I have just been introduced to kale.
We met last Saturday, at the stand in the way back corner of the Old Town Farmers’ Market. I’ve been it before a few times, but never had the guts to go up to it and introduce myself. But as I was coming to the finish of my 4th lap around the market, I decided I had nothing to lose. I went right up to the kale, grabbed a bunch and paid a whopping .89 cents to a very nice and cheerful farmer.
As soon as we got home, my curiosity of my new friend immediately came out. After putting away all of my apples, pears, onions, and peppers, I brought the kale onto the table and began to get to know it a bit better. I touch it, smelled it, and even tried a bite of it. Quite bitter…but I knew that once it was all steamed up, it would be much more friendly & delicious! Since Matt and I were going to hop on the Metro and walk around DC all day, I quickly wrapped the bunch of kale back up, placed it in the fridge and began to dream about what I kale -y dish would make later on.
Fast-forward a few hours, and I was reunited with my new green BFF. Over a bit pot, sizzling with onions, garlic, peppers and chicken sausage. Inspired by A Dash of Sass. I looked at the kale, looked in the pot and kissed my curly-leafy friend goodbye. Really, it was better this way. It’s not you…it’s me. I’m hungry!
Couple of stirs later and Matt and I sat down to a cozy, hearty & healthy pasta dish. Needless to say, I can’t wait to be reunited with the a new bunch of kale next week at the market!
Sausage, Bean & Kale Pasta
(adapted from A Dash of Sass)
Ingredients:
- extra virgin olive oil
- 2 chicken sausage links
- 1 green bell pepper, roughly diced
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced (“you can never have too much garlic” – Mama Ro)
- 1 can diced cannenelli beans
- 1 can diced tomatoes (or you could throw in a can of peeled, whole tomatoes)
- 1 bunch kale, de-stemmed and roughly chopped/torn
- spices to taste: basil, oregano, salt & pepper
- 2 cups whole wheat pasta (I chose to use whole wheat shells, because I ❤ them!)
Directions:
Heat EVOO in a large saucepan over medium heat. When oil is hot, add onions and peppers. Stir and saute until soft, about 5-8 minutes. Once onions and peppers are a bit soft, add garlic. Be careful not to burn the garlic! Shake in some salt and pepper.
Remove sausage casing (I forgot to do this, until I went to go tear up the sausage. Oops!) and tear into pieces, adding it to the pan with the onions, peppers and garlic. Cook (and crumble with a wooden spoon) until brown.
While sausage is cooking, bring a saucepan of water to a boil on the stove. Add pasta and cook (and season!) until al dente. Whole-wheat pasta tends to take a bit longer to cook than regular, so I’d say about 10-12 minutes. When pasta is cooked, drain and return back to its pot.
Add diced tomatoes and beans and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add a shake of basil, oregano and more pepper, if needed (the tomatoes have salt in them, so you probably don’t need more!) Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking. Turn heat to low and let simmer.
Add chopped kale and let wilt, occasionally pushing it into the mix gently.
When kale is fully incorporated, add pasta to the sausage mixture and stir to combine. Serve with generous amounts of fresh pecorino romano cheese! Mmm I would love more of this right now 🙂
Matt Izzo Photography, Inc. 🙂
Mama Mangia 
this looks delish! and your peanut butter post was fantastic too! thanks so much for stopping by yesterday. I’m glad that post was helpful.
I’ve learned some more stuff since that post. A wise woman once told me something opposite of one of my tips. She said if you don’t post all the time, more like once a week or twice a week, that it makes people more intrigued. I thought that was good advice…make ’em want cha! I used to pressure myself so much to post everyday! It was getting ridiculous. I think that for starting out is okay, just to get noticed, but after that you can slow it down.
Are you on foodbuzz.com? that’s the best way to get your stuff out there. its a wonderful online community of food bloggers. You would love it! look forward to more of you posts!
Thanks so much Lauren! And now I don’t feel so bad for not following my “I’m going to post so much this week” attitude I had on Monday 🙂
Yes, I am on FoodBuzz – it is a great community! I’m still working my way into the site, trying to friend other “foodies” and make sure I post everything I post on my blog. I also requested to become a “featured publisher” the other day, but am still waiting to hear back from them. If they don’t choose me now, I will keep cooking and posting and emailing them until they do! Haha – I will make them want me!
Thank you so much again, and I look forward to all of your future posts, too – as well as your present ones! I spent a good amount of time today drooling over your Zucchini-Topped Focaccia..I cannot WAIT to make it!