Full Belly Kale with Olives

After I write my blog for today - I plan to cook dinner. I have interesting things to prepare. About 2 years ago, I signed up for boxes of produce from the Full Belly Farm http://www.fullbellyfarm.com/. Every week except for a couple weeks in December, I have Craig go pick up a box of produce at a site in downtown Sacramento. The box contains whatever is in season. You can find out a day or so in advance what is going to be in the box, but I rarely do that - preferring instead to be surprised. 
I like to be surprised because it means I have to be creative in figuring out what to do with the produce. Sometimes I get things I don't enjoy eating - like squash - although sometimes I cook it and feed it to Cobble - that's his picture to the right. Craig is not all that enthralled with Full Belly even though he usually likes what I make. He is the sort of person who prefers to eat familiar food prepared in familiar ways. I prefer to rarely cook the same thing twice. 

Today I plan to cook the rutabagas and kale I got on Wednesday. I will boil the rutabagas with potatoes and prepare them like mashed potatoes. Craig loves mashed potatoes so he is OK with this method of cooking the rutabagas. The kale - I'll boil and then toss with olives and olive oil. This recipe is adapted from Deborah Madison's cookbook, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (https://www.amazon.com/Vegetarian-Cooking-Everyone-Deborah-Madison/dp/0767927478). If you don't have this cookbook - you should - it is great for figuring out novel ways to fix vegetables. It is best to serve lemon on the side as lemon has a tendency to make greens turn brown and yucky looking. But do serve greens with lemon as I think they always taste better with lemon, vinegar or other acidic liquid.

Kale with Olives

1 bunch kale chopped, remove the stems
2 T olive oil
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, chopped
1/4 t red pepper flakes
Salt

I microwave greens like kale. It is quicker and I don't have to deal with pots of hot water. Microwave about 2 minutes and then check the kale and microwave another minute at a time until it is how you like it. Or cook it in salted water about 10 minutes and then drain. Whichever method, let it cool til you can touch it and press out excess water. Toss while still warm with oil, olives, pepper flakes and salt to taste. Serve with lemon wedges.