Kale and Leafy Greens Salad with Garlic Homegrown Garlic Vinaigrette

I have been enjoying homegrown season to the fullest this week! Tonite, our family of four celebrated a low-key Father’s day at home with bone-in ribeyes from our friend who raises our beef, Jack McCormick of Ellis Grove. Jack provides us with steers for our meat department and he produces beautifully marbled beef. The steaks were amazing but I think they were even better because of our buffet of homegrown veggies! In addition to grilled beets, potatoes and onions and the last of the season asparagus, we made a fresh garlic dressing for a greens salad.

A few years ago, Chris and I took a couples cooking class at the Kitchen Conservatory in Clayton MO. We especially enjoyed the recipe for fresh garlic dressing. I have modified the recipe a bit to use honey instead of sugar and to let the fresh farm garlic really shine. I hope you will give it a try. Freshly-harvested garlic is very mild and roasting it mellows it even further. The result is a savory dressing with a hint of sweetness. I guarantee it will become your favorite balsamic dressing of the season!

 I hope you had a great Father’s Day weekend too! Eat well this summer, Angie

For dressing:

2 heads of Eckert’s Homegrown Garlic
½ cup plus 2 Tbs. olive oil
1/8 cup fresh parsley leaves
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Eckert’s Pure Honey
½ tsp Kosher salt
¼ tsp fresh cracked pepper
2 Tbs water

For salad:

5 cups of mixed greens and Eckert’s Homegrown Kale
1 cup of Eckert’s Homegrown Sungold Cherry Tomatoes, halved
2 oz goat cheese
Fresh cracked pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut tops of garlic heads off (remove about 1/4 “ of papery tops). Place heads in an oven safe dish. Drizzle 2 Tbs olive oil over heads. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove garlic from oven, remove foil and allow heads to cool for 15 minutes.

Squeeze cloves out of papery heads into a blender or food processor. Process or blend roasted garlic, parsley, and vinegar. Drizzle in oil. Then add honey, salt, pepper and water until well incorporated.

Arrange greens in a medium bowl. Top with tomatoes and drizzle with dressing. Top with goat cheese crumbles and fresh cracked pepper. Serve immediately.

Eckert's Kale Salad with Strawberries

I am new to the world of kale! I have seen it in magazines and blogs everywhere over the past year and yet I have very little experience with it in my own kitchen. This year Eckert’s is growing kale which presents the perfect opportunity to start a collection of kale recipes.

 My kids have been having fun picking it from our garden at Eckert’s. It is easy to harvest the curly, bluish leaves with a little twist of the wrist. We currently have some Eckert-grown kale for sale in our Country Store in Belleville.

 I have made this kale salad several times this spring. The original recipe called for apples instead of strawberries and that too is delicious. But with strawberry season soon coming to an end, I find myself assembling this salad a lot lately. In fact, we’ve already had it twice this week!

As I tear the fresh-picked kale leaves in to bite size pieces for my serving bowl, I remove and compost the center stems. (When eating kale raw, I find the stems to be exceptionally bitter and somewhat tough.) For quick assembly, I keep a Ball jar of the dressing in my frig. This salad’s tangy dressing, sweet fruit and creamy Manchego cheese temper the bitter kale flavors quite well. Since I am fairly new to eating raw kale, I LOVE the balance of flavors in this recipe.

I hope you will give the homegrown strawberries and kale combo a try- it will amaze you!

Eat well this spring, Angie

For Dressing:
2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. kosher salt

For the Salad
1 large bunch (about 1lb) kale, stems torn, cut out, or julienned
1/3 cup dried apricots, julienned
1/4 cup almond slivers
2 ounces manchego cheese, grated
1/4 cup dried cranberries
2 cups sliced strawberries 

In a large bowl whisk the vinegar, lemon juice, mayonnaise, sugar and salt. Add the kale and toss to coat well. Set aside for 10 minutes. Sprinkle the apricots, almonds, cheese, and cranberries over the dressed kale. Toss again to evenly distribute. Season with pepper and additional salt, if needed. Arrange strawberry slices over the top of the salad and serve.

P.S. Do you have a great recipe using kale? If so, please share with me! I will gladly trade you some fresh kale for a fabulous recipe. Just email me at Angie.eckert@eckerts.com

We are excited to announce that we have a large vegetable garden planted that will be available for pick-your-own in early July - like us on facebook for the most up to date picking information. 

Grilled Spring Onion Salad

It is an exciting time on the farm thanks to warmer soil temperatures! Many of our early crops, like spring onions, are finally getting big enough to harvest.

This week my dad, Lana and I have been brainstorming the menu for our Wine in the Vineyard classes on June 11^th and 12^th. We were discussing past recipes including one of my favorites, Grilled Spring Onion Salad. My dad is always skeptical of salads pairing with wines because vinegar based-dressings often overpower the wine.  This salad uses fresh lemon juice and therefore pairs brilliantly with a dry white wine like Sauvignon Blanc.

Since we were able to pick our first spring onions this week and I had this recipe on my mind, Chris and I made it last night. Chris grilled the onions and I prepared the other ingredients. For those of you unfamiliar with spring onions, they are smaller than the typical onions you see in the store. They are mild-flavored and fleshy making them an ideal candidate for the grill. Luckily we had company over last night because sharing this salad always generates compliments for its plate presentation and flavor!

 I hope you will try some Eckert’s Spring Onions this spring! Eat well, Angie

Grilled Spring Onion Salad

4 Tbs. olive oil, divided

8-12 Eckert’s spring onions, cut in half through the bulb, greens trimmed to about 4”

½ tsp Kosher or sea salt

1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

2 Tbs. whole grain mustard

1 1/2 Tbs. fresh squeezed lemon juice

2 tsp. chopped flat leaf parsley

1 Tbs. chives, divided

12-16 cherry tomatoes, halved

2 hard cooked eggs, sliced

Rub onion bulbs with 1 tablespoon oil. Sprinkle with ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper. Grill bulbs on medium heat until well-marked while turning occasionally, about 6 minutes. Allow onions to cool.

In a small jar or bowl, whisk together, mustard, remaining oil, parsley and ½ of the chives.

Arrange onions between 4 plates. Arrange tomatoes, egg and remaining chives on the plates and drizzle with dressing. 

Oven Roasted Chicken with Herb Butter

Thank you Show Me St. Louis! I had a ball at the station last Thursday making Herb Butter with Host Julie. Cooking on Show-Me is always a pleasure J

I made Herb Butter in during the demo and Julie loved it on Eckert’s Bakery Bread. Luckily, I had a extra Herb Butter to take home after the demo so I decided to use it on chicken last night. The results were delicious and kid-approved!! (Really! The kids didn’t even mind the little flecks of “green stuff.””) I simply melted the herb butter in the microwave for 20 seconds and brushed it on chicken pieces from Eckert’s Butcher Shop. I hope you will give both of the recipes a try.

Thank goodness fresh herbs are finally here in our greenhouse at Eckert’s. I have started to grow a few on my windowsill and as a result I am feeling like I have a little more optimism about spring actually arriving….

Eat well this winter-like spring, Angie

Eckert’s Garlic Herb Butter - As Featured on Show Me St. Louis

1 head garlic
1 Tbs. olive oil
3 Tbs. fresh thyme
3 Tbs. fresh rosemary
3 Tbs. fresh sage
3 Tbs. fresh parsley
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

With a knife, trim the papery tip off the head of the garlic to expose the white tips of the cloves. Leave cloves connected to the root end. Place bulb of cloves on aluminum foil. Drizzle with oil and wrap with foil. Bake 30-45 minutes or until cloves are soft when pressed. Remove foil and allow garlic to cool.

Extract the soft garlic from the skins and discard skins.

In a small bowl, combine garlic, butter and herbs until well-combined. If desired, shape butter into a log and wrap with wax paper. Store in refrigerator up to 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months.

Oven Roasted Chicken with Herb Butter

3 Tbs Melted Herb Butter

3 ½ pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces (2 split breasts cut crosswise, 2 drumsticks, and 2 thighs)

Rinse chicken pieces and pat chicken dry with paper towels. Lightly season with salt and pepper. In a oven-proof baking pan, place chicken pieces, skin side up; arranging breast pieces in center and leg and thigh pieces around the outside of the baking pan.

Brush chicken with herb butter. (If butter is cold, warm a few seconds in microwave). Roast until breasts register 160-degrees and legs and thighs register 175-degrees about 35 to 40 minutes. Rotate the baking pan half-way through the roasting.

Transfer chicken to a warm serving platter. Tent loosely with aluminum foil and let rest 5 to 10 minutes.

We still have a few spots available in our upcoming herb classes. We are offering a herb class this Saturday, March 29th and another herb class on April 12th. Click here for a full listing of our upcoming classes.