A Quick Kale and Pasta Dinner

I think, sometimes, that I must be prejudiced in my love of this time of year because my birthday falls within it. But it is just so gorgeous, with the wispy white clouds, crisp air, and sky in that perfect shade of blue. While I do miss the heat, and bemoan the fact that we didn’t have much of a summer in New England this year, I also look forward to fall for cooking.

The farm stand selection in September and October is so incredible that sometimes I wish that there were more than seven dinners a week. During my fall shopping trips, I struggle to buy only that which is on my shopping list. But then it starts. My internal voice chattering away while my eyes dart from colorful fruit to colorful vegetable, “Oh, look at the peppers. I should stuff peppers. You know, I really should roast some pork with local plums. What about that peach brulee I was talking about making? I should get some peaches.” On and on it goes.

This past week, there were olives in need of curing at the farm stand that I frequent, and for only $2.99 per pound. Yet, I stood firm, and didn’t buy them, though my fingers are crossed that when I return on Thursday, there are still some available. They’re on this week’s shopping list, you see, and I’ve stocked up on salt for the brine. That’s the thing about the shopping list, it’s easily modified to suit one’s desire from week to week, so long as it seems as though one is planning ahead.

Aside from winter squashes, the arrival at the farm stand of kale and other Brassica kin – collards, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts among them, signals to me the arrival of that eagerly anticipated fall cooking season. And though our temperature is alternating between hot and crisp here in Massachusetts – it’s time to start weaving these vegetables into our repertoire, even if the weft to their warp is an insalata Caprese or a watermelon salad on those warmer days.

My lacinato kale seedlings are taking a beating so far this fall. The slugs appear to be getting the better of them. And with the shorter duration of evening sunlight (evening being when I am normally found in the garden), I’m not as effective at collecting them from my garden beds and tossing them to the waiting laying hens as I am during the longer days of summer. Nonetheless, the laying hens eagerly gather in the corner of their run nearest to the garden once word spreads that slug-tossing humans are in the garden (I’m not sure how they do it, but believe you me, they spread the word, and quickly at that). With no homegrown kale in sight, I purchased some curly kale to make this dish – it was on the list – and will certainly find both curly and lacinato varieties on my shopping list throughout the fall and winter. Unless, of course, my newly concocted cold-frame kale seeding can be kept slug-free, in which case, I will blissfully harvest kale until that first ice storm hits. Please let that not happen until February. Please.

Estimated cost for four: $9.22. I bought my rigatoni on sale, and therefore, it cost me $1.00. The sausage was on sale for $3.99 per pound. The olive oil costs 36-cents, the crushed red pepper 3-cents, the roasted garlic approximately 11-cents. The kale costs $2.49 per bunch, and the beans are 99-cents per can. The Pecorino Romano will run you around 25-cents, and nearly as quickly as the meal comes together, I have done the math for this dish. It almost never happens like that. If you’re just two people, like JR and me, you get two lunches out of this as well for $2.30 each. Not too shabby. Not too shabby.

Dinner tonight: Well, it’s not exactly as warm outside as it was yesterday, but I bought a watermelon at that favorite farm stand of mine for the express purpose of making Watermelon Salad with Chicken and Basil, so that’s what we’re having. Estimated cost for two: $9.62. Turns out, this is bordering on a splurge if you’re buying all of the ingredients. The watermelon cost $5.00, and I haven’t weighed it yet, but I’ll wager it weighs around 6 pounds. Let’s say that I’ll use half of that between cubed watermelon and the watermelon dressing I’m making, so that costs $2.50. The chicken cost $3.29 for a whole chicken breast at our local poultry farm (we didn’t slaughter any chickens this weekend, so we had to buy). I’ll use half of that, so that’s $1.65. The lettuce will come from the garden, as will the basil, but if you purchased them, the lettuce would cost around $1.99 and the basil would be about a quarter of a purchased bunch – it’s just an accent here – so that’s 50-cents. I’m adding some fresh ricotta to the mix in order to use it up after making last week’s collard greens pie, so that adds around $2.25 to the total. There will be about 48-cents’ worth of olive oil in the dressing, and probably 25-cents in honey as well. Because the lettuce and basil are coming from the garden, the cost comes down to $7.13. Perhaps a bit pricey still, but here in New England, the opportunity to eat local watermelon must be seized when it presents itself.