Eggs Over Zucchini

Wait, did I just watch a Phillies game last night: Shane, Chase, Raul, Ryan, Jayson. Oh wait, never mind, it was the All-Star Game, my bad.

Anyway, I’ve had some strike outs recently. And I’ve been lying. 80 admitted it first, but I brushed it off, noting his fear of leafy greens. But I kept trucking along, thinking I could fake my appreciation of the bitterness.

But alone, I faced the truth. I’ve struck out on kale.

I love the look of dinosaur kale, so when I was in a rush at the market this past Saturday I grabbed a crispy bundle of kale, zucchini and yogurt, among a few other treats (peaches are here!)

While 80 went to a bocce captains’ meeting, I fled to the kitchen, knowing I only had to create for my own tastes, which basically meant experimenting with vegetables. When I was brainstorming for my Foodie Fight, I wanted to create long strips of zucchini, but reasoned it wouldn’t work in a spring roll. But I still wanted to try that technique.

I peeled the zucchini length wise, laid the strips down on a cookie sheet, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and threw it under the broiler for only a couple minutes until it softened. The zuke turned slightly sweet and I could get away with cooking it without any fat (of course the dish’s fat would come in other forms.)

But the zukes were not enough. Especially, as you can see, because I burned a good round of strands. Damn that broiler is a serious business. I always forget to give it my full attention.

Anyway, I needed something more substantial. I went the treacherous kale route. I chopped it up and threw it in a hot pan with oil and pre-roasted garlic. I salt and peppered it and poured a ring of water around the pan to soften the leaves and then covered it. And then retasted and squirted some rice wine vinegar on top and covered it again. Still wasn’t excited and then added more water, more oil (I know, this is terrible) and covered again.

My hunger won over and I started to fry the egg, drained the kale and assembled my dinner. The zucchini was awesome. The egg was awesome. I even warmed up a little parsley pesto I froze earlier for a tinge of sauciness and that was awesome. But the kale. Not so awesome.

So with the rest of the kale I pureed it with some more roasted garlic and put it in tupperware for future use. As you can tell with my kale pesto hummus and and my kale pesto with spaghetti squash, I’ve used this method before. And I actually don’t mind it ground up into nothing, especially when paired with feta. But I really hated kale with this crappy soup.  And here, I just faked it with wilted greens, buckwheat noodles and a fried egg.

Now I have to find a use for the kale-in-pieces.

When I snuck into the kitchen to stick my spoon in a container of peanut butter, I glanced up and Jiffy cornbread batter caught my eye, so did a can of beans. I’m thinking cornbread with kale, black beans and poblano for a crab feast I’m heading to this weekend. But I’m down for additional suggestions. Because you know I’ll be suckered into buying this beauty again.