Monday, February 14, 2011

Eat More Kale

The world might be a better place if we all had more kale in our lives. It's been called a "superfood" for good reason. And for less than $1 a bunch, I try to make it a regular part of my meals. Loaded with vitamins C, K, beta carotene, calcium, and possibly cancer preventing compounds, it's hard to say no to kale. It's tasty to boot! Try the curly variety or one of the other colorful varieties. It's great in soups, steamed with loads of garlic, with beans, or roasted to make chips. If you're particularly daring, try a shot of it in your next smoothie.

I love kale paired with lemon and parmesan. In my mind, lemon and parmesan are like chocolate and peanut butter--the scent intoxicating and completely satisfying. Try this combination with your next bunch of kale. This could just as easily be turned into a pesto for a richer dish.

Tortelloni with Kale, Lemon, and Parmesan

1/2 bunch kale, stemmed and chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 lb fresh tortelloni (or ravioli, or tortellini cheese or spinach flavored)
1 lemon, zested
1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted

Toast the pine nuts and set aside. Boil the tortelloni in salted water and prepare the kale. Heat the garlic until just fragrant. Add the kale and stir adding more oil as needed. Add 1/4 of pasta water and let the kale steam. Cook until kale is crisp, tender, about 5 minutes. Pour off the excess liquid then add the juice of half a lemon and stir. Add the tortelloni to the kale and then the zest, pine nuts, and grated Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste and finish off with a bit more olive oil.

4 comments:

  1. Love kale with pears or apple cider. And a great leafy green vegetable.

    Paul

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  2. I've never tried kale but with tortellini it looks delicious!

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  3. I love kale paired with lemon and parmesan.I'm bookmarking these to try this weekend.

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  4. Love kale. When I was a culinary student (here, I wrote all about it: "Culinary School: 101 Things Every Culinary Student Should Know Before They Go" - http://bit.ly/kqooqy) I vowed to improve my vegetable cookery and played a lot with it. I make a dish with it and pasta and gruyere - so tasty.

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