green market & kale

i decided after watching FOOD INC. that i was going to try to be a locavore (eat within a 100 mile radius of where you live)...its so hard to do. i imagine its also hard to start in the dead of winter. it also feels limiting and since i love food so much, i didnt want to limit what i could eat, i'm just going to know what i am eating, as much as i can. in order to do this, i have decided to control my produce, meat and dairy as much as possible. i started this week by going to the green market during lunch on monday. what did i see? kale, leeks, carrots, parsnips, and potatoes....LOTS of potatoes. an apple stand here and there and thats about it. not TERRIBLE but also, if i dont want to just consume starch, it seemed daunting. i bought some kale, some apples, onions and eggs. its a start. 

i wasnt going to eat pasta or bread this week (i'm going on vacation and want to look my best). ... well, i'm in the dumps and when you're in the dumps you want comfort food. and pasta, well, its a comfort food for me however it is served. and, with all this kale, i figured i'd put it in pasta! lets talk about this kale. it was beautiful. and i'll show it to you...

i've never had kale that was this crinkly. or schrounched. or gnarled. i'm not sure the right word to describe it. but it was that. whatever that is. and it was tough to cut and the leaves were small, but, it was so so good. now, for the pasta. talk about delish. there's something about a lemon sauce with pasta, its fresh. and it always feels right, especially on a day like today in new york. the weather was wonderful and its as if spring is upon us. i'm sure we'll be hit with something nasty between now and then, but for today, it was nice. 

so please, enjoy!

Kale w. Spaghetti, Lemon and Cheese.

adapted from poppytalk

serves ~3

Ingredients

• 250 g of spaghetti (or whatever you have)
• 1 Tblsp olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced (i say use however much garlic you can handle)
• 2 shallots, minced (i had a med. yellow onion, so i used half of that)
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (again, however much you want)
• 1 bunch of Kale (or swiss chard) tough stems removed and leave chopped into ribbons
• juice and zest from one lemon
• 1/4 C Parmesan cheese

Preparation

1. boil salted water and cook the pasta as per directions. (dont watch the water boil, that wont help it...) in a large skillet, heat the olive oil over med-high heat and saute garlic, onion and red pepper flakes until fragrant. add in the kale and cook until wilted, stirring a bit, not constantly. if it gets dry, add some of the pasta water to keep it a little wet...sweaty, if you will.

2. drain pasta reserving some of the cooking water. about 1/2 cup of it. this will help create the sauce. add the kale to the pasta pot, dump the pasta back in and add some of the liquid.  toss with tongs and add in the zest and lemon juice. when the pasta is well coated, sprinkle with the cheese and give it one (or 8) more tosses. i dont think i added enough cheese, so i sprinkle some onto my pasta when it was plated. 

yum! 

xo