The Nashville Food Project’s Blog
Kale Yeah!
A recent donation from Harpeth Moon Farms of 150 pounds of kale really had the meals team busy brainstorming all the ways to prepare and share these greens— stewarding a precious, nutritious gift to its highest best use. We share some uses for kale in this post along with a recipe.
Last week, we posted on social media about a glorious donation of 150 pounds of kale from Harpeth Moon Farm. That’s a mountain of greens!
But we always love the challenge in stewarding gifts like this by using every part of the vegetable to pack as much tasty nutrition into our meals as possible. It often includes brainstorming by the meals team to think of many ways to use a product—such as whirling greens into juices, folding them into stir-frys or pastas, roasting, braising, pickling, and making stocks with the stems.
For part of this batch, Contract Meals Coordinator Jake Martin had the idea to make a kale pesto, which could be used in several different applications. We spread it onto French bread for a pizza base, added it to cream sauce for pesto pasta, and transformed it into green goddess for drizzling over veggie grain bowls.
Jake came to The Nashville Food Project earlier this year after working with his father Chef Michael Martin of South Fork Catering Co. During the height of the pandemic, the Martin father-son duo supported our meals program by using their time and skills to help us process vegetables when we had no extra hands (a.k.a. volunteers) to help us and as South Fork had fewer events to cater. Creativity comes in many forms—finding smart ways to use vegetables and creative ways to work together too!
Kale Pesto
2 to 3 cloves garlic
3 cups packed kale (about 1 small bunch)
¾ cup toasted walnuts
2 tablespoons lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground pepper
Red pepper flakes, optional (if you want to add some kick)
¼ extra-virgin olive oil (more if desired)
⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Combine all ingredients in a food processor and whirl until smooth!
Oh, the Places You'll Go
A simple ingredient - tomato, lettuce, carrots - can touch thousands of lives once it comes through the doors of TNFP. Today, we’re following the journey of one ingredient in our meals last week: big, beautiful, leafy kale.
A simple ingredient - tomato, lettuce, carrots - can touch thousands of lives once it comes through the doors of TNFP. With every crop that we grow, and every meal that we make our ultimate goals are to alleviate hunger and build community. With such lofty goals it’s no wonder that hundreds of people are needed to make this a possibility, and, in return, thousands more are touched by the respect and love shared within their meal. In this blog we will follow the journey of one ingredient in our meals last week: big, beautiful, leafy kale.
Photo courtesy of Sweeter Days Farm
With every meal, our goal is to support the community through a multifaceted approach. For this reason we love to grow produce in our gardens. But when that is not possible, our next favorite option is to buy local, naturally-grown foods from other community members. Our meals team is working on a new program to purchase "2nds" from farmers in the hopes of decreasing the waste from our city's food stream by diverting into our meals. This week, we purchased three bins of kale from Sweeter Days Farm to use for the entire week in our South Hall Kitchen. The kale was pulled to make room for new crops and would have otherwise been thrown away.
Our meals team works hard to come up with a plan to use every bit of food that comes our way, and that requires a lot of help. TNFP Intern Kate helped wash and cut the kale for a salad. Kate is a part of Lipscomb University’s IDEAL Program which is a two-year certificate program designed to support students with intellectual or developmental disability. Students in this program take classes, participate in internships, and enjoy the college experience. At TNFP Kate provides assistance in the South Hall kitchen. “I wash fruit, cut up fruit for salad, help prep cookies, vegetables, and snacks.” Kate does much more than help with meal prep. She brings a level of energy and enthusiasm that is passed to everyone working alongside her which helps make the finished product like kale salad that much more incredible.
Although a kale salad always hits the spot, we like to get creative with our meals and use the ingredients that are available. TNFP volunteer cook Shellye and her team prepared a strata with the kale, other veggies, and ham. Almost every meal that comes from the South Hall kitchen is prepared by volunteer cook teams. Shellye explains why she committed to volunteering at TNFP as a regular cook. “I’ve been volunteering here for five years, and I really enjoy the camaraderie of cooking with others and meeting a need to feed healthy food to people who really need it.”
Paula (center) serving kale salad at John Glenn & Peggy Ann Residential Housing.
When it comes to sharing food, the purpose is not simply to serve a meal but rather to make connections, meet our neighbors, and find commonalities. Long time volunteer Paula and a group of new volunteers served the meal, complete with kale salad, at John Glenn & Peggy Ann Residential Housing. As a volunteer for over five years she has volunteered in almost every role at TNFP with her family. “I love the mission of bringing good food to people who need it. Food is a common denominator. I like to serve meals in my own home and bring a little bit of home to people who may not have it right now. It's rewarding to serve food.“
The last stop on our journey is in the hands, hearts, and bellies of the people with whom we share our meals. John L Glenn and Peggy Ann are residential centers in North Nashville run by National Church Residences, an agency that provides affordable housing for low-income seniors. TNFP serves 60 hot meals to residents here each week. Victoria at John Glenn and Peggy Ann Residential Housing says “The food has been really, really good and the [volunteer] servers are kind, generous and considerate. It’s a blessing and we look forward to it every week!” When we talked several residents were sitting around a table with their food chatting with each other, visiting with family, and talking to volunteers.
“Food is a common denominator.”
Something so small as a few bins of kale can truly make an impact on hundreds of people when communities are so tightly woven. Each person in Nashville is connected in a powerful way, and though it may not be a connection that is seen at all times, it's there. As Paula mentioned before “food is a common denominator.” And in this story the denominator was kale.
Kale Salad with Apple
This bright, delicious salad is the perfect addition to any meal.
8 -10 bunches of Red Russian or Lacinato kale washed, trimmed of tough stem and thinly sliced into ribbons (chiffonade)
3 - 4 apples (your favorite variety, cored, peeled and diced - we like Granny Smith or another tart apple)1 bunch celery, diced
Prepare dressing:
1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup of honey
1/2 cup of olive oil
7 cloves of garlic smashed and finely diced
1 tsp salt and pepper
Whisk the ingredients for the dressingThirty minutes before serving, add apples and celery to sliced kale. Pour dressing over kale mixture and gently "massage" dressing into the leaves for 5-7 minutes until kale is gently wilted. Enjoy!
Lentil Shepherd's Pie With Sweet Potato Crust
Another twist on a traditional shepherd's pie: vegetarian with lentils, kale, sweet potatoes and carrots.
Serves 50
4 lbs lentils, rinsed 2 bunches of kale (or spinach), rinsed, stemmed and finely chopped 4 cups sweet peas 8-10 cloves garlic, minced 10 carrots, peeled and coin cut 2 onions, chopped 8 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped 8 lbs white potatoes, peeled and chopped 1/2 cup flour 3 sticks butter, divided 7 cups milk, divided 3 tbl poultry seasoning salt and pepper fresh grated Parmesan
Potato Crust:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and toss potatoes in. Cook until fork tender. Drain and return to large pot. Mash 1 stick butter, 1 tbl salt and a splash of milk. Mash until desired consistency.
Filling:
Cover lentils in pot with water and bring to boil. Stir, reduce to simmer, cover and cook until soft (but not mushy), about 15 minutes. When lentils are finished cooking, transfer them to 3 full size aluminum catering pans. In the same pan the lentils were cooked in, add a splash of olive oil, onion, carrot. Saute until onion is translucent and carrot is soft. Add garlic and saute until fragrant. Distribute the onion/carrot/garlic mixture to the lentil dishes, along with finely chopped kale and peas. Stir in 1 Tbl of poultry seasoning, dash of salt and pepper. In that same saucepan, melt remaining butter. Add flour all at once and whisk vigorously. Slowly pour remaining milk in the butter/flour mixture, whisking continually. Let mixture thicken and start to brown (but not burn!). Divide sauce over lentil/veggie mixture and gently stir. Spoon the potato mixture over the lentils, leveling out as you go. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top and bake at 350 for 30 minutes until top is crisp and cheese is melted.