Kale strata

The first month of our CSA has been an interesting experiment. We have discovered we like beets and kohlrabi.

But the kale, which we have received nearly every week, has been a test of my (not very good) culinary skills.

Week 1 I made pork, white bean and kale soup. It was pretty good.

Last week I tried kale chips. I'm not crazy about them. Really, the whole reason to eat them is for the salt.

This week I decided to try a strata. I usually make strata with spinach, but thought kale might be an ok substitute. One of the things I really like about strata is its versatility. I can usually clean stuff out of the fridge, changing up the ingredients each time.

My basic recipe is thus:

Make 1 box of Stove Top stuffing, following the directions on the box.
Mix in filling ingredients.
Beat 6 eggs and stir into stuffing mixture.
Pour into greased 8" square baking pan.
Top with cheese.
Bake at 375º for 35 minutes.

Now, the change-up is always the filling. For tonight's version, I very lightly sautéed the kale in olive oil and minced garlic and fried up some bacon to crumble in. I also had some left-over ricotta cheese that I stirred in because cheese always makes it better. I topped it with shredded Swiss cheese, since that was what I had.

Kale, bacon and ricotta strata, topped with Swiss cheese

The verdict: it was ok. The kale is more bitter than spinach, and spinach is better, but this was edible. My three year old ate it without prompting and said he likes kale. My five year old ate with some prompting, but didn't complain.

I do have to say soups seem to be the best use of kale. I have a Zuppa Tuscana recipe ready to go next week if we get more kale (we probably will).