There I was, perusing the local grocer’s produce shelves for a December green onion, when I saw it. There, tucked into some eye-level shelf space between the plastic-wrapped broccoli bouquets and the bagged spinach, a hand-written sign (green marker on the half-moon of a small white paper plate) calling my name:
“Native Organic Kale.”
Seriously. Organic green stuff from New Hampshire. Available in the store on December 6th. Somebody loves me.
And it wasn’t just plain old green stuff. It was beautiful, curly, dark, dark green, fresh kale. I fought the urge to sit right down there in the aisle and rip off some leaves to gnaw on, and instead I talked myself into a soup.
So I broke out a pound of our Rock Farm spicy Italian sausage, along with a cup and half of Jean’s beautiful beans. Then I repeated the steps from my soup during Week #4. This time, though, I simmered everything together without any vegetables except the onions and carrots. About 20 minutes before we ate, I added the torn leaves of that kale.
And it was good. Very, very good.
The lowdown:
- Sausage: Rock Farm
- Onions, Carrots, Garlic: New Roots Farm
- Veggie Broth: Homemade from the freezer
- Beans: Jeans Beans
- Kale: Heaven!
- Bread: Grocery-store baked
BTW: If somehow you’ve missed it, Katrina is here, at a great blog called Kale for Sale.
i totally get that, the idea that the kale was a gift from heaven. At this time of year, for the past three years, I start a sort of compromising slide. I never preserve enough vegetables (someday we’ll get our act together and get a freezer), but nutritionally, I need them. Truly, I should up and buy a lot more vegetables earlier on – my health is nothing to compromise over. But it is just so bizarre, supermarket produce, and the flavor is just so meh.
That soup looks wonderful, and simple, and delicious.
It was yummy, Sara, thanks. This is the first year we’ve frozen vegetables and fruits, and I know I didn’t do enough, but I’m working through them slowly, trying to spread them out by supplementing with squash and canned tomatoes. However, we are creatures of habit, and we like a salad with our dinner, so I’ve already had to compromise there.
I think I’ll be happy if I can make it through the winter with one all-local meal per week. We’ll see…
[...] (Yankee Food) seriously scored this week, finding local organic kale in her grocery store in New Hampshire in [...]