Leek and Fennel Soup Recipe

This soup was so delicious and super easy- chop, simmer and blend. The kids couldn't get enough. I used chicken bouillon instead of vegetable, added 1/2 cup cream while blending, then added a little parm on top, but I'm sure it's great vegetarian too!

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 large leeks, cleaned and thinly sliced
• 4 large stalks celery, thinly sliced
• 3 large white onions, peeled and halved
• 1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced
• 2 large baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 8 cups water
• 2 cubes vegetable bouillon (or chicken)
• 1/2 cup half and half

Directions

1. In a large saucepan over medium-low heat, place the olive oil, leeks, celery, onions, fennel, potatoes, salt, and pepper. Stir and cook until the onions are translucent and the vegetables have begun to soften, about 10 minutes.
2. Pour the water over the vegetables & bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and add bouillon cubes. Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and the potatoes have begun to thicken the soup, about 30 minutes.
3. Carefully add cream and blend well with hand mixer or in a blender.

serve with crusty bread and garnish with a little parm and fennel fronds

adapted from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/leek-and-fennel-soup/detail.aspx

Harvest Green Onions From Your Kitchen! -Kate C.

The next time you have green onions, don't throw away the white ends. Simply submerge them in a glass of water and place them in a sunny window. Your onions will begin to grow almost immediately and can be harvested almost indefinitely. Just use kitchen scissors to cut what you need for meals. Periodically empty out the water, rinse the roots off and give them fresh water. Great science lesson for kids!

Can't get to your Swiss Chard or collard greens right away? --Kate C.

Snip the ends and put in water (just like you do fresh flowers) and place in the fridge. You won't believe how they come back to life!

Something to Stalk about: Swiss Chard, Toasted Walnuts, and Browned butter pasta

If you have ever wondered what to do with the stalk of the Swiss Chard, here's a recipe that uses the whole plant: lock, "stalk", and barrel. This is a pasta play on the Sicilian way of sauteing greens with garlic, raisins, and a pinch of heat. Typically, pine nuts are added, but I love the flavor of roasted walnuts and the meatiness they give to this vegetarian dish. If you want a vegan option, the Natural Balance Soy Free "butter spread" will also brown up nicely and give you the nutty flavor you would get from the butter. My son's reaction when he saw the dish was "Where's the Meat?", but he ended up eating 3/4 pounds of pasta and I had to fight for my share.

1 lb penne pasta

1 red onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 large bunch Swiss chard

2 T golden raisins

1 T currents (or regular raisins if you don't have currents)

1 large hand full of roasted walnut halves (see note)

1/3 cup brown butter

a pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

salt

pepper

Parmesan cheese (about 1/3 cup or to taste)

Place the raisins and currents in warm water or white wine if you have it handy and hydrate them while you prepare the rest of the dish

Fill a pasta pan with water, as a tablespoon of salt, and bring to a boil.

Remove the leaves of the chard from the stalk and finely dice the stalk. Cut the leaves into ribbons an inch or so thick.

Heat a large skillet with the oil and then add the onions and chard stalk. Saute until the onions are translucent and the stalk begins to soften, about 10 minutes.

Add the garlic and saute a couple more minutes and then add the chard leaves. You may have to do this in batches as they "melt" into the skillet.

Cook the chard for about another ten minutes.

Cook the Penne to al dentes (about 10 minutes), drain, and toss with a touch of olive oil to prevent it from sticking if it is done before the chard.

When the chard is soft, turn off the heat and add the walnuts, raisins.

Toss the pasta, brown butter, and chard mixture together and enjoy.

Note: To brown butter, take a stick of butter and slowly melt it over medium heat. As the milk solids separate and drop to the bottom, they will brown. Stir occasionally and after 10 minutes or a bit longer, the butter will have taken on a nice brown color and a nutty aroma and flavor. Strain the mixture through a folded paper towel or coffee filter. You will have just a touch more than a third of a cup.

Note: To toast walnuts, place in a heated oven at 375 for about 10 to 12 minutes. Check near the end so they don't burn.

Got Chard? Mix it up with this vegetarian take on chili... Kate C.

So, I've sauteed it with garlic and olive oil and put it with pasta and stirred it into a pot of fresh vegetable soup.  Last week, it was this dish that won the prize!  It's supposed to rain on Tuesday....a perfect day for a pot of chili!  Serve with fresh buttered cornbread.

Is eating chard, well...hard? Try this pesto recipe! ~mimi b.

It is my daily goal (if not my mission in life), to get my family (and everyone) to eat more veggies.  We do a pretty good job most of the time, but I'm always looking to add new vegetables into the mix.  The whole 'Eat a Rainbow of Foods' really appeals to me.  Not surprising then that I have long wanted to incorporate RAINBOW chard into our repertoire of veg.  Rainbow chard is so gorgeous you almost want to just put it in a vase and call it a day.  So I've tried.  I'd be lying if I didn't say that preparing delicious chard was yes, hard.  Popeye cartoons did wonders for getting the kids to accept spinach, but where is our poster child for chard?!  Read on for the recipe...