KELLY * July 8 * DINNER
The latter part of the title was my lovely partner's comment regarding our dinner. We're trying to get back in the swing of cooking. The week has been very hectic and we had so many 4th of July leftovers that we had a hard time finding motivation. We almost cooked last night, but I was too pooped and hungry and ended up ordering Thai. Even so, we have managed to polish off most of the CSA box for the week. Tonight Liz used all the kale and all of the surviving chard. Dinner came late, as we favored a walk to the beach over immediate cooking. I struck a deal whereby I could watch TV and fold laundry while Liz cooked. (I like that deal.) In the end it was fabulous. I've been feeling like we've been lacking pasta as we've been attempting to cook it before it wilts. I was thrilled for the return of the starchy goodness. Afterall, half the reason I married into this family was for the Italian food. All I know is that I inhaled all of the kaley, chardy, bacon-y (YES, BACON), linguini-y, peppery, cheesy goodness. If only we could figure out how to cook without making the apartment hot.
ELIZABETH * July 8 * Dinner
It is lucky K likes this dinner, because I basically only really cook one thing - endless variations on this theme. It starts with garlic. In this case, I sauteed the garlic in some bacon fat and olive oil with crushed red chiles and black pepper. Then I added a couple cups of chicken broth and the kale, de-ribbed and rough-chopped, plus the chard stalks split lengthwise, and cooked until kale was tender but chewy. I then added the chard leaves, rough-chopped, and a sliced red pepper (we had to break down and buy peppers. They are not in season yet in the box, and we cannot live without them. This was an Ancient Sweet, one of my faves, from Fresh Farms, aka Heaven in Skokie.) These steamed for awhile while the pasta cooked. When pasta was done and draining I added a chopped seeded tomato. The veg went on top of the pasta in a big bowl, then got topped with some bacon pieces, more crushed chile, and pecorino cheese.
The really good news is you can change any number of things about this and it tastes really good. Olive oil for butter for bacon fat. Alliums or not - onion, shallot, leek... Any number of veg - spinach, arugula, zucchini, green beans... Add thyme, lemon, any number of herbs, wine. Add protein - beans, sausages, meats, anchovies. Put on top of pasta, polenta, bread, or a spoon. If any of you have ever wondered, basically this is the secret of our marriage. Good luck to you.
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