By Christina Lane
Field-to-Table Family Advocate

It is an exciting spring season here at GreenHouse17! With our lip balm and soap production underway, we’ve also made some exciting additions to our residential programming.

Our new program “tracks” are designed to rebuild social skills after the trauma of abuse, teach job skills that encourage self-sufficiency, and create community among residents in our emergency shelter. Tracks focus on celebrations, community connections, child care, and the kitchen.

Of course, I facilitate the kitchen track.

Our track processes produce, plans dinner menus, prepares meals, and coordinates dinner service. This month we have been enjoying plentiful kale, lettuce mix, beets, and carrots grown in our rocking hoop house.

Some of our favorite dishes have featured kale. We’ve made after school kale smoothies for kids, prepared kale burgers for dinners, and really enjoyed a Kale and Brussel Sprout Salad with Lemon dressing. I’ll share the recipe for the salad at the end of this post.

Last week we also conducted our first strawberry jam session using our stock from last year. Residents and staff had a good time and lots of questions about canning and processing.

 

jam making

making jam

 

We are looking forward to more field-to-table classes as the farm grows this summer! And now, for that recipe I promised you:

Kale and Brussel Sprout Salad With Lemon dressing

For the dressing:
1 Tablespoon minced shallots
2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 teaspoons honey or agave nectar
1/4 cup olive oil

For the salad:
4 cups finely shredded Lacinato kale (loosely packed)
4 cups finely shredded Brussels sprouts (loosely packed)
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese

Directions:

Make the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the shallots, mustard, lemon juice, lemon zest and honey. Stream in the olive oil while whisking continuously until well combined. Season the dressing with salt and pepper to taste. (You can add more lemon juice or agave nectar to adjust the acidity or sweetness to your personal taste.)

Assemble the salad: In a large bowl, toss together the shredded kale, shredded Brussels sprouts and toasted almonds. Add as much dressing as desired, tossing to combine, then add the cheese and toss again. Serve immediately.