad from the veggies that we didn’t sell at Wholesome Living Market Place today and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on our own spelt bread.

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I used the following recipe for the White Chicken Chili with some modifications-

I use real chicken, not ground chicken, I didn’t add corn and I did add cilantro.

The salad came back from a small indoor market that Rob went to today.   It has romaine, green leaf, red leaf and arugula from our gardens.   Also I chopped 2 carrots and 5 radishes on top.   The cheese is from a trade I made with High Country Creamery today at the Mountain City Traditional Arts Market.

The sandwich is made with our very own Spelt bread, fresh ground honey roasted peanut butter from Fisher’s Country Store.   Also the boysenberry jelly was made by my boys’ old babysitter Rachel Bender.   She owns Summer Kitchen Jams and you can purchase her wonderful creations there.

I hope all of you will consider continuing your commitment to buy locally this winter!   There are so many wonderful foods available from local producers this time of year too.   I will do my best to help you all find out what’s available.

 

Maple Trees, Kombucha, and Fun on the Farm!

We have been so grateful for the warmer weather on the farm this week! It is nice to have the snow and the ice melt away, though it leaves some mud behind! 😉

Winter CSA offerings are once again market-style this week, as this has been our most popular option that we have given. There will be tomatoes, kombucha, and bread (of course!). We are so appreciative of all those who have tried a Winter CSA with us this season, and we hope you are enjoying this program and what we have offered so far! If you have liked what you have received, consider leaving a review on Facebook, Google, Local Harvest, etc for any potential customers who might want to join us, either for a Winter or Spring/Summer share, but who aren’t sure what to expect.

CSA shares are filling fast for the 2014 growing season! If interested in joining our farm family, please check out the ‘CSA’ tab at the top of the page to find out more information!! We want to thank all of our returning customers, and we also welcome all of the new friends who are joining us for the first time!

A reminder and note–any packaging with our products that can be re-used (i.e. clam shell containers, CSA bags, Mason jars, and so forth) can be brought back instead of being tossed in the trash! If it can be re-purposed and re-used, we’d love to have them! It helps us to continue our mission of sustainability, keeps materials out of landfills, and saves us some pennies in the process. 😉

We have another class this week, which is a follow up to the Tapping Maple Trees class we had last Saturday, and the class is Making Maple Syrup, and it will be held on Saturday, March 1st at 10:00am. Our Tapping Maple Trees class was very well attended, and a great time was had by all! Participants learned how to tap maple trees for their sugary sap, which will be processed into delicious maple syrup. We also toured the farm, which involved visits to the barn, the chickens, our greenhouse, and our hoophouse! We even had some kombucha on hand for everyone to taste and try! (A few even brought some kombucha “babies” home to make it themselves!) So glad the weather cooperated so we could walk in warmer temperatures! Here are some pictures of our class for you to enjoy! Have a great week!

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Yes, We Have Even More Baby Goats (And Tomatoes)!

Greetings, friends!!

Would you believe that there are MORE brand new baby goats on the farm? We still have a few more pregnant does, so with that comes the babies! Want to name one? The next few people to sign up and submit a deposit for a year’s CSA will get to name one of our newest kids! (CSA details can be found under the “CSA” tab at the top of the screen.)

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Aren’t they precious?

Speaking of CSAs, we have a few things to share with you….

First, we have received a few questions regarding the volunteer hour requirement that has been added to the purchase of CSAs for the 2014 growing season. This year, we will be having a increased amount of what we like to refer to as “indulgences”–items such as meats, cheeses, vegan products like tofu and “soysage” (made from our own organically grown, non-GMO soybeans), and breads and other items processed and made from grains that are grown here organically from heritage seed that we sourced last year. These are only a few of the “extra” items you might see from us, in addition to the traditional fruits and veggies that you would normally expect. Due to the increased workload that results from the addition of these products, we need help from our CSA members. A half-share requires 5 hours of volunteer time, a regular share requires 10 hours, and a full share requires 15 hours of volunteer work.

Some of you will not be making it to the farm because of distance, work or other related reasons. If you have any recipes you can share, that counts.  Perhaps you could provide some website help, or help in writing reviews.  We are not looking for all 5 star ratings (though we try–ha!). We would just like to give others an opportunity to make informed decisions about whether our farm’s CSA is right for them.
We are having an advisory committee meeting on March 11 @ 5:00 pm.   This is a CSA member board that we are counting on to help guide us to meet the needs of our members better.   We already had our 1st meeting in January, and there is room for more members to join, and that would count as volunteer time, too. (Open to previous CSA members only.)
We do have very light duty, pleasant work to be done here for those who would prefer not to be pulling weeds all day, but still would like to come to the farm.   This would include transplanting delicate seedlings into larger growing containers, helping at the farmer’s market, posting pictures to our Facebook page, whatever floats your boat.   The greenhouse work is already going on, so if you have cabin fever, this is a nice atmosphere to shake it off. 🙂  Keep in mind, this is supposed to be fun, not a drag, so think positive about it, and if you have any apprehension at all about volunteering, let us know, and we’ll see how we can tweak the duties to fit your needs.
For those of you who would like to get into shape for the summer, we have our very own Goodness Grows workout that will trim you down in no time!
The volunteer hours will be counted per person, so if you are a couple, that would be 2 hours for 1.   A family of four would equal 4 hours for every 1 (4 people working 1 hours would make 4 man-hours of work completed), so the time commitment isn’t all that bad, either.
For those who are Winter CSA members, we have the usual market style offerings, PLUS, we will be harvesting some tomatoes and might even have some eggs. Quantities are limited–so consider coming to pick up your items on the farm early to ensure availability! (We will still do deliveries, but we can’t promise what will be available when.)
Yummy tomatoes in a steamy greenhouse….
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We have a Maple Tree Tapping class on February 22nd at 10:00am. Making Maple Syrup will follow at 10:00am on March 1st. Details are still forthcoming, and the classes ARE weather dependent, so feel free to follow us on Facebook to stay up to date on class status, additional information on cost, etc.
Want to know what to do with leftover bread from your Winter CSA that is getting a bit stale? Included is a recipe for Best Bread Pudding  with Whiskey Sauce from Better Hens and Gardens. (Recipe can be found by clicking here.) Blog owner Lesa, from the Homestead Bloggers Network, includes the note in the recipe that it is good even without the whiskey sauce/bourbon, if you choose to omit it.
Have a pleasant week! Stay warm! 🙂

More on Kombucha, Even More Baby Goats, and More Events!

Hello, friends!

Remember when we had our kombucha and herbal teas class in January? Our friend, Becky Wallace, taught participants how to make their own teas and kombucha “mothers” on a cold, snowy morning (we had a lot of fun!). Well, thanks to her help and her willingness to share kombucha “babies,” we now have kombucha to share with our Winter CSA members as part of this week’s market style offerings!

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Kombucha is so unconventionally pretty!

This week, we had not one, not two, but FOUR more baby goats born, and they are as cute as can be.

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There are three girls this time, and one little boy (our other babies born so far have been boys). These little cuties, like the others, need names. Please feel free to leave suggestions on Facebook or here under “Comments,” and we will pick our favorites! We’ve been asked what we do with all of these baby goats! We do sell some of the babies, and we also keep some for milking. Rob and the boys intend to train some of the bucks to pull a cart. If you know of anyone interested in Nubian goats, please let them know about us!

We have a lot of exciting events in store for the next few weeks. We have a Fruit Tree Pruning Class on Saturday, February 15th, 2014 at 10:00am. Cost is $20.00 per participant, and class is weather permitting. Also, we have a series of classes scheduled that relate to maple trees and syrup production: Tapping Maple Trees for Syrup (Weather Dependent): Saturday, February 22nd, 2014 at 10:00am, and also Making Maple Syrup (Weather Dependent): Saturday, March 1st, 2014 at 10:00am. The weather for both the maple classes, as well as the pruning class, has to be cooperative in order for us to hold them, so keep a close eye on our Facebook page for more information, updates, cancellations, etc. We also have a on Seed Starting Class on Saturday, March 15th, 2014 at 10:00am. Here you will receive tips of the trade for getting the very best start to your garden. Cost of the class is $15.00 and will conclude with a free seed swap, so if you have an abundance of something, you may trade with classmates after class. We will discuss seed soil, depth, water requirements, transplanting, and you can take home some of your work. We will constantly update the Facebook page with information regarding these classes, so follow us there, and keep apprised of all of the potential changes and additions we will be making as time goes on.

We will also be having a Farmer’s Workshop, open to other farms in the area, on March 12th, 2014 from 9:00am-3:00pm. This workshop will be held both at a neighboring church (for presentations), and then an interactive farm tour and discussion will be held on site at the farm. Lunch will be served. This event is sponsored by Penn State, and we will be adding more details, contact information regarding RSVPs, etc. as soon as it comes available.

Thanks again for stopping by and sharing a week with us!

Possums, “New Additions,” and Lots of Bread….

We hope you had a wonderful week! We’ve had an eventful one!

On Monday night, we caught two possums in our chicken coop. This is the likely reason why egg production had seemed a little low. One possum was found in a nest, and another had a hen by the neck. However, we’re feeling hopeful that our egg production will increase now that the possum situation has been remedied!

We started seeds on the 24th. Even though we are dealing with colder than average temperatures, we still have to do the work that needs tended to, and we’re crossing our fingers that the seeds will make it! We did lose some plants during the “Polar Vortex” a week or two ago, but others made it, thanks to the warmth of the greenhouse and a lot of tender loving care.

Our market-style CSA options remained popular with our Winter CSA members last week, so we are offering the same thing this week, though we WOULD like to recommend our “Soyreal”–it is high in protein, low in sugar, and did we mention it is chocolate?? 🙂 You can use it as breakfast cereal, add it to yogurt, or use it as a dessert topping!

We hosted a Breadmaking class on Saturday. We have posted pictures from the class on our Facebook page, but we’re including a couple favorites here. More on the class after the pics, so keep scrolling–we’re not done yet. 😉

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Participants were able to make loaves of bread from start to finish, and had the option of making baguettes, sandwich loaves, hearth/artisan loaves, or sandwich rolls. While the bread raised, participants were able to tour the barn and the greenhouse. (Keep on scrolling for a surprise….)

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During the tour, participants were also able to meet…..

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Two new baby bucklings….also born this week! We have eight more pregnant does “on maternity leave,” and we’re anxiously awaiting the arrival of their babies, too.

This is where we need your help! We need baby names! We compiled some of our favorites from our Facebook page, where we have been asking for suggestions for names all week, and now we have a poll ready to go for our two newest babies! Pick your favorite two names for these brand new baby boys–winners will be announced Tuesday morning! (The poll will still be open for a week…the first place winner will be whatever is the most popular/has the most votes by Tuesday the 28th at 9am, but we’ll use the runners up as possibilities for future babies–and there WILL be more babies…..)

Herbal Tea, Kombucha, and Baby Goats….

Hello, friends!

This week, our Winter CSA members will get to enjoy a bag full of goodies via market-style this week, as they will get to choose from a variety of products, which may include some of our delicious bread, hand-made soaps, and other indulgences. It’s like shopping, but without guilt. 😉 You can sign up for a February Winter share or get started on the process for a year’s share by checking out our CSA page.

We have a new addition to our farm family! Meet Buckwheat, the newest billy goat born to mama Azalea!

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We had a class on herbal teas and kombucha this week, led by our esteemed mentor, Becky Wallace. She brought boxes upon boxes of goodies to share with participants, plus her wealth of knowledge, and we are very appreciative of the time and care she took in teaching us about the health benefits and preparation of these drinks.

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Care for a cup?
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“The Mother”
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Preparing kombucha.

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Upcoming events this week include our CSA Advisory Committee meeting at the farm on Wednesday, January 22nd at 4:30pm (open to CSA members who have been with us 1 year or more), and also our Breadmaking class on Saturday, January 25th at 10:00am (open to the public). You can find more information on these events, as well as events throughout the next few months, on our Events page.

Have a wonderful week!

 

The Polar Vortex, “Soysage,” and a Bounty of New Events….

Hello, everyone!

This week, our Winter CSA members will find vegan “soysage” in their bags (which is incredibly tasty and made from our own non-GMO, organically grown soybeans), and, due to popular demand, we will also be offering our “a la carte” selection of baked goods again this week. Last week, we allowed our members to choose from a variety of breads baked from our own farm grains–we had challah, rolls, hearth and sandwich loaves of wheat and rye bread, pumpkin and banana quick breads, and more. We’re happy to offer choices to our members again this week.

We are getting ready for our organic certification inspection. This is big news for our farm, as it will increase our certified acreage by 23 acres for production!

Like many others in the U.S., we were not immune to the “polar vortex” that gripped much of the nation last week. We did lose some of our plants in the cold frame and greenhouse to the frigid conditions last week.   Most of our tomato plants survived, and about half of our squash plants survived.   While the loss is rather sad, it is time to utilize that space for starting our outdoor production cold crops.

We will be tweaking our CSA contract and information so we can give you the most accurate list of options and products that we offer. As soon as that has been updated, we will share the new information with you. It is important to us that we include all of the new offerings that we have available since we received our kitchen certification and are now doing small grains processing.

Mark your calendars, as we have the following events coming up on the farm:

-Herbal Teas Class, Saturday, January 18th at 10:00am. This course will be held with our very highly esteemed mentor Becky Wallace. She’ll be demonstrating how to make kombucha and we’ll have discussion on various teas that can be grown in our area. The cost of this class is $20.00.

-CSA Advisory Committee, Wednesday, January 22nd at 4:30pm. This is open to anyone who has had a CSA membership for at least one full year. Tea, coffee, and refreshments will be served.

-Breadmaking Course, Saturday, January 25th at 10:00am: Learn to make bread with our own non-GMO, organic grains. Cost of the class is $15.00 and includes materials and take home product.

-Tapping Maple Trees, Saturday, February 22nd at 10:00am: This class will be weather dependent, and will be followed by a course the following week on maple syrup production.

-Making Maple Syrup, Saturday, March 1st at 10:00am: This is the second in our class series on maple syrup production. This course will be weather dependent.

-Seeding Course, Saturday, March 15th at 10:00am: Receive tips of the trade for getting the very best start to your garden. Cost of the class is $15.00 and will conclude with a free seed swap, so if you have an abundance of something, you may trade with classmates after class. We will discuss seed soil, depth, water requirements, transplanting, and you can take home some of your work.

Soapmaking Class and Tofu–The Latest Happenings at Goodness Grows

Hi, friends!

We had a successful Soapmaking class at the farm on January 4th. Nine participants joined us, and some even traveled over two hours to attend. We appreciate everyone who made time during their busy day to join us for a morning on the farm. We love sharing what we do and love with all of you! If you are interested in attending some classes at Goodness Grows, we have Canning/Preserving on January 11th, Herbal Remedies/Teas on January 18th, and Breadmaking on January 25th. All of these classes will be held at 10:00am on the farm on their respective dates. We will even have two classes on Tapping Maple Trees and Making Maple Syrup (both weather dependent) in the coming weeks. Check out this blog and our Facebook page for more information!

Here are a few pictures from our Soapmaking class! Participants were able to help mix, scent, and pour their own goat’s milk soap to take home. Plus, while the soaps set, they were able to take a tour of the farm and learn how and why we do what we do.

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Also, in this week’s Winter CSA bags, members will be receiving homemade bread, black raspberry water kefir, and……tofu! This is tofu made from soybeans that we grew organically with non-GMO seed, and we are so excited to offer this to our Winter CSA members this week!

Check out this link at Whole Living for healthy recipes that use tofu as an ingredient. There are 26 recipes included, and there seems to be something for everyone:

26 Healthy Tofu Recipes at Whole Living

Have a great week, everyone!

CSA Treats for This Week, and an Invitation to Our CSA Advisory Committee

Hello, friends…this is what you should expect to see in your Winter CSA bags this week:

-More of our homemade bread, made with our own non-GMO, organic grains

Bread- Sandwich Rolls

-Delicious, leafy, green kale

Kale
Kale

-Cilantro

-Swiss chard

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Bright Lights Swiss Chard

 

-And a 1/2 dozen of our eggs from our free range chickens

Straight from the farm, no color added!
Straight from the farm, no color added!
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Doing the “free range” thing on our farm….

Also, we are creating a CSA Advisory Committee this year. We are looking for help from our seasoned yearly CSA shareholders–if you have participated as a shareholder for at least one year, we would love to have you! The committee will meet once every four months or so, usually in conjunction with pickups or farm events so the meetings will not interfere much with your free time. These meetings will also count toward your volunteer hours that you agree to with your CSA contract. We want to form this committee to help share the value of community supported agriculture with the community, as well as to help and support current shareholders, to have some assistance in smoothly implementing our program, etc. If interested in joining us, please email us at goodgrows@gmail.com or comment on this post or on our Facebook page.

Lastly, enjoy this recipe for sauteed kale from Epicurious–

ingredients

  • 1 pound kale, tough stems and center ribs discarded and leaves cut into 1-inch-wide strips (8 cups)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 small red onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • Pinch of dried hot red pepper flakes
  • 1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar, or to taste
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

preparation

Cook kale in a 6-quart pot of boiling salted water, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 10 minutes, then drain in a colander.

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté onion, stirring occasionally, until softened, 6 to 8 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté, stirring, until garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Reduce heat to moderate, then add kale and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through. Remove from heat and stir in vinegar and salt.

cooks’ note:Sautéed kale keeps, chilled in an airtight container, 3 days.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Sauteed-Kale-108742#ixzz2otgfm08C