Purple Kale

The problem with going to the farmers market is that I have this terrible problem with wanting to purchase any fresh produce that looks beautiful.  I cannot resist, even when I should!  And given the fact that I am leaving for a meeting in just over a week, I should resist.  This weekend, the produce that looked beautiful was purple kale and beets with beautiful greens.  Thankfully, my husband is here, so I can share my quiches with him today and then when I drive to Detroit for my flights.  So, today, I am making a quiche with the purple quiche and then later this week, I will make one with the beet greens (and even possibly the beets).

To round out the ingredients for today's quiche, I had purchased some pork breakfast sausage from my CSA provider Middleton Farms, LLC (http://www.middletonfarmcsa.com/).  I will use it for the next quiche as well and I must say that I tasted it and it is lovely.  When I arrived to pick up my eggs this week, they told me that they had read my blog.  I am so pleased that my blog is gaining interest in Midland.  I hope that I do am able to highlight their CSA as well as I was able to highlight Fresh Fork while I was with them.  I also used more of the sun-dried tomatoes that I purchased from Beyond Measure (http://beyondmeasurebulkfoods.com/), our local bulk foods store.  And my cheese of choice today was queso quesadilla.  Oh yes, I also used some fresh basil from my little garden. 

I do also want to mention that one of the vendors at the market had potted Swiss chard this week.  I adore fresh Swiss chard, so I purchased one.  It has three plants growing in it and I should be able to keep it in the pot as I use the leaves up.  I should have fresh greens all summer (not that I probably won't get as many as I want from my Harvest Share). 

Kale Sausage Quiche with Fresh Basil

• 1 bunch purple kale**
• 1 clove garlic
• 6 pork breakfast sausage links*
• 6 sun-dried tomatoes***
• 5 fresh basil leaves
• 5 farm fresh eggs*
• 1 cup queso quesadilla, shredded
• 2 Tbsp grated parmesan
• 1 1/4 cups 1/2% milk
•  salt and pepper to taste

Wash kale and remove stems.  Allow to drain.  Heat small skillet over medium heat.  Add sausage and cook until just about done.  Set aside.  Add kale and garlic to skillet and cover; cook for about 5 minutes or until the kale is wilted.  Cut sausage into 1/2 inch pieces and mix with kale in bottom of a prepared baking dish.  Chop the sun-dried tomatoes and basil.  Mix into the kale and sausage.  Sprinkle the cheeses over the filling.  In a medium bowl, beat the eggs.  Add salt and pepper and then beat in the milk until the mixture is smooth and uniform.  Pour carefully over fillings and bake in a 350F oven for 45 minutes or until a knife, inserted into the center, comes out clean.  Allow to set for 5 minutes before serving.

*CSA ingredients from Middleton Farms, LLC (http://www.middletonfarmcsa.com/)
**Farmers market items from Shari at the Willard Hilton (http://www.shariatthewillardhillton.com/)
***Ingredients from Beyond Measure Bulk Foods (http://beyondmeasurebulkfoods.com/)