According to HuffPost, today, October 3rd, is National Kale Day. Well, technically, it's the first Wednesday in October. I didn't get the memo. Thank goodness someone saw fit to post this valuable tidbit of information on the Facebook for me, or I would have missed it completely!
Actually, pretty much any day can be Kale Day in my world. And this is my favorite season in which to eat kale. Kale is one of those wonderful, healthy, versatile leafy greens that grows almost all year round. If you plant kale, there are two growing seasons, spring and fall. Or, just go to the store or farmer's market and buy it. Purple kale is considered more ornamental, green kale, more edible. You know, I think I've talked about kale before, but since I like it so much, you get to hear it again. Kale, my friends, has: more vitamin C than an orange, a ton of vitamin A, and contains alpha-linoleic acid, an omega-3 that's good for your brain, your heart, and can help reduce the risk of type-2 diabetes.
It's also easy to prepare in a myriad of ways. (love that word) You can use it as a side dish, simply sautéed with garlic, or mix it into brown rice, quinoa, risotto, pasta...One of my favorite ways to eat it is in soup. I make a wicked sausage, white bean and kale soup. You can do this with any kind of sausage, sweet or hot, pork or turkey. You can cut the sausage into pieces, or take it out of the casing. I start with the sausage, and let it sweat out a little of the fat, then add some diced onion and minced garlic. Then, chicken broth and a can of diced tomatoes, and a can or two of rinsed cannellini or navy beans. You can use fresh or dried herbs. I'm a big fan of thyme, but a little dried oregano is nice, too. And a bay leaf. Then add some chopped kale. It doesn't really have to simmer for too long, maybe 30-40 minutes. I also like to add a shot or two of hot sauce. You can reduce it to whatever consistency you like. Then, when serving, grate or shred some fresh parmesan or locatelli cheese on top and have a piece of crusty bread to dip in.
Really, I would have made this to take a picture of on this October evening, but it's 80 degrees here. You'll be seeing lots of soup in the coming months, as soon as it starts to chill out.
Go buy kale. You can even get it all cleaned and chopped in packages. Enjoy, and we'll be back here again soon, gang.
No comments:
Post a Comment