Kale & Mushroom Penne with Lemon-Caper sauce
(darned if Kale recipes aren't hard to come by! Unfortunately it is an underappreciated veggie. So here's another recipe I made up. Hope you like it! - debbie)
Feeds 2-4, depending on amount of penne used!

3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
a little olive oil and butter
12 or so mushrooms, cleaned & sliced
1 bunch kale, cleaned & chopped
juice of half a lemon
1 to 2 tsp. capers
penne pasta
salt & pepper
grated parmesan (optional)

Saute garlic in butter & olive oil a few min., then add mushrooms, cover & cook at med. heat, stirring occasionally, 'til they're soft & have generated their own juice. Add kale & steam about 5 min. 'til kale is wilted. Add lemon juice, capers, salt & pepper to taste. Boil penne separately, drain & stir into kale/shrooms & let sit, covered, for a few min. so pasta absorbs some of the juices. Serve w/parmesan.
 

Pear and Maple Crumble

for topping:
1 C flour
1 C walnuts
2/3 C packed brown sugar
1/2 C cold butter, cut in small pieces

for pears:
5 or 6 pears, peeled, cored & chunked
2/3 C pure maple syrup
1/2 C raisins 2 tbsp. flour
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp. minced crystallized ginger

Process topping ingredients in food processor 'til nuts are coarsely chopped & small moist clumps form. Refrigerate. Toss rest of ingred. to blend. Spread in 13x9x2 pan. Sprinkle topping over pear mixture & bake in 350 degree oven about 30 min. 'til pears are tender, juices bubble thickly & topping is golden & crisp. Cool some, but serve warm, topped w/sour cream.