sauteed kale

• fresh kale, roughly chopped into bite sized pieces
• fresh garlic, chopped fine
• nutmeg
• coarse salt
• red pepper flakes (I use Simply Organic)
• 3/4 cup of vegetable stock
• sherry vinegar (or any red wine vinegar)

In a swirl of olive oil over a medium-high flame, saute the garlic and red pepper for 3-5 minutes. Add the veggie stock and stir for about a minute. Begin adding the kale in batches, letting each one wilt a bit before adding the next. Once all is added, season to taste with salt, vinegar and just a touch of nutmeg (thanks Rachael Ray). Reduce flame to low and continue to cook an additional 5+ minutes, or until kale is tender. Add more stock if needed.

The dish: I know a few posts back I promised you were reading what was the beginning of a long and exciting bbq phase of the red room. Turns out that Mother Nature has made a liar of me and my grill has sat under its cover for pretty much all of June, just as it did in the chilly winter months. If you're reading this from the lovely Empire State, then you're probably wet and not quite sure what the sun looks like anymore. As it happens in life, while I was in the middle of bitching about the impact the rain has had on my biking (or lack of), I bumped into someone far worse off because of this crazy weather. I was at the farmer's market and got to talking to a few of the vendors whose crops were rotting under water with no end to the rain in site. Couple that with low attendance at the markets because people are afraid of getting wet, and you've got a recipe for disaster. Farmer's don't have it easy anywhere, and in our region where land is in pretty high demand for the never ending suburban sprawl, disastrous weather can be the proverbial straw on the camel's back. The easy solution of course, is for all of us to do our best that when possible we eat something that was grown close to home. Check around for a farmer's market in your neck of the woods, if you're around Goshen on Fridays theirs is great (Bialas Farms is my fav, but all the farms are good). Not only will your food taste better and be better for you, but you'll be supporting an important way of life that's quickly vanishing. So with this crazy weather we've been having, go ahead and put on that sweater that you packed away long before June, stop payment on the check to the global warming folks and take that cash to your local farmers market and pick up some kale or any of the other delicious veggies they have.

penne with spinach and cannellini beans

• 1 lb penne
• 2 bags of fresh baby spinach
• 2 cans of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• crushed red pepper ( I prefer Simply Organic)
• ground nutmeg
• shredded Italian cheese (I had leftover Asiago)

In large pot of lightly salted water, cook pasta according to instructions on box, checking for doneness once a minute beginning 3 minutes before suggested cooking time. While that action is going on the left burner, warm a few swirls of olive oil over a medium high heat on the right burner (really, it doesn't matter what burner you use). Add spinach to oil a handful at a time, tossing every so often, allowing each batch to wilt. When about 3/4 of the way through the spinach, add beans and a little more olive oil to mixture. Season mixture with Kosher salt and fresh pepper and a healthy shake of nutmeg. Spinach mixture will be fully cooked by the time the pasta is al dente. Drain pasta and place serving on plate, drizzle with a little good quality olive oil, add mixture to top and sprinkle asiago cheese and red pepper flakes on top.

The dish: Popeye was right, spinach is something you should eat pretty regularly whether or not you'll be sparring with a brutish sailor thug over your emaciated beau. I can't imagine that I'd want to eat too much right out of the can, but when the fresh stuff is wilted you can eat more than you'd imagine. For a dish like this I count on one full bag per person, when just wilted as a side dish I use about one and a half. Just a point of reference there's about a bags worth on the pasta in the picture. The nutmeg trick is lifted straight from the one and only Rachael Ray; she advises to add a pinch to cooked spinach, and it really does work. The end result is nothing that tastes like Christmas, but rather it gives the spinach a seasoned flavor that plays well off its natural earthiness.