SESAME KALE SALAD

There are so many kinds of greens, and you can cook with them in so many different ways. Silver Wheel Farm's Lori Sands occasionally gives her customers recipes; she says this one is the most popular. It's designed to serve cold, but she thinks it's better warm. And like a lot of greens recipes, it calls for one variety -- kale -- but invites you to substitute others.

• 1 pound fresh kale (or chard or spinach or other greens)
  
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds (crushed into a powder if desired)
  
• 1 clove garlic, minced
  
• 2 teaspoons honey (or other sweetener)
  
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  
• Dash of black pepper or ground red pepper flakes, or more to taste

Separate kale leaves from stems. Chop stems and greens.

Steam stems for a couple of minutes, then add the greens and steam until just tender. Drain; let kale cool enough to handle. Squeeze out as much water as possible.

Place in serving bowl.

Mix the remaining ingredients in another bowl and add to greens.

Mix, chill and serve.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

-- Adapted from "Extending the Table: A World Community Cookbook" by Joetta Hendrich Schlabach (Herald Press, 1991)

AFRICAN PINEAPPLE PEANUT STEW

PG TESTED

This kale recipe is a personal favorite of Don Kretschmann of Kretschmann Farm in Beaver County and one that he says has been requested often.

• 4 cups kale or Swiss chard sliced into 1-inch strips (chard stems should be cut up separately into 1/2-inch pieces)
  
• 1 cup onions, chopped
  
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 1 tablespoon oil
  
• 20-ounce can crushed pineapple, with juice
  
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
  
• 1 tablespoon Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce
  
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
  
• Salt for seasoning

Saute chard stems (if using) and onions and garlic in oil, stirring frequently, until onions are slightly browned.

Add pineapple and bring to simmer. Stir in kale or chard leaves. Simmer for about 5 minutes until just tender.

Mix in peanut butter, hot sauce (see note) and cilantro and simmer 5 minutes.

Add salt to taste and serve.

Serves 4.

Note: Instead of hot sauce, you could stir in 1/2 teaspoon of minced hot pepper with the sauteing onions.

-- Kretschmann Farm

SIMMIE'S GREENS

You always will find greens at Simmie's Restaurant in Homewood. Michelle Rouse, one of the family members who run it, says they use a mix of collard greens and kale, flavored with smoked turkey parts.

"A big part of greens is the seasoning," she says. "Traditionally in soul food we used smoked pork parts. But as people became more health conscious -- and because some people don't eat pork -- we just started using turkey parts. They work just as well."

She adapted the restaurant's batch size for a big home batch and says, "The longer you cook them, the more tender they get." You don't want to "drown" them in water or overcook all the nutrition out of them.

• 1 smoked turkey wing
  
• 5 pounds of collard greens and kale, cleaned and washed, big stems and ribs removed and discarded, with the leaves cut into medium-sized pieces
  
• Water for cooking
  
• Salt and pepper for seasoning

Place turkey wing in a large stock pot, cover with water, put on the lid and bring to a boil on high heat.

When the meat is tender enough to flake off with a fork, reduce heat to medium, fill the pot almost to the top with greens, add a little salt and pepper and let the greens cook down enough until you can add more.

Continue to add greens and just enough water to continue steaming them until all the greens are in the pot.

Continue cooking until tender. Adjust seasoning and serve.

-- Simmie's Restaurant