These are before and after pictures of a new garden I designed and installed this week. We planted blueberries, figs, greens, vegetables, herbs, strawberries, and many drought tolerant and California Native plants. I love my job!
Jalapeño Kale Hash with Sunny Side Up
This was our delicious lunch today. We had a leftover baked potato from dinner the other night, and peppers and Tuscan kale growing in the yard. So I decided to make a "free" lunch. This was spicy, smokey, very cheap and easy. You could serve this for breakfast, lunch, brunch or dinner, make the hash as a side with any kind of grilled fish or meat, or just serve with eggs like I did.
I've been keeping the kale growing healthy through the drought by spraying the leaves thoroughly each time I water. It washes away any aphids or what not, and also seems to keep the leaves tender & hydrated. I harvest the new leaves at the top of the plant for cooking, and remove and compost the bottom leaves, which get tough in the heat as they get larger. The drought sucks. Most of my yard is hibernating right now. I only water plants that are established and have deeper roots. I'm also watering tomatoes, basil and other summer crops because they're valuable and delicious. I hope to see our garden spring back to life soon with lots of rain this fall and winter. Fingers crossed and wishing on my Good Luck Charm.
Here's how to make this easy, inexpensive & yummy lunch:
In a cast iron skillet, add 1 tblsp olive oil and a little bit of butter, or a lot, depending on if you worry about such things. My husband called me "Skinny" today as a nickname, I'm not. But I now have a false sense of skinniness, so I'm having butter. Chop 1 leftover baked potato, 1 shallot and 1/2 jalapeño pepper. Sear in the skillet, season with salt and pepper. Cook for a minute or two on each side. You only need to get them hot and caramelized because the potato is already cooked. If you start with raw potatoes, cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, flipping and turning as you go.
Wash and chop any kind of kale or greens and add them to the pan. Cook until wilted. Scoot everything to the side, add a tiny bit more butter and cook an egg or two, over easy or sunny side up. You could poach the eggs to save additional calories. It's faster to cook it in the same pan and saves on water from washing two pans.
Season with smoked paprika. Yum!