Kale is omnipresent in Ithaca. I think it is one of the few things that grows really well here. While it is considered an early spring vegetable in most areas, it must like the cool and cloudy Ithaca weather. It's the first green vegetable ready in the spring and one of the last ones still available in the fall. People who get a CSA produce box each week get very tired of kale since there's always a huge bunch every week.
I went to the farmer's market today. It just reopened for the season and there isn't much produce yet. I saw beets, onions, potatoes, carrots, a few greens, and, of course, kale. I bought a bag of baby kale.
I'm not hugely experienced with it. It's an odd green. It has a lot of chlorophyll and wil leave your dishwater very green. One serving will also provide you with 1300% of the RDA of vitamin K, and it is considered one of the detoxifying foods. However, you won't find me going on a kale/wheat grass smoothie kick any time soon.
I looked at a few recipes online and decided to modify a recipe for kale with pan-fried walnuts. I chopped up the kale a little bit and boiled it until it was tender. While it was boiling, I sauteed some leftover chicken Italian sausage and then drained it on a paper towel. I then toasted the walnuts in a little bit of oil, added the garlic at the very end, and then dumped in the drained kale and the sausage and sauteed the mixture briefly. It was easy, and it was tasty. If you wanted to modify it, you could leave out the sausage, add different nuts, sliced apples, etc. If you happen to find yourself with an abundance of kale, I highly recommend it.
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